Good News…or Courage?

There’s a lot of advice out there about how to communicate with nonprofit donors, board members and other stakeholders at this time.

A few different commentators and bloggers are urging us to keep it positive…to share good news. Because in these challenging times that we’re in, people want to feel hopeful and uplifted.

When I wrote my last post about the uncertainty of the times, I struggled to find a positive tone. Now it’s a few weeks later and the mood has worsened.

As we all know, George Floyd was murdered by a police office in Minneapolis early last week. The full weight of the officer was on the back of Floyd for at least seven minutes, crushing his neck. The incident happened in full view of a crowd of people who asked the officer to stop. Someone recorded the encounter, which went viral. Across the country, anger and outrage has led to protests, looting and destruction.

If you need to understand how these events have come together, Trevor Noah explains it eloquently.

I’m not feeling like I can share good news right now. But I encourage each of us to express courage.
 
What does courage look like?

Courage comes in many forms, but the most pertinent example is to take a stand to say we won’t accept systemic racism and terror toward people of color. It is speaking out rather than remaining silent.

Courage is speaking up and vocally rejecting racist or bigoted actions as they happen, stating that we won’t accept the fear in which our brothers and sisters live. The fear they experience in the very real possibility that they, their children and family members, could be killed for walking or running, standing or sitting in their homes or neighborhoods, simply by being.

Courage is asking the question: How am I responsible? How are we responsible? Racism isn’t people in faraway parts of our country, it’s the implicit bias we all carry around as we consume American culture and the systemic, baked-in ways that people of color are often treated as “less-than” by every institution and system in our nation.

I want to be clear that, as Brene Brown says, "The most important anti-racism work I’ve done over the past 20 years and that I’m still doing is taught and led by people with the lived experience of racial oppression - NOT white people."   This work needs to center the experiences of people of color and move away from white centering. 

Here are a couple of things I hold in mind in working on racial equity:

My stance is to keep listening and learning with curiosity and openness. As a white Jewish woman, I feel sad and heartbroken about the news. I can’t walk in a black or brown person’s shoes and know how they experience racism. I keep reading, listening and attempting to understand more.

I am conscious that in addition to experiencing racial inequality, people of color are often expected to educate us on racism, which becomes emotionally draining.  I consciously speak up and encourage people of all backgrounds to share, so that burden does not fall solely to those who experience these fears with the group.

I am intentional about principles to design inclusive spaces. I welcome each person. I hold the intention to treat each person who comes into the space where I am the leader with kindness and curiosity: Who are you? What is your story? What communities do you represent? What unique background, talents, and experiences do you bring? My goal is to create a safe environment in which each person’s experiences are honored, so that the group can learn and do better work. I can only do that if I keep doing my own personal work to be anti-racist, so that I can keep this safety for the group. I'm also conscious of situations in which I do not have the lived experience to authentically "hold" the emotions of the group; in those cases, I bring in others who can.
 
What can we do?

In the past few days, individuals, nonprofit organizations and businesses are speaking up against racism and in solidarity. Here’s one message from Southern California Grantmakers about the need to eliminate systemic inequalities that have become normal. Closer to my home, Berkeley Playhouse sent this message of solidarity with all who experience discrimination.

If your organization has not made a statement condemning the recent unwarranted murders of unarmed black people, turn away from your computer, pick up your phone, call your leadership and write one together. If you’re not sure what to say, look around at what other organizations are saying. If you are not following any organizations that have spoken up, expand your circle to people and organizations who express leadership in this area.

A next step is educating yourself and those in your organization. Here is an anti-racist reading resource list from the Prison Culture blog. Here’s a list of another 13 resources to learn and show up as an anti-racist. And here is a resource for those of us who are parents, and how we can better educate our children in the fight against racism and bigotry.

And a last, critical step is action. If you need ideas, here’s a post from KQED San Francisco on 5 Ways to Show Up for Racial Justice.

This list is by no means comprehensive, rather just a start. Please join me in the process of learning how to better show up for all humans. As though coping through the financial, physical, mental, and emotional loss of the pandemic was insufficient, this incident brought to the forefront of the American conscience an integral flawed part of society that has been ignored for far too long. I am no expert, but can lend an ear and a shoulder. I commit to you personally and professionally through these harrowing times.

Most importantly, please share with me your experiences and thoughts about this. Please help me to show up as an inclusive advocate for civil rights, no matter your religion, sex, sexuality, or creed. I am earnestly seeking ways to use whatever influence I might have to strengthen relations.
 
As I said at the beginning, we’re not feeling much good news at the moment. I hope that this note inspires you to be courageous. Courage can push us to mobilize our collective power for good. If you take an action that feels uncomfortable, it’s probably the right thing.

In these difficult times, a lot is at stake—this is literally a matter of life or death. Let’s get to work.