Monday, June 1, 2020
I won't forget this day anytime soon. Having spent the weekend gardening, reading, relaxing with Alice and not paying too much attention to the news, this morning I read the NYTimes and WAPost, then went onto Facebook, something I rarely do. My niece Nicole posted her reaction to the George Floyd killing.
It was powerful. She received a few comments, which prompted me to comment as well. I posted this:
"As a white male, in my 57 years of life, I've had exactly zero negative experiences with the police. 0. As in none. When I ask my black friends about their experiences with the police, it's like hearing stories from another world. That's because it is another world. When you dig deep and read the various chapters of the long history of this country, you will discover 400 years of the worst kind of racism, oppression, and hatred against black people. It's all there and as voluminous and never-ending as the stories of our greatness and love of freedom and democracy. And now look who currently occupies the Oval Office after Barack Obama, a guy who's become the greatest influencer of white supremacy in a generation. The George Floyd video has been an endless 400-year loop that in terms of race defines this country. How do we change that? Speak out. Vote. Tell your friends of color that you're with them and have their back. Read your American history. Recognise and become aware of the internalized institutional racism all of us have been subjected to and must work on very hard to overcome. Open your eyes as wide as they'll go. Challenge white people to push beyond their own life experience to that other world where non-white Americans live vastly different life experiences each and every day."
I liked it enough to post on my Facebook page. Then I talked to Lillian, my friend at work who I've known for almost a decade. We've been talking about race issues since the beginning of our friendship. She said Jerri, a black attorney at work, sent out an email and a link to an article to all the black attorneys and support staff at the firm, acknowledging what everyone was going through and reminding everyone to be mindful and protective of their own mental health. Here's the article Jerri shared:
Maintaining Professionalism in the Age of Black Death
At 2:33 p.m. our managing partner Andrew sent out an email titled Special Firm Meeting: Response to Current Events:
HB Team, we are all aware of recent events impacting all of us. Right now, many of you are personally being impacted by all of this, every day and many people around our firm are hurting, are angry and are exhaused. I expect some of you are finding it very hard to work as you deal with so many emotions and with how much is going on around us. We are scheduling a special meeting today at 3 to check in with you and to hear from you. I hope you can join us. If you can't join today, we will arrange another time to connect.
At 3 p.m. we had our WebEx meeting. It got real in a hurry. One of our partners Jahmal Davies, a black man who looks a bit like Michael Jordan in his prime, said his chest was tight and he found it hard to breathe. He said the events of the past week have overwhelmed him. He shared a few stories from his life, and it all set the tone for what had followed. Other folks shared their stories, some going back to childhood and the terror they experienced from the KKK. I reiterated what I'd posted on Facebook. It was unlike any firm forum I'd experienced. It lasted two hours. It was something.
After work, we got the Blackstone going and cooked rice and pork belly Benihana style.
It was delicious!
I won't forget this day anytime soon. Having spent the weekend gardening, reading, relaxing with Alice and not paying too much attention to the news, this morning I read the NYTimes and WAPost, then went onto Facebook, something I rarely do. My niece Nicole posted her reaction to the George Floyd killing.
It was powerful. She received a few comments, which prompted me to comment as well. I posted this:
"As a white male, in my 57 years of life, I've had exactly zero negative experiences with the police. 0. As in none. When I ask my black friends about their experiences with the police, it's like hearing stories from another world. That's because it is another world. When you dig deep and read the various chapters of the long history of this country, you will discover 400 years of the worst kind of racism, oppression, and hatred against black people. It's all there and as voluminous and never-ending as the stories of our greatness and love of freedom and democracy. And now look who currently occupies the Oval Office after Barack Obama, a guy who's become the greatest influencer of white supremacy in a generation. The George Floyd video has been an endless 400-year loop that in terms of race defines this country. How do we change that? Speak out. Vote. Tell your friends of color that you're with them and have their back. Read your American history. Recognise and become aware of the internalized institutional racism all of us have been subjected to and must work on very hard to overcome. Open your eyes as wide as they'll go. Challenge white people to push beyond their own life experience to that other world where non-white Americans live vastly different life experiences each and every day."
I liked it enough to post on my Facebook page. Then I talked to Lillian, my friend at work who I've known for almost a decade. We've been talking about race issues since the beginning of our friendship. She said Jerri, a black attorney at work, sent out an email and a link to an article to all the black attorneys and support staff at the firm, acknowledging what everyone was going through and reminding everyone to be mindful and protective of their own mental health. Here's the article Jerri shared:
Maintaining Professionalism in the Age of Black Death
At 2:33 p.m. our managing partner Andrew sent out an email titled Special Firm Meeting: Response to Current Events:
HB Team, we are all aware of recent events impacting all of us. Right now, many of you are personally being impacted by all of this, every day and many people around our firm are hurting, are angry and are exhaused. I expect some of you are finding it very hard to work as you deal with so many emotions and with how much is going on around us. We are scheduling a special meeting today at 3 to check in with you and to hear from you. I hope you can join us. If you can't join today, we will arrange another time to connect.
At 3 p.m. we had our WebEx meeting. It got real in a hurry. One of our partners Jahmal Davies, a black man who looks a bit like Michael Jordan in his prime, said his chest was tight and he found it hard to breathe. He said the events of the past week have overwhelmed him. He shared a few stories from his life, and it all set the tone for what had followed. Other folks shared their stories, some going back to childhood and the terror they experienced from the KKK. I reiterated what I'd posted on Facebook. It was unlike any firm forum I'd experienced. It lasted two hours. It was something.
After work, we got the Blackstone going and cooked rice and pork belly Benihana style.
It was delicious!
No comments:
Post a Comment