Like many of you, I wake up each morning and check the news with an ever-growing sense of sadness. I am watching current events with a heavy heart and a strong sense that I want to take action. Admittedly, I am not sure what actions to take. I find my perfectionism creeping in, thinking about what the best next action would be. Perfection is the enemy of progress though, and there is no room for it during these times.
So I am committing to start somewhere, acknowledging that all I can do is take the next right action, however small it is. I sent out a White Fragility & White Privilege Resource list last week, and plan to make my way through these resources with my children by my side.
For today, those small steps look like this:
- Watching this Systemic Racism Explained video with my kids
- Enrolling in Hard Conversations: Intro to Racism and its Undoing
As a small business owner, I don’t have a large voice or a big platform on which to share my views. I can’t use my wealth or celebrity to make a big impact on the situation or the world. But as a therapist, I strive to not only share my values but also live by them. One of those values is to speak out about injustice and to align myself and my company with causes in which I believe.
To that end, with the help of the brilliant Julie A. Jacobs, I have drafted this Statement of Solidarity to publicly state the position of my company and the actions I will take to support the movement towards justice for all.
Silence, in the face of vast injustice, is not an option.
It is not my intention to inject politics into business. However, I do not believe this is a political matter – I believe it is a moral matter and one about which I will not stay silent.
I pledge to take the following actions in support of the movement towards justice and equality:
- I will communicate to my clients, current and future, the values of my company and my belief in the importance of working and fighting for justice.
- When I am invited to speak as part of a professional panel or conference, I will inquire about representation of people of color and will decline to participate if the organization has not invited a representative group of speakers/panelists.
- I will make a monthly donation on behalf of my company to causes that are working towards justice, starting with Campaign Zero and The Equal Justice Initiative
- I will participate in federal, state, and especially local elections and actively work to support and assist candidates who share my beliefs and values.
- I will continue to speak up and confront racism, overt and implied, whenever I can.
- I will work to use my privilege to give voice to others who have been silenced.
- I will educate myself and my children about systemic racism and white privilege.
- I will not be silent, as I believe silence is complicity.
I invite all of you who feel compelled to act to find your own ways to contribute to this cause. In addition, I welcome your suggestions on additional actions that I can take to help promote change.
