This Week's Opening Thought: April 3, 2023

This week’s opening thought: I need white people, especially white people who have a great deal of power, privilege, and positionality in all spaces, to be honest about their lack of interest in dismantling white supremacy and their upholding of white supremacist ideologies and anti-Blackness.

Own your sh--.

If you want to read a bunch of anti-racism books for clout and bragging rights in an attempt not to apply what you’ve read and evolve your thinking but to seek kudos from melanated folx? Own that you only want gold stars, not meaningful change.

Do you think there’s no dismantling work you need to do because you’re not racist? Do you think that because you’ve got one Black friend or you “get along” with Black and melanated co-workers and neighbors, you’re “doing your part?” Own that you’re not interested in the lifelong work of maintaining being an anti-racist person.

Are you unwilling to hear from Black and melanated folx that you’ve harmed them with your words or actions without thinking it’s their fault, their “need to be the victim,” or that you’re justified in your hateful acts because melanated folx aren’t always friendly to you? Do you immediately think the person calling you in or out is trying to diminish your character because you’re a “good person,” and they should see that? Own that you’re unwilling to process the discomfort of owning the harm you’ve caused. Own that you’re not interested in anything but melanated folx validating your “goodness.”

If you want to prescribe to white supremacy-driven anti-Black double standards, denigrating Black women for their actions while applauding white women for the same actions in the same arena and on the same national stage? Own that you support whiteness and only support melanated folx and Black bodies when they conform to and make themselves palatable for whiteness.

Own who you are and what you represent. If you’re going to be a part of the 400+ year problem and hinder progress, have some integrity and own that it’s who you are.

What’s wrong? Why are you getting so agitated while reading this? I thought y’all liked ownership.

At least many of your forefathers did.

This Week's Opening Thought: March 27, 2023

This week's opening thought: white supremacy in action is when elected officials decide the best way to handle their unfounded fears and insecurities about a popular phone app is to hold public hearings around banning its use.

White supremacy is when the popular phone app you claim you're scared of does the same data collecting that other apps do, yet it is somehow "more dangerous" because it's a Chinese-owned company.

White supremacy is attacking the app company's Singaporean CEO with an hours-long "line of questioning" that's a thinly-veiled xenophobic and anti-Asian hate crime played out on a world stage.

White supremacy in action is also when a major clothing company decides that it's easier to use AI-generated models than to put in the work to source and hire models outside of the white physical "body standard" norm.

White supremacy in action is when you could make an effort to find and elevate Black and Brown models, Indigenous models, Asian models, Pacific Islander models, models with disabilities, and models with a variety of body shapes but decide using computer-generated images is good enough.

White supremacy in action is the company sharing this change in a major press release and wording it in such a way that the decision-makers in their company believe they should get kudos for their new "revolutionary diversity efforts."

On the surface, these two situations may seem separate to some of you. But don't get it twisted. They are branches from the same old haggard tree.

That tree desperately needs a wind storm to uproot its gnarled and deeply-rooted grip on the soil of generations.

This Week's Opening Thought: March 20, 2023

This week's opening thought: if someone calls you in regarding your actions and behaviors, actions and behaviors that uphold or amplify hate, racism, anti-Blackness, transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, and all the intersections of oppression, and your apology is less of an apology and more of an excuse as to why you did or said what you did or said or a way to posit yourself as a victim guess what?

It's not a proper apology.

Try again.

This time with feeling.

This Week's Opening Thought: March 6, 2023

This week's opening thought: If you live in the United States, you live in a country that is more scared of gender expression in the arts and entertainment and drag shows "harming children" than they are of domestic white terrorism and a lack of gun control, which at this point are the number one killers and traumatizers of U.S. children.

I don't care what anyone says; I have never felt endangered by any person's gender expression being shared with me, personally or through entertainment. I have not seen gender expression harm or murder children in the United States, and I likely never will.

But I sure as fuck am scared of disgruntled fragile white men with automatic weapons.

And I'm equally as scared of the danger U.S. children face when they go to school daily or live in communities impacted by poverty, systemic oppression, and violence.

But you know Drag Queen Story Time at the local library is the scourge of our nation.

Glad to see lawmakers across the United States have their priorities in check.

This Week's Opening Thought: February 27, 2023

This week’s opening thought: Rage applying.

Rage. Applying.

One of you business magazine writer fools made a catchy name for getting tired of your manager treating you like crap, paying you like crap, and overworking the crap out of you, leading you to apply to other jobs so you can stop wading in crap.

🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

Parental advisory. Cursing ahead.

What in the fucking hell is wrong with us?!

How horrible is the work culture in the United States if this is the current topic of conversation, twisted to make it appear as if workers, not employers, are the problem?

This isn’t new shit. This is called, “This job sucks! I’m gonna find another job while keeping this one so I can survive long enough to get out of here.” People have been doing this for a century!

Pardon my French, but I fucking hate these cute-ass names y’all keep coming up with to absolve leadership and decision-makers in organizations from taking responsibility for the toxic, degrading, abusive environments they create and perpetuate.

Employers? You’re the reason you keep losing talented people.

Accept responsibility, address the harm you’ve caused with your policies and leadership choices, and do better.

Managers and supervisors? You’re also the reason you keep losing talented people.

Accept responsibility, address the harm you’ve caused, and do better.

Fucking rage applying. Geezus.

It’s just applying for other employment opportunities because you know you deserve better.

Y’all come up with one more damn cutesy name, and I’m comin’ by your house for a chat.

Here’s a new word for y’all to focus on: ACCOUNTABILITY.