But What Can I Do?
I’ve sat down a couple times this week, trying to finish writing my Level 3 Energy blog post. Every time, I’ve found my mind elsewhere and what hit the keyboard was just a free form of thoughts and emotions.
Rather than push to finish that Energy blog post, I decided to just follow my heart and go in a different direction this week. I tried to structure my thoughts, but please forgive me if some of this is disjointed and clunky.
The events of the past week have been… heartbreaking, to say the least.
Our country has such an ugly history of racial injustice. Sometimes I think we’ve come a long way, considering segregation ended less than 70 years ago. Other days I’m dumbfounded by how far we still have to go – especially since segregation ended nearly 70 years ago.
I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating the last few days; asking myself what I can do. I’m one person, how can I make a difference? What are truly my values and core beliefs and what can I do with them?
One realization I’ve come to is the belief that the change we still need – the change that will turn events like this into a rarity rather than a regularity…. That kind of change, I’m not sure you can accomplish with further legislation. Afterall, there are laws against police brutality, yet those laws didn’t prevent the officer from treating Mr Floyd like a rabid dog, keeping a knee on his neck for over 8 minutes.
The kind of change that I’m talking about has to take place in our hearts. And I believe one of the best ways to inspire such change is through understanding, through empathy, through shared experiences and common ground – through realizing that we are all more similar than different.
First step: simply talking with each other – more importantly – listening to one another. 
We’ve become so polarized in this country, locking ourselves in our own echo chambers, spouting our opinions on social media, while at the same time telling those who differ that they are wrong.
In my mind, this is all part of the same issue. Anything that is different than us is wrong, is to be feared and hated.
But by engaging in conversation with people who are different that ourselves, we can gain an understanding of other people’s perspectives, even if we don’t agree with them. And when we get to know and understand each other, we can view each other as our brothers and sisters rather than our enemies.
Perhaps you are like me and have been asking yourself what more you can do. I don’t consider myself an activist, I don’t have much of a platform, I’m just one ordinary person. What could I possibly do?
Lots. Or nothing. Perhaps somewhere in between.
You’ve likely seen lots of suggestions being shared already. Perhaps some of them resonate with you – if so, grab one and run with it.
Perhaps some of the resources I link below are new to you and are something you are more comfortable with. Awesome, grab one and run with it.
Perhaps nothing you’ve seen is in your wheel house. That’s okay too.
I simply offer some things that have resonated with me in case they move you too. Just in case.
First, here is a fantastic link full of anti-racism resources. It contains everything from articles to parenting advice to books, podcasts, movies, social media follows and much more. Please check it out.
Going with my belief that true, lasting change starts with conversation; below is a list of organizations whose goal is to bring us together through facilitated discussions. To help us understand each other and find common ground. To help us view each other with love.
http://www.crossingpartylines.net/
https://www.everyday-democracy.org/
https://www.livingroomconversations.org/
http://makeamericadinneragain.com/
More such organizations can be found at: https://icccr.tc.columbia.edu/resources/dialogue-facilitation-organizations/
You don’t need to join these – or any – organization to make a difference. You obviously don’t even need to try to make a difference. What you do is up to you.
However, if you have been wondering what you can do as one person, I hope that I’ve opened you to some new possibilities.