Hello, Disruptors!
As we focus on our Black brothers’ and sisters’ achievements during Black History Month, I’m left to wonder why the f*ck we only spend one month—and the shortest month of the year!— talking about Black history. There’s so much we need to learn about the Black experience in the United States and about the people who have worked tirelessly for racial justice.
Especially this year, Black History Month reminds me of how much more must be done to right the wrongs of racial injustice. There was overwhelming evidence in 2020 of the sh*t the Black community deals with daily and of the need for all of us, regardless of race, to join the struggle.
On an episode of our podcast, The Combustion Chronicles, my friend Dr. Kelechi Uwaezuoke has said, “If you are in a situation and that situation is really not up to par with the vision and the potential and the possibility, then you have to disrupt. It’s a moral obligation to disrupt.” Damn straight! Corporations and governments think they have the answers, but they often don’t know sh*t. Diversity is currently just a box to be checked in American workplaces, and laws and regulations can only go so far toward righting historic wrongs.
Rather than wait for others to address systemic racism, we all have to lean into the tough stuff (instead of running away screaming) and become a catalyst for moral change. It’s time to move forward, and I am challenging each of you to join me on a journey.
Our journey starts with getting radical, falling in love with the problem, and kissing your dragons. That’s right: kissing your dragons. What do dragons have to do with any of this? Robin Glasco, Michael Harper, and I recently released a book called Kiss Your Dragons, in which we open our hearts and speak truth to help you look at everything with new mindsets and new heartsets.
For a deeper dive into diversity, check out our 2020 catalyst paper “Humanizing Our Community: Blowing up Traditional Models for Diversity and Inclusion,” and accompanying resources, which we created to help you start conversations that can lead to meaningful change.
Let’s find the courage (one of my words for the year) to blow some sh*t up. We need you to join our tribe of disruptors who are designing new systems that include equity and justice for all at the foundational level. We have to do this now and we have to do it together. The world is changing, and it’s time we change with it.
