Listen, Learn, and Understand. Be an Ally.

Writing brings me mental clarity. It's therapeutic for me. I enjoy it.

The other night, my family and I attended a peaceful protest to combat police brutality, racism, inequity, and injustices. It was a humbling experience.

Within the messages, several ideas resonated with me that I'd like to capture and share.

• I can't walk in your shoes. But I can LISTEN and LEARN in an attempt to UNDERSTAND.
• Be an ally for you.

A thought that resonated with me the most, however, came in reference to talk of mass incarceration and the assassinations of black historical figures. And while I don't recall the direct quote, one of the speakers posed the question, how would your life be different if all of your fathers and all of your leaders were continually taken-away from you? This question underscored my privilege; it really left an impact with me and forced me to reflect. 

Shortly after the protest, while putting my nine-year-old son to bed, I ran through a daily list of prompts with him. When I asked him about something that's worrying him, he responded with being worried that racism won't end.

In 2004, Kanye West rapped, "Racism's still alive, they just be concealin' it." In light of recent events, it is apparent that racism remains a harsh reality. Nonetheless, I'm hopeful. One of my favorite movie lines, from one of my favorite movies - The Dark Knight - "The night is darkest just before the dawn."

I've spent a lot of time during the past week, or so, listening, reading, and watching content related to the social injustices that have taken and continue to take place. I'll start to close with a few more ideas that have caused me to further reflect and stretch thinking that I'd grown-up believing.

• It's not enough to not be a racist. Not being a racist is passive. Being passive towards racism allows for racism to continue. We have to be active anti-racists.
• People aren't racist. People do racist things. 
• It is harmful to say that we don't see color. Color is a part of who we are. What's harmful is to treat someone different because of their color.

We all have bias, and that's not wrong. As I imagine Brene Brown telling us, we need to lean-in. Embrace being uncomfortable in an effort to learn and grow. I'm listening, I'm learning, and I'm trying to better understand. I want to be an ally.