I spent the past week reflecting on the unfolding crisis in the US. Yes, we are dealing with a pandemic and serious economic fallout that may take a long while to repair. But we are also confronting something that has never gone away—racial discrimination, prejudices and injustices towards our African-American communities and all of our communities of color. I join so many others in grieving over recent events—tragic and uncalled for deaths of black men and women. We have reopened wounds, but that means we never healed the ills of our past.
I recognize that these are not easy problems to solve. Often, it is hard to understand what others may go through. But we will go nowhere if we fail to listen—really listen. We fail when we easily jump to blaming others. We will struggle even more when our leaders aren’t willing to listen, to understand and to help bring us together to find new solutions.
What does it mean when we see the lights at the White House turned off? To me, it signals that those who are supposed to be leading this country are more concerned about self-protection than bringing us together. They prefer to hide under darkness than to shine a light on a path forward.
I am hopeful that the everyday leaders that I have the privilege to hear about and work with will step forward in their own humble way to create new conversations so we can really understand the wounds that are festering and begin to find ways to heal. Each of us must become leaders in recognizing and addressing our ills and making a change.