Acknowledging Reality

As I'm sure you've seen America is, perhaps for the first time ever, beginning to acknowledge the reality of racism. It is so deep & so ingrained that being white in America comes with the inherent privilege of not being subject to it every single day.

Right now there are national guard in our neighborhood, the police are hurting peaceful protestors and the president is fueling the division further. In the chaos of the last week I've noticed myself wanting to 'find the positive' and imagining some new better future. But then I listened to the Buddhist nun Pema Chōdrōn talk about 'letting go of our addiction to hope' and realized this is part of the problem. Acknowledging reality as it is can be uncomfortable - things are bad, really bad, there are no quick solutions - and maybe this difficult place is where we have to live for a while.

I know we all want to create meaningful long-term change, but first we have to acknowledge reality. If like me you're looking for a place to start I've personally found these videos by international ambassador for Black Lives Matter Janaya Future Khan, & this podcast episode with Brené Brown & professor Ibram Kendi helpful. For more ideas on thought leaders to follow & organizations to donate to we're collating a list here.