photo by Lara Herscovitch
It can’t happen here – until it happens here. And, anywhere, everywhere… is here.
All over this country Black, Latinx and Native men and women are dying at the hands of racism. All too often it is the result of police brutality. At times it is civilian vigilantes taking the law into their hands.
Far too many of us are conditioned to think that it won’t happen in our community. And yet the root of the problem – racism – is baked into all our communities.
Every year at a certain point in the arc of the Community Leadership Program, we reflect deeply on our own core values. The exact words I use may vary, but my top five remain: respect, equity, opportunity, love and faith.
When challenged to narrow down to my number one value, I choose “faith.”
Faith is what has sustained me through my darkest hours, my most challenging moments. Faith lives within me rooted in a deep and abiding belief in a higher power that I call “God.” God has ordered my steps, has a plan for my life which is unfolding, has sent angels to walk with me, has carried me, blocks and tackles for me, carries me through the storm, blesses me over and over again – not because of who I am, but because of who S(H)e is.
CLP also challenges us to ask ourselves if our actions align in ways that the world can see what we say we value. Or, in the words of Equity Educator and Organization Development Practitioner Niyonu Spann, “do we be who we say we be?”
As I watch, experience and feel all that is happening in our world at this moment, I am asking myself again. Do I still have faith?
When facing the image of a white officer with his knee on a Black man’s neck, do I still have faith?
When watching three others participate in this murder, do I still have faith?
When reflecting on acts of individual and systemic racism, do I still have faith?
When the COVID-19 pandemic shines a light on the disparities in my community, do I still have faith?
Do I have faith that this moment will become more than a moment, but a movement for racial equity and anti-racism?
I’ve also been thinking a lot about redemption. Redemption is defined as ‘the action of saving or being saved from sin, error or evil.’
Sin, error or evil. Sound familiar?
Redemption is not found in minimizing or blaming the victim. Redemption cannot be found when current behaviors continue to demonstrate the same patterns of behavior that were exposed as troubling, racist, sexist, illegal or more.
But redemption can be found in wholehearted ownership, apology, restoration and reparation. It can be found in non-defensive willingness to hear the impact of one’s actions from those who have been injured. Redemption can be found when victimizers work to align their intent and impact in ways that reflect their highest values. It can be found in courageous conversations. In changed behavior. Redemption can be found in restoring to victims that which was lost, when that is possible. Redemption can be found in reparative actions.
My heart breaks for every. single. life. lost to police brutality. Within every time of grief, we all hear over and over (and over), words of condemnation from politicians.
We do not need these statements condemning what happened in Minneapolis. Or any other “there.” We need actions. Redemptive actions. Actions that restore lost faith. Actions for “here.”
We need our leaders – in New Haven and across this country – to use their position, power and privilege to create positive change in the spaces and places that they govern. Change that will, once and for all, stop the over-policing and over-criminalization and police control of black and brown bodies and communities. In other words, they need to control police powers and:
Ensure that the police department is not creating or allowing police abuses.
Ensure that the police department is not covering up police abuses. Break the blue wall of silence.
Revise use of force policies in ways that restrict the police from using excessive force in everyday interactions with civilians.
Examine their own prejudices and biases and assess the ways in which they are criminalizing the behavior of only some. (To be human is to have bias. To be a good leader is to not let that bias impact your decisions and behaviors in ways that are harmful towards others.)
Discipline, educate, or fire officers with unchecked bias or prejudice.
Investigate, honor and address complaints against police.
Create departments that reflect the diversity of the community – at all ranks.
Examine where they are using state control-over instead of engaging with communities.
Politicians may feel outrage over what happened in Minneapolis, but racism is happening everywhere. If you are listening, hear this: bring your outrage home and let it fuel your actions.
And let it fuel all our actions. We all have a responsibility to address racism head on and commit to racial equity and anti-racism. I see examples of that showing up in unexpected places. We must support that, nurture that, foster that and allow it to grow. It is in these intentional actions that redemption will be found. It is in these intentional actions that we will “be who we say we be”.
It is in these intentional actions that I still have faith.
To reach Karen directly: drduboiswalton@gmail.com
So wonderfully crafted: head, heart & spirit! What more could we ask…Thank you dear sister ~ Niyonu
Karen,
So thoughtfully stated. The statement below in particular resonated. It reflects that which in my professional work and personal interactions I find so often needs to be unpacked. It so often is preceded by “so cant people make mistakes? are we to be demonized for being human?” – Uh oh I’d better stop here – you already responded to it beautifully.
“Redemption is not found in minimizing or blaming the victim. Redemption cannot be found when current behaviors continue to demonstrate the same patterns of behavior that were exposed as troubling, racist, sexist, illegal or more”.