Starts the week of May 17, 2021
Starts the week of May 17, 2021
Racism continues to be one of the biggest problems affecting our nation. It is the beginning of a new decade. White people need the veils lifted and they need to get on board. As a white person, you may be asking yourself what is it that I do not know about racism and how can I make a difference when it comes to such a huge issue?
Staying silent and not educating yourself is a part of being complicit in the problem.
As more white parents look around and see their own neighborhoods as predominantly white or as they look for diverse neighborhoods and schools, it is important to understand that because of how white people have historically viewed and treated race, you and your children are unaware of the vast and dangerous differences of treatment of people of color that have been created in this society.
White people whose hearts are in the right place, but have not had a real conversation about race and institutionalized racism in America will exert their “right to speak up” for people of color in a way that is fine for white people, but can be harmful to people of color, or worse they say nothing out of fear or ignorance which leaves them complicit in the perpetuation of racism.
You may be wondering... how do I as white person get on board and start learning about racism?
With anger and frustration levels at an all-time peak, where can a white person start?
Right here. This by invitation only group is for White people who would like real leadership, guidance, knowledge and calling you in to look at your stuff, but also helping you get out there to have these conversations at home, in the workplace, at school, in your communities, on social media or with those family members who
just don’t get it.
In 1975, I was 17 years old and living with my parents and my older sister in the Bronx. I rode the city bus to and from school and one day, when I was about a mile away from home, I noticed that the bus driver did not open the doors when we pulled up to a bus stop.
I looked through the front window and saw a mob of young white males wearing red bandanas on their heads charging towards us. They looked to be around 50 in number.
They surrounded the bus and started screaming that they were going to get the Ni***rs.
It was right at this moment that I noticed two things that terrified me.
First was that, the bus driver, a teenage male and myself were the only black people on the bus.
The second was the baseball bats they were using to hit the sides of the bus while demanding we come out.
When the bus driver held his ground and refused to open the door, the mob began to try and tip the bus over. The only thing that saved us was the arrival of another bus across the street filled with African-American teenagers.
The mob ran across the street and I jumped off the bus with the other teenager. He was terrified, not only because of this horrifying incident, but also because this was his first week living in this area.
Welcome to the neighborhood kid.
I took him to his home and then walked home from there. I remember thinking of only one thing as I walked home, “I don’t know how, but I have to do something with my life that brings people together around these issues.”
Let me tell you how strange that was for me. From the time I was five years old, I knew that I wanted to be an entertainer.
At 17 years old, I had no idea where this ‘save the world and help people deal with conflicts’ idea came from.
I started at Syracuse University as a theater major. However, in my junior year, I abruptly switched to their new Non-Violent Conflict and Change major.
I wasn’t even close to God back then, but I believed that somebody knew something about my future regardless of whether or not that something was part of my plans.
Since then, I’ve invested over 35 years into conflict resolution where I have helped people have the difficult conversations and work through unresolved conflict soulfully and effectively.
I’ve worked with clients from the South Bronx to South Africa and from Harlem to Hong Kong.
If you would like to be a part of this group, click the button below to schedule your interview with me.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it would be good, because it was you. This container makes me constantly think about how I show up in the world. In all my interactions, I start to question my part in the interaction. How can I reframe the interactions with my clients of color so that I am taking all of who they are into consideration.”
Starts the week of May 17, 2021