…We have two options – 1) Unpack then restructure our traumas and/or conditioned fears and insecurities, in order to turn the volume down on the inner critic. 2) Box up our emotional weight, ignore it, and pass it on to the next generation (or distribute it among the world around us, or both). It is our choice…
…I embarked on a personal adventure – 12ish weeks of therapy, unpacking some of the childhood that still persisted to my adulthood. I unpacked a lot of the pressure my dad put on me to perform in school and sports, leading to a constant “you suck” voice in my head ever in since then…
…when he was on the road, Dad made sure to call. I still remember our sign-off: “See you later, alligator. –After while, crocodile.”
Growing up where I did, it really wasn’t OK to hire somebody based on the color of their skin.
… Throughout high school, college, and young adulthood, I was the race joke guy to pretty much any and every non-Black person I met. …
… In that moment I felt small, less than human, and helpless. This would be another case of discrimination and bias that would be relegated to an opinion piece. …
… Growing up in my church, it really felt like there was only one way to think and vote, and thinking or voting otherwise meant you were a subpar Christian. …
… I think I have to be OK with the fact that I didn’t choose a lot of this stuff. And, a lot of the crap going on for a lot of people is crap they didn’t choose. …
… The response to “What is this going to do?” is, hopefully, it makes more and more people ask “Why do these players have to do this?”…
… If not through these voices wearing jerseys that remind us what matters, in what other ways are you watching (i.e. listening to) the conversation? …
… Yes, it’s just a sleeveless shirt, but the bigger truth I’m applying here is that I cannot only be anti-racist when it’s convenient for me. …
… What you can’t forget, though, is the fear and pain in Bubba’s reaction to the “noose” was real. He didn’t plant that rope. …
… I wonder if some of it he knew he had to do. Because maybe he knew how hard it was for him and how hard it would be for me. …
… If you are now informed and still see the statue as simply a monument to the Texas Rangers, please consider that to be a privilege. …
…I was really anxious to the point of not having an appetite for dinner. … I really had no idea how a conversation on race would go, or how it would start. In this small group, I am the only person of color.
… But right now, we’re talking about skin color. It’s not a conversation that involves polished, practiced responses. It’s a lot of raw anger and complete exhaustion. Simply put, we’re pissed and spent. …
