Change can’t wait.

3 June 2020 | Rebekah Steele

Originally published on LinkedIn

Black and brown people are frequently told to be thankful for what has changed within a system that continues to oppress. A common refrain echoes: Be patient and accept that change takes time.

Over 30 years ago, James Baldwin called out the absurdity of this demand:

“What is it you want me to reconcile myself to? I was born here almost sixty years ago. I'm not going to live another sixty years. You always told me it takes time. It has taken my father's time, my mother's time. My uncle's time. My brother's and sister's time. My niece's and my nephew's time. How much time do you want for your...'progress'?”

Time passes and, as recent violence and unrest painfully demonstrate, fierce intimidations and significant inequities continue.

Even as we take inspiration from Dr. King’s proclamation that the long moral arc bends toward justice, we also know the truth in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ reminder that the arc of individual lives too often ends today. As Coates explained:

“[If you] were somebody who was taken to Auschwitz and killed, your arc ended right there; you died. It didn’t bend toward justice. It bent towards injustice. The arc of your particular history ended right there. Eric Garner’s arc ended [on that] concrete when he was choked out on that street…Some people say, ‘I mean the bigger sense’, but I think you have to be profoundly respectful for that individual. That individual is not going to be around to see that bigger sense.”

#GeorgeFloyd’s arc was ended. Ahmaud Arbery’s and Breonna Taylor’s arcs were ended. And the arcs of countless others have been prematurely ended. Success deferred, Coates reminds, is not achieved. And progress is not inevitable. Or, as john a powell recently observed, that arc of justice is not likely to “bend by itself.” We must bend it ourselves.

In recent days, we have heard business leaders denounce the pattern of systemic violence against African Americans and call for change. Many encourage individuals to embrace inclusive behaviour. Those leaders who recognize that our institutions are fundamentally broken have a critical opportunity to expand their impact beyond these statements and isolated, individual actions.

Working within their own organizations, leaders can join their words with strategic action to help enable the systemic change needed to make our organizations and our society more inclusive. This is an opportunity to bolster commitment with meaningful investment and real accountability for results. It is an opportunity engage every employee, middle manager, and senior leader in the common, critical work of building an inclusive ecosystem where all can thrive. And leaders can join forces across organizations to amplify results.

D&I change can’t wait.

Each of us has the moral responsibility to take action; those in the mainstream must work alongside those who are marginalized. We all have a duty to positively impact lives with immediacy today, and to sustain those impacts for the lives of tomorrow. As Audre Lorde explained,

“You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to recognize that our wars are the same. What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.”

Together, we can bend the arc toward justice in organizations and society. And we must do it today.

#blacklivesmatter