If you open any news media outlet this morning, you won’t be able to escape news and images about Ferguson, MO. And neither would you want to. We all have something to learn about this tragedy, regardless of race, gender or opinion for that matter.
One of the recurring words I keep reading and hearing on the radio is “fairness”. What happened to African-American teenager Mike Brown, shot and killed by a Caucasian police officer back in August, many will tell you, was not fair. And the fact that no indictment came out of the Grand Jury’s decision threw things even more for a loop, with protests all over the country calling for justice.
Yet, as many complain about unfairness, can we also ask ourselves, what’s really fair nowadays? Should we even expect fairness when we all are trying to heal from the remnants of a traumatic past? Many of the laws and institutions that created the chaos in Ferguson, and many other places, were the doing of older generations and differing mentalities. So how can we speak fairness towards a world we still have to work at changing?
Yesterday, as I watched the protests in Ferguson, my heart ached. I went to hug my son, as I mourned for another Black woman’s child. Yet deep inside, I knew for as long as we’ve come, we still have some ways to go. And for as much fairness as we hope for, truth is, fairness is overrated; it has been for some time now.
What matters is the stand we each individually take, regardless of race, gender and opinion, to bring about positive change. Before blaming the system, we must take responsibility for our part in it. We must strive to educate ourselves to stand at the polls and make informed choices. We must work to reach the levels of influence that will allow us to stop wishing and start acting. We must, in peace, be the fair change we keep hoping for.
No life is ever in vain, and no deed ever lost in meaning. If anything, Mike Brown taught us all a lesson, he did leave a legacy. Not a legacy of fear, violence or retribution, but one of positive, educated change.
Today, as you work at your craft, work harder to make a difference. As you read the news, think about how you can best vote to bring about better results. As you head to class, dedicate yourself to learning about making a better life for yourself and others.
When you speak, write or however you choose to express yourself, do it out of a place of resolve, determination and faith, not out of anger or fear. Sit at the front of the class, stand up in the meeting, make your voice heard. Be excellent, stay hungry.
Do what you can, the best you can, right where you are.
RIP Mike Brown.
The Corporate Sis.
