Conversations on Race ... and More

June 9, 2020

Dear LeaderWise Friends,

Our hearts grieve over the tragedies of the last couple weeks, as we’ve witnessed racial injustice, police brutality, violence, and murder. These events once again lay bare the ugliness of systemic racism in our nation. Like many of you, our staff has begun to take a hard look at ourselves, and we’ve not always liked what we’ve found. For those of us who are white, racism has polluted our perspective through white privilege. Even if we know better on one level, on an unconscious level there’s still a part of us that believes the following lies - “Race doesn’t matter,” “In America, everyone’s treated equally,” “If you play by the rules, all people have a shot at the American dream.” Well, these just aren’t true. Our naive hope, “Can’t we just all get along?” just doesn’t sound right anymore. People who are Black, including those on our staff, have had to feign patience and understanding with the rest of us way too long.

Like most of the nation, it’s taken us too long to wake up to the full impact of systemic racism. It’s no secret, for instance, that most white people view racism as an issue of individual morality and actions while most people of color know it’s deeply systemic. As Dr. Okokon Udo, a LeaderWise colleague, astutely observes, “It’s a Race Pandemic” — and it extends way, way beyond COVID-19.

Rev. Karen Hutt, a vice president at United Theological Seminary and LeaderWise board member, recently delivered a moving online sermon about her experience with race, and we share it below. Toward the end of the sermon, she talks about shifting from “political hope” based in naive optimism to a “spiritual, human-oriented hope” based in “acting and organizing.” As she notes, if we embrace the second hope, we’ll find it to be a “spiritual, human, life-centered, life-giving hope.”

Rev. Hutt’s words compel us to act. At LeaderWise, we recognize that the journey towards transformation will be long — and, at times, arduous. Regardless, we must act now. To begin this journey, our staff encourages you to join us in one or more of the opportunities outlined below.

We recognize that this only a beginning point for LeaderWise, as well as for most of us, in our efforts to help dismantle white supremacy. Although we’ve taken a few steps for our own work as a staff — such as inservice workshops on cultural competence and internalized narratives about race — we know we’ve a long way to go. At LeaderWise, there will be more conversations — and more actions to take — as we examine our biases, learn new ways of being, and take steps toward individual and collective transformation. We humbly invite you to journey with us.

Sincerely,

Mark Sundby
Executive Director