The 4th of July & My Gma's Bday :)

Today is for the 4th of July. A day that this country declared itself free from British rule and officially became its own nation with a Declaration of Independence . We pledge allegiance to this country with a line that includes: With liberty and justice for all, but clearly don’t mean the all part. So until that all is inclusive, I won’t be celebrating this country’s anything.

__

Most importantly, today is also my Grandmother’s birthday, which actually makes this day special. It’s much easier to enjoy BBQ and fireworks in celebration of her life instead of this sordid country’s history. When I was living in Florida, we would always have a big party to celebrate her birthday, which drowned out the noise of this uncomfortable holiday. It was the summer, so when I was younger my siblings and my cousins were all out of school and we would have a big cookout by the pool, eat lots of yummy food, and watch fireworks as we’d sing the real happy birthday song.

It's Not Politics: Wear The GD Mask

I absolutely cannot believe this has to be said, but wear a gd mask. Wear it. Even if you’re not sure what it does or if it makes you look like a cartoon character. Wear the mask because it has been proven to stop the widespread of this virus that is wreaking havoc on the entire world. I’m not sure when the president starting politicizing the use of masks, but he is undeniably at fault for where our country currently is and its speeding descent into chaos.

I remember when the announcement came from my company’s headquarters to close NYC offices and for everyone to start gathering their belongings to work from home. For how long? We all asked, but nobody was sure. Two weeks. I think it was maybe two weeks they thought and we’d be able to come back to the office. This was all done as a precaution before the state even announced the work from home mandate for non-essential workers. Everything was up in the air. It was all speculation at that point as no one was fully aware the extent of the virus or how infectious is was.

Before our office closed, I got back from a work summit in California and got pretty sick, but figured it was because I was around so many people for an extended time. This was before Cuomo’s daily numbers announcement and before we knew where the virus first landed. It was around that time, when I got back, people were hesitant to order Chinese food and there was all this racism against asian people. Absolutely insane. Remember that NY Times article?! I remember a coworker and I joking about how absurd people were and not thinking much of the virus itself or at least how it could potentially affect work. It feels like aeons ago. That was in FEBRUARY. I’m still unsure it was the virus, but at this point, who knows?! Kinda scary to think about…

Let's Talk About "Handouts" & Affirmative Action

The next question on everyone’s mind is, how do we fix it? How do we remedy the disparities that have existed for so long and what will the interviewing, hiring, and recruiting process look like through this change? The latter is something we simply cannot answer until these changes start happening, but what should these changes entail? This might be the most important question to start the process of rebuilding and reevaluating current systems. It’s not going to be a simple solution to ensure black people are on the same playing field because we just haven’t been for so long due to a complicated amount of oppression baked into our society. So the answer isn’t simply, hire more black people, it’s how do we make sure there are no barriers to entry into the workforce, support for development, and pay gaps are eliminated - this is especially apparent in the disparity between white men and black women. While we continue to figure this stuff out, there is one notion I want to talk about and explain why it’s not only insulting, but dangerously misleading, and that’s the suggestion that black people want “handouts” when it comes to positions. Though, if we did receive a “handout” that wouldn’t even remotely make up for the amount of pain, trauma, and fear we hold every single day just because we are black.

Celebrating Where I Came From on Juneteenth

Juneteenth is something I didn’t even know about until my aunt brought me to a celebration one year at her church when I was in high school. There is where I learned the history of the holiday, what it meant to us as African Americans, and also made me realize that school was a joke when it came to black history in America. Today has me thinking of the ways my family taught me my history and made sure to instill pride in where I came from and hope for the future.

Yes, Defund the Police. Rethink the System.

I think what’s being missed when people say defund the police is the ultimate goal: The creation of an environment and culture that enables communities to thrive rather than be terrorized. Providing services that will help people experiencing homelessness, funding clinics that can take care of people suffering from addiction, providing more succinct healthcare, and livable wages. This isn’t rocket science, but it certainly is a science. Defunding the police is definitely something we should be working towards, but in tandem need to address the needs of each community, because they could vary considerably from state to state. Defunding the police is a blanket term but determining how that process will go and deciding which programs will benefit from this reformation is equally important.