Black sadness and building things…

….. Black folks been trying to tell y’all forever we had some issues….we invented the blues…what more of a sign did you need! We literally invented an ENTIRE genre of music based on sadness..that’s how sad we were….

Last year, I had a platform. I managed the Black and Latino Tech Initiative. And as part of that, I started podcasting. I created VC Cheat Sheet with the folks at ABF Creative. The goal was to help Black and Brown founders get venture capital — or investments — from predominately White firms backed by big businesses.

I geared up and learned a lot of what a VC was, what the issues were and all the things that were supposed to prepare me for helping a brotha or sista out. I was informed. I spoke to a lot of founders. I found myself having conversation after conversation, not about the money. About values. About how people were living on their moms couch. About insecurities. Conversations with some of the most brilliant people I know and how they did not feel capable of creating. I talked to myself about these things. I spoke more about mental health and Black sadness than anything.

Fast forward to today. This new year, I took the opportunity that I’d prayed for for a long time to join a major financial services company. And here I am. Living the dream. Working with product teams CREATING and BUILDING. While at the same time struggling with and witnessing Black sadness from one of the most successful cohorts of Black American’s in history.

I imagine how much more we could create if someone would just listen.