New Month, Same America.

It is a new month, but unfortunately not a new day in America. Unequivocally, Enlightened-Solutions supports the worldwide protests drawing light to the near persistent and sometimes fatal subjugation of Black peoples here in America.

We believe that #BlackLivesMatter and we live this creed each day, drawing on our mission to center and amplify marginalized voices in the workplace.

LGBTQ* Pride Month Has Revolutionary Roots

We cannot forget, on this first day of LGBTQ* Pride Month, that the modern gay rights movement began with the Stonewall Uprising; Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were foundational in creating momentum for a movement that not only silenced their voices because they were LGBTQ*, but because they were also queer people of color.

#SayHerName + #SayTheirNames

As we continue to see protest movements unfold in our nation’s large cities and tiny towns, we must not forget about the Black women, femmes, and gender non-conforming individuals who have died at the hands of state-sanctioned violence. We should remember the names, lives, and stories of Dana Martin, Aiyana Jones, Tony McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Jamagio Jamar Berryman, Yvette Smith, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Rekia Boyd, Tamika Washington and countless others.

Honor their memory — #SayTheirNames.

We must be more than platitudes and out of context Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes on social media.

Interrogate Preconceived Notions

If you find yourself “tone-policing” individuals you disagree with, in method or action, please investigate why their reaction to oppression and exclusion makes you uncomfortable.

Use this time to interrogate, dismantle, and rebuild preconceived notions about how America was and should be moving forward. We must interrogate our own personal lives to dismantle structural inequality. If you find yourself supporting in name only, but not those in your personal or professional orbit you have the opportunity to do so now.

Resources as Action Items

We must be more than platitudes and out of context Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes on social media. This is the time to study the words of and stand in solidarity with marginalized people to build a more equitable future.

Below are some resources we have found enlightening:

• “How To Be Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi: “Being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.”
• The Warmth of Other Suns By Isabel Wilkerson: Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.
• Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: “But what is also unmistakable in the bitter protests in Minneapolis and around the country is the sense that the state is either complicit or incapable of effecting substantive change.”
• The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates: “Is affirmative action meant to increase “diversity”? If so, it only tangentially relates to the specific problems of black people.”
• James Baldwin Debates William F. Buckley: “Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?”

We are quite literally standing on the shoulders of giants at this moment.

Be well,

Chinenye Nkemere | Director of Strategy, Enlightened-Solutions