So black lives finally matter. Lol.

L.O.L

Sorry…I have to laugh. Mostly because it took the consecutive filmed lynchings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd to “wake the world up” to the injustices that black people have faced since the founding of America. The confluence of black death spectacle and people just now realizing how fucked up shit is…makes me laugh. And it’s not a happy laughter. It’s like a dark, sad laughter. Like wow, if you’re just now figuring this shit out— also a lot of y’alls reactions feel performative — then you’ve got a long way to go to actually understanding institutional racism and how the practices of capitalism are inextricably linked to the oppression of black and brown people. One of these practices that I’ve been thinking about is transparency.

HAMILTON: An American Musical states, “No one really knows how the game is played, The art of the trade, How the sausage gets made.” The celebrated musical references the earliest days of America in which the location of the capital was being decided on and along with it, the exclusion of Aaron Burr during said decision. Lobbying and emotional manipulation occurred behind closed doors, all shrouded in secrecy. This would ultimately become the norm for America, its politics, and its tenants of institutional racism.

Recently, Michelle Obama made headlines for claiming that, “The average young person knows more about the cereal they're eating and the car they're driving than they do about what government actually does for them.” With the utmost respect to former first lady Michelle Obama, if we don’t know what the government actually does for us, it’s because the government has never been transparent about what they actually do.

We don’t know what happens behind the closed doors of our leaders.

And it’s not just the government. Practically every single power structure in our country lacks transparency.

Government

Education

Hiring Practices

…I could go on but I won’t. You get the point. 

In thinking about the months since black lives started “mattering” and all that has unfolded, I’ve learned that the institution of white supremacy can infect ANYONE. It does not discriminate. It does not care if you’re a member of a historically oppressed or marginalized community. It has taken ahold of some of the most prominent power players of our industry. Now what do we do about it?

Radical transparency is one of the keys to the downfall of white supremacy.  Imagine a world in which there are no secrets about power and how it’s maintained, money and how it’s gained, and success and how it’s acquired. Is that a lot to ask of our leaders? Yes. Does that mean we shouldn’t ask? No. But the more manageable thing is adopting the practice of radical transparency into our lives. Being transparent about how we acquired success, money and power, by way of hard work, or inheritance or privilege. Own it. De-normalize silence. Destigmatize the unfiltered truth. In doing this, we can collectively begin to dismantle white supremacist practices in not only the industry, but every facet of our lives.

A few questions for those reading this. (Power is subjective. It can be as small or big as you imagine.) 

Have you garnered any power? If you have garnered any sort of power, are you hesitant to share that power? Are you hesitant to be completely transparent about your journey to power? Not somewhat, but completely transparent. How you have used or not used that power for good or bad? What are you willing to risk for the dismantling of white supremacy? How honest are you willing to be to people who have not acquired the amount of power that you have? If you have not been transparent about your power in all facets, are you aware that your silence is directly connected to the oppression of black and brown people? If you are and you continue to be silent and not transparent, then will you admit that Black lives do not matter to you?

These questions transcend race, religion, or gender.

To end, I’ll leave you with this.

I urge us all to remember that knowledge is power. A lot of people don’t want us to be powerful. So…I will continue to laugh. But I hope one day, I won’t need to.