We had a meeting today,
To dance around “courageous conversations.”
We need norms, rules of engagement, proper etiquette,
The kind of stuff to make sure people
Don’t treat each other poorly,
Don’t get their feelings hurt,
Because, after all, “I’m okay, you’re okay,” right?

What I’m getting at is this,
You want to address problems with equity, race, tolerance,
Whatever the current term is,
We’ve got to start solving problems
Because we, society at large,
Are very good at talking about the problems,
But we SUCK at solving the problems.

Just saying…

A person can intellectualize the way another feels,
Maybe even empathize, but that changes nothing
Beyond the way those mindful of that moment are thinking.
Some might believe this is enough,
It’s a start, but only a fragile beginning, nothing tangible.
Enough with the talk, let’s solve some problems,
Ask the necessary questions, brainstorm solutions, choose the best option, and implement the solution.

We don’t need to muddy the issues with emotional excess
We need to treat people properly,
We need to build a representative society,
We need to look at all systems, not just the systems with power,
But also the disenfranchised systems,
To understand the forces keeping both from coming together.

We need to stop categorizing people by color,
Take those boxes out of the equation,
Stop checking with an organizational method that invites racism
For we know data should never be trusted
And those pushing data to make points of a cultural nature
Often only represent their statistics as “us” versus “them.”

So what of this meeting,
What can we do?
We need to know what our problems are,
Without that basic understanding there can be no solutions.
Once the easy problems are “solved,”
Later, the issues within people can be addressed…
The time to do is now, lest this fade away like the last initiative.

“The great blessings of mankind are within us and within reach; but we shut our eyes, and like people in the dark, we fall foul upon the very thing we search for, without finding it.” Seneca