# #BlackLivesMatter
Education + Empathy is the first step towards change.
And we have to start with ourselves first. We can't always change others, but I can change myself. Am I treating everyone with respect, do I have an implicit bias that I need to tackle, what can I do to be a better human being.
If I want the world to be better, then I need to be better. It starts with me.
# Recognizing our own privileges
You might think you don't have any special privileges. You worked hard for that education, you worked hard for that job, no one gave you a break, you earned it all on your own.
But this video showed me that there are a lot of privileges that we didn't earn. It was given to us the day we were born. Not based on merits, just pure luck and good fortune.
We have to recognize our own privileges in order to be more empathetic of other people's experiences.
Just because it was easy for you, it doesn't automatically mean it's easy for others. And not because they haven't worked hard enough. We are the result of our privileges. You get it not because you earned it, your borned luck privilege got you there. So we need to stop judging others with our own lens. We will probably never truly know someone's experience until we walked in their shoes. And if we can't, then we better be more thoughtful and at the minimum try to look at things in their lens before we cast our judgement.
# Why we hate
We're taught to hate because we're ignorant.
We're the product of ignorant people who have been taught an ignorant thing which is that there are four or five different races. There's only one race, the human race. We have separated people into races so that some of us can see ourselves as superior to the others.
There's no gene for bigotry. You're not born a bigot you have to learn to be a bigot. Anything you learn you can unlearn. It's time to unlearn our bigotry.
Jane Elliot
# Understand Why
As long as we're focusing on the what, we're not focusing on the why.
Let's ask ourselves why in this country in 2020 the financial gap between poor blacks and the rest of the world is at such a distance that people feel like their only hope and only opportunity to get some of the things that we flaunt and flash in front of them all the time is to walk through a broken glass window to get it.
That's what we need to be questioning. Why are people so poor, why are they so broke, that they feel like their only shot is to walk through a broken glass window to get what they need.
If I play Monopoly with you and for 400 rounds, I didn't allow you to have any money, I didn't allow you to have anything on the board, I didn't allow for you to have anything. And then we played for another 50 rounds, finally thinking you get a little bit. But every time they didn't like the way you're playing, or how you're catching up, they burn your game, they burn your cards. How can you win. You can't win. The game is fixed.
Kimberly Jones
# Debunking All Lives Matter
I think about succeeding in one very simple story. There are two ways to build the biggest building in town. The first way, is to just build the biggest building in town. The second way, is to build a decent-sized building and then spending all your time tearing down others, so you end up being the biggest building in town.
95% of people try to do number two. People that tear everyone else's building down are hurting inside and want other people to feel pain. Misery loves company.
They are so insecure that they don't live in a world of abundance. I do think the rise of Black Lives Matter more, it means my life matters less. That's why people are replying, All Lives Matter. And it's super wrong. They don't get it. This is not a "Black vs White" issue. Of course, your life matters too.
How do you not understand that you should only be as happy as your most unhappy fellow human. That level of compassion, sympathy, empathy are required for your own happiness.
So many people want to win at somebody else's expense without understanding that there's so many variations of winning.
Gary Vaynerchuk
# Don't forget to recharge
Don’t forget to recharge! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VD9wBbP9Lo
— Tabitha Brown (@IamTabithaBrown) June 4, 2020
A lot of us are using energy we've never used before. We have to search in the depth of our soul to get through our day. Do not forget to recharge. Sometimes you have to disconnect. Sometimes you gonna have to step away. So that you can come back stronger to fulfill the thing you're trying to do. But it is important to recharge.
Check in on yourself, your mind, your body, and your soul. If you ain't the best version of yourself, you ain't good to nobody else. I know you mean well, I know you want to make a difference, but we need you to be able to do that, so recharge.
Tabitha Brown
# Vote
When it comes to reforming our criminal justice system, protesting is important. And pairing it with voting is the best way to create lasting change.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 12, 2020
Make sure you and everybody you know is registered to vote at https://t.co/BzpMEHUM22. https://t.co/nAVgPOOc0s
# What kind of world do you want to live in?
When it comes to social questions, Warren Buffett offers an interesting thought experiment. He calls it the Ovarian Lottery.
24 hours before you are born, a genie approaches and asks you to design the world. You get to determine the political, economic, and social system.
But here's the catch. You don't get to decide where you are placed - you don't get to decide if you're able or disabled, intelligent or not intelligent, male or female, black or white, rich or poor. You are to enter the Ovarian Lottery and drop your ball in a bucket of 5+ billion. Knowing this, what world will you design?
I don't know the details of the world I want to create. But the one thing I know for sure is I want to create a world where there's equal justice for everyone. Then it wouldn't matter where I end up because I would have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
But we don't need a genie to make this happen. We can start right now. We need to advocate for the marginalized people in our society. We can shape our system. The #BlackLivesMatter movement has already changed our culture. Now, it's time to change our legal system.
# Let's do better
When we know better, we do better -- Maya Angelou
We now know better. so it’s time to do better! #BlackLivesMatter 🖤
