it’s 1am and i’m up because something is bothering me

i heard this app is good for ranting, so here’s a rant

it’s about anti-racism, inclusion, equity, and the gaps between:

- intellectualizing and embodying
- thinking and doing
- intention and impact

BIG gaps

i know a lot of people began a learning journey about this topic this past summer. great. better late than never. welcome.

here’s the thing: there’s a big gap between *intellectualizing* something and *embodying* it

you can read about

playing music
playing sports
acting
dancing

all you want. it doesn’t mean you’re gonna be worth shit when you get out in the field or pick up the instrument or walk out on the stage

inclusion is like that. you have to get it into your body

so if you think in your mind, yeah, here’s what I believe, great. that’s a first step. aligning your behaviors to it is an entirely different process.

if you’ve ever learned a new language, you can also liken it to the difference between reading and holding a conversation

so like, if you’re not worried about it, if you’re not examining and practicing and examining constantly

if you’re not asking yourself with every action and double checking your mind (and boy are human minds subject to biases)

you are most definitely perpetuating

if you aren’t actively seeking out information and making systems to try and figure out how you could be doing better - how we could be doing better

and creating safe ways for people to tell you

then i am worried that you are not worried

And if you aren’t examining power structures, your role within them, and how that will affect the behavior of people around you *particularly* when there’s a big difference in stakes, you most certainly are blind to factors that you absolutely need to see to have “empathy”

Look, I hired a world class majority POC team balanced across the gender spectrum that did amazing work: est design system, rebrand, new products, you name it

I definitely was not perfect
There’s plenty I felt I should have done better

and I know I *still* screw things up

any of us who have halfway succeeded in the current system have managed to navigate the status quo

because it’s the water we have been swimming in for so long, there is so much we do not see

that’s why this takes *work* and constant *action* not only thoughts and intentions

and if you read one book and a few articles this summer and are now acting like you got this down-pat

you’re fooling yourself and not fooling anyone else who knows

much better to openly admit you’re learning. you’ll get to learn faster. i am still learning too after 25 years