Are You Willing To Get Uncomfortable? Over the last couple of days, there are a lot of people messaging me, asking where my heart and head at with the current situation regarding the George Floyd rebellion or the Black Lives Matter movement. I thought long and hard about what to answer. The protests, voting, and calling out your local authorities are all good, but there is one thing that I feel would really make a difference in the long run.
The change and equality that we are dreaming about will only come if each and every one of us will do what my call to action is. After this issue will be covered by big celebrations and holidays in the coming months- 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., when the protests will ease and when our pre-COVID lifestyle will resume, will this movement be forgotten again?
I really believe that no one is born a racist and that racism is something that’s taught and passed on by generation to generation. Those who are asking how can I help? To those who are saying I will not tolerate racism in my community and definitely not in my household, I’ll ask you, in a smaller setting where the #BlackLiveMatter issue arises, are you willing to get uncomfortable to defend me, your black friend as if I was there? When some of your friends or family members make an uninformed remark about black people, are you willing to take a stance to correct them? Or will you just shut than make a ‘fuss’?
That is my call to action. Be willing to get uncomfortable. Listen to this podcast in full to understand why I feel this is the best way to make a progression.
Here’s What You Missed
- What diversities I faced as a young boy and as a black American
- Why did my family decided to transfer to Iowa from Chicago
- What adversities I face in Omaha even as a successful grown-up man
- Why I told my wife we will stop supporting Walmart
- Why I am asking you to be willing to get uncomfortable
Knowledge Nuggets
Think about this, Do you think my brother Floyd would have died if just one of the policemen or bystanders was willing to get uncomfortable and told the police to stop what he was doing? Black people are always facing situations that get them uncomfortable, are you willing to be uncomfortable too?
Podcast Times Stamp:- Are You Willing To Get Uncomfortable?
[0:54] I understand my whole life what it means to be uncomfortable. I grew up in inner Chicago, raised by a single mother and not having a relationship with my dad. Everything I saw growing up was drugs, violence, and gangs. I lost my best friends when I was nine, transferred to a community where I saw very few people who look like me, and battled against cancer at 14.
[16:25] For most of us, we want a 1% our lifestyle, but yet we find so much comfort in security. You have to understand that the reason why most issues and problems arise is because people are not willing to be uncomfortable when you go through that much adversity in life.
[17:42] I’ve been so blessed to be able to overcome the adversities I faced. Whereas some men, especially black men and some people in general, black women and minorities and LGBT and people with disabilities have not been able to overcome them and they’ve, they’ve sunken into depression and PTSD.
[20:11] Are you willing to be uncomfortable when I’m not around to defend me as if I was around? In silo conversations, whether during a family get-together, your son’s sports game, or maybe at your neighbor’s house, are you willing to take a stance when issues about black people are brought up? You may own a business or a non-profit will you be scared that your families or whoever else will not support you if you say your opinion regarding this matter?
[22:12] No one is born racist. It’s the things that they’re taught along their way. And then they develop an ignorant mindset that says that they’re superior for most people. They don’t want to get uncomfortable and yet they just go with the flow.
[23:10] I told my wife that we are no longer supporting Walmart. Why? Well, I’ve looked at all Walmart’s platforms and I’ve seen nothing. How difficult is it for them to put a post up that says, “Racism has no place in this country. We will not stand forward. We stand with our black employees, our black consumers and our black partners who support us in our establishment.”?
[24:16] If you make no statement, you are basically making a statement. You are not willing to be uncomfortable. At the end of day, you stand for something and most of the time you want your kids to stand for something. So if you are not standing against police brutality, what are you really making a stance on?
[24:17] People are asking for equality. They’re not asking for sympathy. They’re not even asking necessarily for empathy. They are asking for fairness. What would you feel if what happened to George happened to you or your family? Being unlawfully convicted of something where there was no proof, where in this country, its supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Where you had to lay face down on the ground with three knees on your body, what would that make you feel?
[31:07] You uphold the law, but you are not the law. My father-in-law once told me that “if you would just do what the cops would say”. You see, there is the law and there is law enforcement, but you (law enforcers) are not the law.
[34:19] You, yes you. You have the opportunity to make a stance. You want to know how to help with the equality movement? Be willing to get uncomfortable. If you do make a stance, I bet you will not get shot and you’re not going to be choked out. However, you will get uncomfortable, your ego might hurt when they will say something against you. But that will tell more about their true colors. As for you, you will get an opportunity to take a stance, to make sure that the next generation will also stand for something. So, can you be a voice for us? Can you be an advocate for black people, for the LGBT, for people with disabilities and for minorities?
Important Reads and Links
Just Mercy (Movie)
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