Justice for All
“At critical moments, powerful flashpoints shine a stark, unforgiving, and incendiary light that brings focus to change we must produce, injustice we must redress, and systems we must fundamentally reform. The tragic killing of George Floyd constitutes such a flashpoint, laying bare the racial disparities that operate within our criminal justice system. Unfortunately, that system is not alone. COVID-19 has put an ugly spotlight on how those same racial disparities permeate our health systems and produce stunningly inequitable health outcomes.”
Reginald Robinson, CEO, Kansas Health Initiative, June 1, 2020
My friend and former classmate Reggie has crystallized the urgency of this moment better than I could hope to do. But more than the criminal justice system and the health care system have oppressed and suppressed the access of our Black fellow citizens to, and full enfranchisement in, society in the United States of America. Since the founding of this nation, which decimated Native people and then established entire regional economic systems on slavery, the American narrative was built on white male supremacy. That singular focus diminishes the whole of society, since we are all connected and interdependent in ways visible and invisible. The light shining now reveals not only the systemic nature of racial, economic, and social disparities and injustices, but further shows the risks to our collective future if we do not right these wrongs, now. Our focus on ESG informs us that all forms of injustice are connected. Racial disparities in communities are inextricably linked to the climate injustices that beget pollution-linked disease, lower educational opportunities, reduce economic opportunity, and so on. Our commitment to wholistic solutions is unwavering. We are united in the affirmation that BlackLivesMatter, and we will continue to work and vote for the change necessary to redress these systemic wrongs.