I appreciate your perspective and I’m listening. Yet, to tell someone you don’t know, everything about them, is not the mature approach, as you’ve asked me to take. As a spiritual leader, I absolutely see myself as only one small part of a very diverse collective, which is must vaster than just humans, it includes the Earth’s ecosystem and our Universe. I’ve been a community organizer for over 25 years, sometimes I’ve been in a leadership role, other times being quiet, learning and respecting the leadership of the black and Hispanic women and men who knew more than I did. I currently lead a global community of Lightworkers, empaths and mystics for the express purpose of uplifting empathic, compassionate and inclusive leaders.
It’s fine for anyone (black, white, Asian, Latino, indigenous) to affirm their human personality as unique and individual and yet we all have a responsibility to each other and generally speaking most humans have the same base desires - to be loved, to be safe, to be connected with family, friends and community, to have their basic needs met so they can pursue a life of meaning and purpose.
Am I still unpacking my biases? Every day. It’s the shadow work that must be done at the individual level, then openly shared with the collective to encourage others to do the same. Systems are made up of individual people, making individual choices that them impact the collective, either negatively or positively. I don’t see all of this as an either/or, but instead a both. We must dismantle and rebuild any system that is oppressive, self serving and dangerous. We must also change hearts and minds, one person at a time. We must make tangible the humanity of those who don’t look like us, speak like us or with different cultural traditions. For I believe (and that’s all it is, my belief) that until we learn to embrace our diversity and stop trying to make everyone like me, well then we are getting somewhere. I’m also well aware that to shift the hearts and minds of 8 billion people, with more on the way, takes everyone who’s even remotely aware. Tearing down anyone who is at least trying, negates any progress.
