Now is the Convenient Season
Written By Omar Williams, Business Leader at 3M
Good morning. I’m proud to work for a company that has the courage to initiate this conversation to get in front of this tragedy.
As a boy, I watched a documentary about the 1955 murder of Emmitt Till in grade school, which made me fearful of visiting my extended family in the south. As a teenager, I watched the brutal beating of Rodney King on national TV, in horror. In 2014, I moved to Minnesota amidst protests in Ferguson which brought in to focus the tensions between our community and police at a national level. Today, it’s George Floyd of Minneapolis. Ten minutes have changed America. These terrible events, including those that I have not mentioned, are emotionally suffocating.
This is our Emmitt Till moment. Like in 1955, I pray that this is a turning point that sparks real change.
I’m full of many emotions: sadness, outrage and frustration to name a few. The issues surrounding race, over-policing, and injustice are far too complex to unpack in this short discussion. But the heartache that I feel today, is a direct result of this tragedy, which happens more often than the videos and hashtags we see. The protest and violence in the wake of the death of George Floyd presents complex challenges for all of us, not just the African American community.
Let me say it again since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated it best, “injustice here is a threat to justice everywhere” These words were shared in his letter from a Birmingham jail in 1963. He goes on to say to the silent majority, “[you are] more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises … [African Americans] to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” These words unfortunately ring true today.
The unrest that we are experiencing is from years of frustration and empty promises. However, for many, the narrative is centered around violence and rioting. I don’t condone violence or rioting of any form. But rioting is the result of voices that don’t feel heard. Over the weekend, I visited South Minneapolis to support the relief efforts and I could not help but to notice a boldly spray-painted message, that said: “Am I loud enough now?” At that moment, I thought about how much I would rather see NFL players respectfully protest for the same purpose than see this message spray painted on this building and everything that lead up to it.
Yet the question remains, do we have to wait for a “more convenient season” for equality and justice?
Have we waited long enough?
Do we need another 10 minutes?
In under ten minutes, a life was prematurely taken, and George’s family will never get him back. Still, I’m hopeful that justice will be served, and meaningful steps are taken to prevent a similar tragedy from ever happening again. Charlene Vance named several short and long-term actions we can take.
Action steps we can all take
Create safe spaces for people to have conversations
Start the conversation and seek understanding – listen to empathize
For every black person you have this conversation with, you should also have the same conversation with 5 non-black people.
Support police reform