Here I go. My very first blog. I was inspired to start this blog due to a Leading Public Discourse class I am currently taking. The professor challenged us to utilize social media to influence public discussion around complex social dilemmas or, as the Academy of Social work calls it, a Grand Challenge. The Challenge that I have decided to join with others to tackle is Achieving Equal Opportunity and Justice with an emphasis on achieving Racial Justice. Even mentioning the word Race or Racism invokes dissonance, pain, frustration, and denial. It is a disease that has plagued American Society fueling divisiveness, unrest, and social inequities for centuries. I believe in humanity, and I believe together we can achieve Racial Justice.

When we look at data across so many indicators of wellbeing, race still remains a significant predictor of poor outcomes inextricably tied to the effects of historical and present day racialization. Although it is clear that Racism Impacts People of Color, many fail to realize that Racism impacts Whites as well. Dr. King once stated that “we are tied to a single garment of destiny and what affects one directly affects all indirectly,” like the way unchecked environmental pollution creates poor air quality for Earth’s inhabitants. Studies have also suggested that wealthy individuals that live near impoverished neighborhoods have higher levels of depression. When we take a deeper look at society, growing numbers of individuals suffer from depression, suicidal ideations, generalized anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorders, to name a few. We try to distract ourselves from our misery through food, sex, exercise, entertainment, etc., in order to avoid the general discontent. Could our denied discontentment arise from the unprocessed injustices we try not to see all around us but is ablaze on news headlines or on the faces of the individuals languishing in homelessness whose eyes we try to escape? Dr. King also said that “I cannot be free until you are free.” This world we live in is our home and all the peoples our brothers and sisters. To deny this is to deny our own humanity and limit our possibility for deep peace, deep well-being, and self-actualization. As the crude ways of hate give way to compassion, our personal and collective capacity to experience higher dimensions of thought, feeling, and being becomes more fully realized. We have real work to do together. One by one we can reach a critical mass to create a society where one’s skin color, ethnicity, culture, or religion is not a barrier to Liberty and Justice. This is not for others; this is for our very own liberation…