This past summer, I had the opportunity to bring our work to the Points of Light conference. The theme -- REimagine, REvitalize, REcommit -- spoke to me as soon as I saw it; I knew I had to apply to speak. In February, I was accepted, and by July I was presenting a talk: Two Sides of the Same Coin: Racial Equity & Wellness.
Points of Light cultivates a global community that supports and increases the capacity of non-profits across sectors, crafting tools and creating conditions for civic engagement to thrive. And in this cultural moment, I knew that with such a critical audience in front of me, I had to craft a talk that spoke equally to both moving the needle on DEIB work and moving the needle on wellness.
And yet, when we are able to truly view belonging - the "B" in our approach to DEIB work - as essential to breaking bias, we understand clearly that racial equity and wellness really are - you guessed it - two sides of the same coin.
If you're familiar with our work, you might not be surprised to hear me speaking about racial equity and wellness as firmly and inseparably entwined. After all, if our goal is to build a beloved community, how can we do this without ensuring that everyone in our community is happy, is safe, is healthy, lives with ease? How can we care for others if we cannot care for ourselves? How can we care for ourselves if we cannot care for others?
And yet, I am struck (as I am many times when I bring our work to a new audience) by what a radical idea this seems to be. Points of Light graciously provided a recap of my talk on their own blog (thank you!), so you can also learn more about what I spoke about there - and you'll see that this idea resonated even as it felt brand new, and maybe even strange, to the folks in attendance.
This is the heart of our work: introducing love and breaking bias so often that what once felt radical eventually feels like a matter of course. This is the work of ending racism in our lifetimes.
What a wonderful experience it was to be in community with everyone at Points of Light! I hope someday to return, and I hope that in the meantime, our time together was powerful and transformative.