I hit a wall on Friday. You know the one. The perfect cocktail of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion.
Somewhere between the Chauvin trial verdict, quickly followed by the murder of another Black body that looks hauntingly similar to my own, the passing into eternity of my Great-Grandmother, and trying to be a leader, a teacher, a mother, and a Black woman in this America, I got tired.
I fell into the weekend like one falls into a hammock - without guilt or much care for how clumsy one looks - and I did not surface from my familial sanctuary until late Sunday evening to sit at my desk and respond to a few emails.
In times such as these, one might ask themselves why we get up to continue this practice and work again? Why do we keep pushing for progress in our homes, our communities, and our workplaces when it takes so much of us personally? Wouldn’t it be easier just to go back to sleep…?
Thinking about this, I’m reminded of the words of the late Fannie Lou Hammer, who, when asked why she kept pushing in the face of setback after setback, responded, “because I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
As we are all learning, daily attendance to the practice and work of anti-racism and reform within our schools, workplaces, and communities requires that we come to our lives awake, present, open, and vulnerable. And sometimes this will mean that we are ‘tired’ in ways that we never thought possible. Thoroughly bone-tired. But still, every time, it will be worth it.
This month at LTHJ Global, we are reminding ourselves just how important DEI is to the future of leadership and work. Be sure to read Lisa Ahmad’s article Why DEI Matters for some important nuggets to take to your next Leadership Team or Board meeting.
In my life, I’ve discovered that there are two types of tiredness - one is the malaise of barely living, and the other is the fatigue of living bared.
And while we are asking ourselves about the future of leadership, take up Lisa Greene’s opportunity to reflect on What Is "Normal" Anyway as you begin to strategize how to move your team forward in coming months.
The first makes life easy, the second makes life worth the living.
Diversity is the norm,