Lisa Wilkerson, our Speaker is the Global Marketing Director at AbbVie. She helped to bring a new point of view about the issues that matter to the black community. In the days following George Floyd's death, we witnessed peaceful and not so peaceful protests and the cries for justice from the Black Lives Matter movement. Lisa will be the first to admit that the movement doesn't have a clear platform which leads to a lack a true, national leadership. One thing that Lisa shared with us was the correlation of our Four Way Test and what is happening these days with Black Lives Matter and the current protests. If we apply the Four Way Test to the things that are happening around us, we get a better picture. The death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the number of the Black lives before them at the hands of police officers, brings to the forefront the social injustices, systemic racism and police brutality. Black Lives Matter is a cry, a plea to look at what is happening at the hands of police. These rallies occur when justice has not been served for the death of a black person at the hands of police. Lisa also said that just because a person of color has reached a level of success, it doesn't preclude them from being judged by the color of their skin. A personal story she shared is that recently her son (who is whip smart, an athlete and musician) was out with his friends and their skateboards one night. As a mother, she is always worried about her children out at night until they come home. That particular night, about 10 p.m., she sent her son a text to come home so she could get some sleep without worrying. He sent a text back that he would try. That answer wasn't to her satisfaction, so she called him.. He explained that he lost his wallet and was using the flashlight on his phone to find it. She feared that a resident in the neighborhood would be frightened at seeing a young black male shining a flashlight and call the police. She urged her son to come home and they would look for it later. The next day the police station called to say a person turned in the wallet. Still fearing the worst if her son went in person to pick up his property, she went instead. She feared they would start asking questions as to why he was in that particular neighborhood. This is what so many black parents fear - stereotyping because of the color of his skin. The pandemic has also shined a bright spotlight on the inequalities when it comes to education and healthcare. Across the nation, when it comes to education, not every home has internet or even reliable internet; nor do they have the hardware or devices to access online schooling. Many of those children would use the library in pre-pandemic days to complete their homework. More affluent school districts can provide two books per subject so one set is at school and one is at home. Students in less fortunate districts may not even have one book that is the latest edition. With healthcare, the statistics have shone the adverse number of those hit with the virus, more severe symptoms, and death rates are people of color than caucasians. Ghida told the members and guests how Highland Park reviewed their policies after the death of George Floyd. These policy updates are on the City's website. Lisa has a suggested reading/viewing/listening list for members who are interested in learning more about systemic racism. Books: So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo How to be an anitracist by Ibram X Kendi White fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin DiAngelo Podcasts NPR's Codeswitch NYT's 1619 Movies/Documentaries When they see us by Ava DuVernay 13th by Ava DuVernay Reconstruction: America after the civil war - PBS |