A Conversation On Reconciling Racial Tensions…James T. Meeks

“The only way out of the tensions that our country face is that black and white are going to have to sit down and find the solution together. The only reason that you (Bill Hybels) and I (James Meeks) are able to talk about race is because we trust each other. And we trust each other because in our heart we believe that the other person is just not out to get something or making up some story… We believe that we are decent people at heart. The first thing that you really have to do, black and white people, is to get to know each other…get to know each other. And then find a solution together. And so it’s going to take us all working together and it’s going to take us trusting each other to even want to figure it out." 

  --Rev. Dr. James Meeks, Founder and Pastor, Salem Baptist Church; Former Illinois State Senator

During the 2016 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend, Bill Hybels, who is Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois and also founder of the Willow Creek Association and Global Leadership Summit, invited Rev. James Meeks to Willow Creek Community Church to have a discussion about the racial problems and tensions that are plaguing Chicago, Illinois. Tensions in Chicago were recently exacerbated by the release of a video that captured the police shooting of an unarmed black youth. Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a police officer as he was walking away from a confrontation with police on October 20, 2014. Following the release of the video 13 months later, protests erupted in Chicago and major cities across the U.S. decrying this shooting as well as the recent police shootings and brutality of other unarmed people of color while interacting with police.
 
The quote above, while meant for the audience that was present during Bill Hybels and James Meeks’ conversation, is being shared because it is applicable to a wider audience. We must learn to live together or we will perish together.

To hear the conversation between Bill Hybels and James Meeks, click the link below:

Bill Hybels and James Meeks discuss racial problems in Chicago and U.S. 

On Race Relations...Jimmy Carter

"Well, I think we kind of breathed a sigh of relief back in the ’60s, after we had 100 years of racial discrimination with separate but equal, and the Supreme Court and the Congress and everybody else agreed to that, all the churches.

And after the Johnson years of Voting Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Young and others being successful, I think the United States kind of breathed a sigh of relief and said, well, we have resolved the race issue now, and there won’t be anymore, detectable, at least, elements of an American society where whites are in the supreme position, to the detriment of blacks.

...the recent high publicity about the police and black confrontations and the tragedy in Charleston (Shooting death of Walter Scott, 4/4/15) have reminded us that we still have a long way to go. There’s still an innate racism in our country that needs to be addressed accurately."

--Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States

#LeadershipTuesdays: Awareness Is Not Enough...Mellody Hobson

Regarding problem of minorities not being represented at the highest levels of senior management and in management positions in certain U.S. industries like technology,  Mellody Hobson said:

“Awareness is not enough. What are you going to do about it? We've admired this problem for long enough!” 

--Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, 

Being Color Brave, A PwC Talk with Bob Moritz, PwC US Chairman and Senior Partner

Mellody Hobson speaking at Being Color Brave,
A PwC Talk with Bob Moritz

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. On July 13, 2015, Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments,  sat down with the U.S. Chairman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Bob Moritz, to talk about the lack of diversity that exists for minorities in the senior leadership and workforces of U.S. corporations. Mellody Hobson first spoke on this topic in March 2014 at a TED Talk entitled, "Color Blind Or Color Brave".

Although Mellody Hobson has broken the glass ceiling and achieved success and respect in her field, she recognizes that other minorities and women are not being given the same opportunities to excel in their fields and reach the highest echelons of corporate power. With an authentic and courageous voice, she told her story of humble beginnings and her climb to corporate success as one of the most respected women of color in Corporate America. 

This talk between Mellody Hobson and Bob Moritz is important because they openly talked about race and some of the problems that America is having because of its racial issues. Both Mellody and Bob gave advice on how we each can make changes within our own environment to improve relations between the races and provide more employment and leadership opportunities for women and minorities.  

 

To view this very important conversation between Mellody Hobson and Bob Moritz, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here.  

--Nona O., Founder, WOMEN AT LIBERTY 

Leadership Tuesdays: The Numbers Do Not Lie…Mellody Hobson

"Now race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable. You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment, it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail. There is shock followed by a long silence. 

Now, I know that there are people out there who'll say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right? But I work in the investment business and we have a saying, 'the numbers do not lie.' ...There is significant quantifiable racial disparities that can not be ignored in household wealth, household income, job opportunities, health care. I [talk] about this issue of racial discrimination because I believe that it threatens to rob another generation of all the opportunities that all of us want for all of our children no matter what their color or where they come from. And I think it threatens to hold back businesses. 

So, I think it's time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, all of us. If we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America, I think we have to have real conversations about this issue. We can not afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave."*

-Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments; Chairman of the Board, DreamWorks Animation SKG
*This quote is an excerpt from a TED Talk Mellody Hoboson gave on March 20, 2014

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' post is a courageous talk on race given by Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, at a TED Conference in March of 2014. Her eloquent discourse regarding an experience she had in 2006 of being mistaken for the "kitchen help" when she showed up with then Congressman Harold Ford (D-Tennessee) for a lunch meeting at the offices of a highly regarded New York publication will make you chuckle because it seems unbelievable. But, yet it is true. As one of only two African American Chairpersons of a publicly traded company (the other person is Ursula Burns of Xerox) she is less well known than a Beyonce or even Oprah Winfrey. However, Ms. Hobson is a highly accomplished, Princeton-educated young woman.

Her talk is both relatable and relevant. She makes a business case for businesses making diversity one of its core values and part of its competitive strategy. She also makes a human argument for why we cannot wait for the next election or another year to confront the issues of race and racial discrimination in America.

To listen to today's feature, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here. 

Don't Like Snow, Don't Move To Alaska...William Faulkner

To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow.

--William Faulkner