Reach

For racial equity to actually become a reality, those who have been resigned to live with the greatest amount of socioeconomic barriers built around them, must feel a sense that those who have had more resources, are genuinely making a concerted effort to reach them, right where they are. Too many times, government systems at the federal, state, and local levels, form policies that are disconnected from the life realities of the people to whom they are supposedly written for. For example, when it comes to housing and homeownership, existing barriers can be found by way of antiquated zoning ordinances, unscrupulous and seedy lending practices, NIMBYism, etc. From a business perspective, economic barriers can be the non-inclusion of minority contractors in the trades industries, having to compete with The Good Ol’ Boy Network in the RFI, RFQ, RFP

process, lack of access to start-up capital for start-ups and new businesses, or having to deal with mounds of additional regulations for minority enterprises, that are not required of other non-minorities, and more. Being able to reach is of utmost importance to any successful undertaking. If one does not reach, one will never touch the intended target. In the business of establishing racial equity, people are the greatest resource in the equation. They must be reached for by the hand that can grasp all the pain, suffering, anguish, sorrow, disappointment, and frustration that life can bring. Then, that same hand that reaches must possess the capacity of holding on to the weight of what they reached for, without letting go. Reaching must also be undertaken with a mindset that does not label those who we are reaching for as poor. Why? Because they are anything but poor. They are just not as wealthy as someone who is more successful. No good investor strives to fail. No good athlete competes to not win. No good person wakes up every morning to lose. There is a measure of goodness in every human being, and when we label people as poor, we take from them a degree of humanity that is worth so much more than the labels me place upon them. Those who we call poor are merely pre-wealthy. This changes the whole paradigm, and what or who you may not have reached for before, with a new perspective, could very well be the people who are the greatest investment we will ever make. We are reaching for greatness, excellence, brilliance, and genius. But we are never reaching for the poor.