Black Lives Matter

I struggled for a moment whether I should create and post this- not because I don’t believe in it (oh hell do I), but because this is my business page. As a therapist, an essential part of my job is to be viewed as neutral, objective and open minded. But then I remembered business page or not, this is not a therapy room and the purpose of this page isn’t to be quiet. Trauma community response has to go beyond a clinical setting. Make no mistake, racist is blatant trauma. People of Color are regularly facing life-threatening events (and life-ending ones). If you don’t believe that, I will ask you to listen harder. People of color are paid less and have less opportunities in work and education. Yet their demands on how to live in this society are the same. They face aggression in the ways of racial slurs, verbal abuse and violence and micro-aggressions like being monitored for shoplifting in a store or not being able to get a cab. Long ago I realized that my life purpose was to advocate for human rights and equality, for compassion, empathy and human decency. We are all one people- with hearts, souls, families and purpose. But right now, only some of us are allowed to express those things freely. We can not be strong as a nation of many of our members are scared, hurting and unequal. People of color: I see you. I don’t know what it is like to face the grave injustice you have endured, but I promise to listen, and follow your lead. I promise to speak up against the oppression. I promise I will not condone leadership who cannot outwardly denounce white supremacy. I promise to vote. It was a huge moment for me to have some hesitation about posting this- a reminder of what a privilege and luxury it is where my only real consequences of using my voice is losing a potential client. How we treat other people doesn’t say anything about the other people, but it says a whole lot about who we are. Let’s rise up and demand better.