Inbox Solidarity

Over the past few days, my inbox has been receiving its steady diet of messages of solidarity. The sender entities range far and wide—my kids' school district, my college alma mater, the local Y, an ice cream company, even one from the local police precinct! I've read all of them. My reactions have been mixed—from cynicism, hope, great surprise, and sometimes confusion. What's been stunning personally is how much bolder private corporate entities have been with their messaging, and how the social sector seems to be more restrained in their language.

I've tried to imagine what conversations ensued between the leaders and the writers. I'd like to know what they grappled with. What words and passages were struck? What was added at the last minute? Were calculations made? Who was pissed off, quietly or loudly? And then, the question I pondered next is what would be changed after the email campaign has been sent and the letter posted on social platforms. I wonder if some places benefitted from playing the waiting game. I wonder how many begrudgingly did it. How many got their board to approve the letter?

These public messages can operate as a reflection of values, materialized into words. And a company's values (however curated or real), communicate an element of an organization's leadership identity—who they stand with and who they may be afraid to offend or alienate. And in the aftermath, what organizational behaviors will actually be changed because of these proclamations. How are these new statements and stances operationalized in policies, practices, and investments? Not investments of money, but time. 

In an interview with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Michael Barbaro from the New York Times asked him how he would like to see our current national crisis end. Frey states, "If there's a moral ending to what's happened, it can only end in one way — which is first justice for George Floyd, in the form of a full charge and then conviction. But moreover, it needs to end in true change," I'd hope that for many places who pushed out these statements, this is a beginning, not an end. A real starting line to operationalize and realize these stances. That's the kind of update we need.