Last week we remembered and honored those who have given their lives for our country. We also reached a new milestone: 100,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19, and another 1.7 million Americans are infected with this novel coronavirus, and millions more impacted in ways too many to count.
And again, we've been tragically confronted with the tremendous pain of another kind of virus with a long history in our country.
Like so many of you, my heart has been heavy since I learned of the death of George Floyd. Many of us are haunted by the devastating video that captured the last moments of his life – seeing him beg while police officers ignored his cries while holding him down. It breaks me that we continue to allow what I call ‘white silence".
Silence is the worst kind of violence.
Silence is that deep anxiety knowing all you see and hear is wrong but not sure of what to say or do because of fear, so you keep quiet.
It’s okay if you don’t know how to have these difficult conversations. I didn’t either. But we can learn and the silence must end. Enough is enough. Question what you don't know. Get educated and connect with others different than you. Ask them questions. Have deep meaningful conversations. We can have a balance of civil rights, law and order but that means addressing abuses of power and taking actions with our voices and choices. It means ending the silence and violence.
We have so much work to do, so let's roll up our sleeves and make it happen.
Our community is about working together to drive our desired mission forward. You've spoken up, and we've been listening since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Pink Petro is expanding resources to include coaching, courses and conversations for our community on a wide range of topics. We'll go deeper and explore race, privilege, and bias with our faculty of coaches and experts. We'll talk about the things we should be talking about but no one taught us how. That all starts now. Join us to learn more.
In order for women to advance in energy, we must understand and address the intersectional challenges and inequities women of color face each and every day. We must choose to end "white silence". There are so many George Floyd’s out there who can’t breathe and need our help.
