18 June, 2020

Black Lives Matter: Memo to Lucidworks Employees

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black-lives-matter-memo-lucidworks-employees-will-hayes/
Ultimately, the only way forward is for good people of all walks of life to stand together and demand institutional transformation — not marginal or incremental change. We need to address human suffering and the inequality experienced by people of color, especially the black community. We need to address inequality when it comes to education, infrastructure, and arrest rates. We need to move beyond standards that have somehow become acceptable in our societal narratives. We need to truthfully re-examine public policy that was enacted with racist intentions. Identifying these issues are the easy parts, solving them will take real work and a commitment from all levels.

Despite all this, I am extremely proud of our country. To me, the notion of American greatness is not unachievable; it is neither lost in some nostalgic past nor does it lie beyond our grasp in some unnavigable future. America’s greatness comes from our willingness and ability to endlessly innovate and iterate, and our shared belief that there is always a way to do it better — to be better. This is precisely why the black experience is such a critical piece of Americana. It makes an indelible mark upon our sciences, literature, music, and culture, helping to make America what it is today. This is just one of the reasons why America owes its black and brown people the same rights to liberty and justice as it does its white brothers and sisters.