Carla

“The persistence of racism in America—individual and societal—is altogether overwhelming. It doesn’t lay the best fertilizer for hope to grow.”
― Austin Channing Brown, I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

“Sometimes - oh, just once in a blue moon-I resist being receptive to God's generosity, because I'm busy with a project and trying to manipulate Him or Her into helping me with it, or with getting my toys fixed or any major discomfort to pass. But God is not a banker or a bean counter. God gives us even more, which is so subversive. God just gives, to us, to you and me. I mean, look at us! Yikes. God keeps giving, forgiving, and inviting us back.”
― Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

“Because a default response for most leaders is to immediately act, the discipline of learning to look, gain greater perspective, and understand the bigger picture in the midst of action is a critical skill both for wise action and for developing resilience. Maintaining one’s principles in the face of adversity create inner fortitude to carry on. But even more, perspective fosters a greater sense of purpose. Seeing the bigger picture and the dynamics at play enables us to make meaning and see patterns in what would otherwise be an anxious swirl of emotions and reactions. This is especially important when the necessary change work is overwhelming because the whirl of activity, energy, and even internal emotional reaction often triggers and flight or fight response that disrupts learning by distracting us with fruitless doing.”
― Tod Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change

“When an organization confuses diversity or inclusion with reconciliation, it often shows up in an obsession with numbers. How many Black people are in the photo? Has the 20 percent quota been met, so that we can call ourselves multicultural? Does our publication have enough stories written by people of color? Are there enough people of color on the TV show? But without people of color in key positions, influencing topics of conversation, content, direction, and vision, whatever diversity is included is still essentially white - it just adds people of color like sprinkles on top. The cake is still vanilla.”
― Austin Channing Brown, I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness