Black Lives Matter.

I wish we lived in a world where this didn’t need to be said. But, the facts on the ground make it necessary to be clear:

I believe black lives matter, and they deserve the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness many of us take for granted.

I’m making a commitment to put thought and intention into what I can do so that hopefully my infant son doesn’t have to think about whether it still needs to be said. That way he can put more of his energy into other ways to help make a better world.

I’m fortunate enough to have grown up studying and discussing books like Native Son and Cry, The Beloved Country alongside the standard canon like the Odyssey. I’ve had many role models including my parents who showed me how to value everyone regardless of what they look like. I've had opportunities to get to know and learn from people who don't look like me.

But, I haven’t done enough. I’ve spoken up when people have said or done something racist, but not consistently. I haven’t done much in the way of direct action to help solve our country’s original sin beyond a few small donations here or there.

Black and brown people deserve equal justice before the law that they are not getting across the board. I’m going to put my focus here first, and locally where I live and have the most ability to make a difference.

As of this writing, Indianapolis gets a green check on 1 out of 8 criteria that the research done by campaign zero has laid out that can meaningfully reduce police violence.

Mayor Hogsett has asked for a reformed use of force policy, and a new use of force review board has been created with civilian participation. I promise to at minimum do my part to understand how these reforms are working to provide accountability and ensure justice is done the right way, and then provide pressure to ensure more measures shown to be effective are put in place.

There’s more to do, and more to learn, but I want to move forward imperfectly together. Reach out if you are able and willing to help me do that better. I'm moving either way and I'll share when I feel like I have more to add.

Note: I still have lots to say about my main focus for this site around productivity, products, books, and business.

I also am going to likely accelerate more posts around what I stand for vs. against ahead of the election this fall.

But, it felt silly and tone deaf to post about anything else until I was clear about this.