Wisconsin as national flash point

They *system* worked the way it was designed. Let's change the system.

This is America

Things can be ethical but illegal. And all to often, things can be legal, but utterly morally bankrupt. Such seems to be the case with the recent acquittal of teenage killer Kyle Rittenhouse. Count me among the folks who were utterly unsurprised by the outcome, partly because yes, the judge did indeed seem to be putting his thumb on the scales, yes, the prosecution seemed to be not up for the task, yes, the jury was overwhelmingly White, and mostly because I listened to a detailed podcast episode from the Daily about the case that outlined the ways that Rittenhouse’s team would try to defend his actions, and why the system was set up to allow them to do that successfully. (The Daily also has a detailed post mortem that I had to stop listening to midway in because it made me too heartsick.)

Rittenhouse basically made the same argument armed law enforcement officers often make: That he FELT in fear for his life. Even when being more heavily armed, even when facing unarmed people, and even when, in Rittenhouse’s case, he conrtibuted to creating the dangerous environment that he then used to justify for his fear. (Triggering all sorts of Geroge Zimmerman comparisons for me.) His FEELING in that moment was all that mattered. No one else’s feelings. Not even the feeling of the guy who was shot but not killed who also felt in fear for his life and was also armed and was blamed for his own victimhood even though Rittenhouse had already killed two people by then. The jury believed his song and dance (and “tears”), believed his feeling and were therefore instructed to act on that. My feeling, I must say, is that if he really had just justifiably shot three people in self-defense, wouldn’t he have turned to the approaching police to save him from future harm, rather than walking right on by them, leaving bodies in his wake?

As we await the verdict in the trial of the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, I feel compelled to hope to be pleasantly surprised. As Farai Chideya was hoping to be last week in the Rittenhouse case (after all he killed two white men, albeit white men adjacent to or participating in protests on behalf of Black lives).

We cannot be surprised if that verdict, too, makes us heartsick. How many incidents need to happen before we simply acknowledge that Stand Your Ground, open carry, and self-defense laws are among the tools that are used to get only certain kinds of people off the hook for their actions. Video and social media have been used in multiple instances (including the case against the killers of Arbery) to make law enforcement and prosecutors take action when they were happy to just let things slide. But if you’ve got judges like the ones who prohibit calling victims victims, or who let admitted rapists off without serving time because they worry about their future, and if you’re still allowing juries to be completely racially segregated (like the 11 White people and only 1 Black person on the jury for Arbery’s killers), then you’ve got a system, from on the street to in the back offices to the courtoom to the carceral system, where “justice” is not for all, but for some.

And if you think that won’t bite us ALL in the ass some day, regardless of anyone’s individual sense of demographic privilege and safety, you are in denial.

Yes. This is America. It’s the America we all know. But it is also the America we can (and should) all work to change.

When it comes to our system of law, order, and justice I will always recommend you start with reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. It will make you mad. It will make you sick. It will make you want to act.

Meanwhile, not even 48 hours post-verdict, Wisconsin was again in the spotlight because of a horrible mass casualty event at a Cristmas-themed parade in Waukesha. An SUV broke through the barricades and plowed into the parade itself. As I type this I saw a notification that a sixth victim, a child, has died, and dozens are injured, some serious. Allegedly the perpetrator was out on bond for some serious domestic violence charges and was fleeing the scene of the police being called on him, again, for another domestic disturbance. (Although I should say that the details are not fully known or vetted yet.)

It can give you whiplash criticizing the system for who it locks up and for who it sets free. And it can be an impossible task to figure out who our current system is set up to value least.

Any way you look at it, it is not working. What is the smartest thing you have heard, or that you are working for, to fix it. Talk to me about restorative justice, and more.

Last week-ish

Last week’s episode of the Tope Op-Ed Page podcast featured a productive conversation with my friend and colleague Mark S. Babbitt, co-author of the new book Good Comes First. Notable topics included respect vs. results, Boomer Male Syndrome (their term, not mine), the reasons CEOs and organizations need to speak up and speak out and, not least, how someone who considers himself essentially conservative like Mark and someone who considers herself a bleeding heart liberal like me can still align when it comes to issues of ethics, values, respect, social justice, the value of inclusive work cultures, and walking not just talking those values. I guess that gives me a bit of hope. Mostly I agree 100% with Mark that it is on people like him (in this case a cishet white boomer man) to evangelize to others like him to update and transform their 20th century thinking for these times. Make progress or die a dinosaur I guess. He’s trying to help people make the better choice.

Also made my frist significant travel since March of 2020, travel that included planes, a train, and many automobiles. Not to mention sitting in crowded theatres, attending a family function where most people were totally unknown to me, and walking the streets of a certain city where every human seemed to be coughing sneezing, clearing their throats or shouting, all while maskless. And yet I felt a did all of that as safely as it could be done; I exercised the only conservative (small ‘c’) bone in my body (the don’t-get-COVID bone), and tested negative 5 days after my return, so I guess I was successful. I talk about how I approached the challenges presented by “back to normal” travel activities in non-normal times.

Also last week:

My latest byline for The Rosie Report is Fractional, but fully invested, team members and talks about the various ways that BlogHer was ahead of the “hybrid workforce” curve and had fractional team members. From a fractional CFO to seasonal workers that we committed to year after year, we were able to rely on those team members like any of our full-time employees and make the arrangement work for them and us. I give some specific tips on where to look for similar opportunities for your organizations.

The latest piece I edited brought back memories. Stop trying to make your Oreo®️ moment happen by Candice Kilpatrick Braithwaite tells the sad story of being a one-person social media shop trying to achieve Oreo-at-the-Super-Bowl level results for a very unrealistic manager. If you’re in marketing and social media you probably remember the event this is based on. If you’re not, come along for the ride!

I mentioned the #PianoVan project last week, and so it came to pass that I stood in a library parking lot as the sun set and the air got chilly and watch my friend Makiko Hirata play paino in a van (and was even coaxed to sing a song with her). Thanks to the Fremont non-profit Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (SAVE) for hosting us. Makiko traveled up and down the Bay Area playing for isolated and underserved communities, and I hope she gathered enough info during this experiment to figure out how musicians can be a kind of “second responder” force (her term) in difficult times.

And finally, I have mentioned my work with Pearl Milling Company before, advising them last year as part of their name change initiative and this year on their inaugural set of recipients of the new P.E.A.R.L. Pledge grant program. Last week they were able to formally announce the 2021 set of grant recipients. You can read their press release (including to see the other amazing women who served on the advisory council with me), review the full list of recipients there, and check out my post on Instagram telling you a bit more about a couple of the recipients, Girls for a Change and Black Girl Ventures. I’m grateful to have been part of this initative and to learn about so many organizations doing important work to uplift Black women and girls!

Coming this week-ish

This week is Thanksgiving Week in the States, so I have tried to make my schedule as light as it can possibly be. And I hope you’ve done the same! I haven’t even planned what the next episode of The Op-Ed Page will be about, so next week will unfold like a mystery for once.

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast. 

And if I can help you break through the things that are keeping you stuck, set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly.