Foreword: by Kendra Therrell

It was a usual and busy Tuesday afternoon when two colleagues walked into my office and closed the door. Their tear-stained faces alarmed me. It was confusing at first, but they revealed to me how George Floyd’s tragic death upset them. They didn’t know Mr. Floyd, and yet, they were deeply wounded — not just by that tragedy, but also the recent incidents involving Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others. I too was outraged after witnessing Mr. Floyd’s death and the callousness of it.

In the moment of our shared lament, I realized that as a white person, my privilege had shielded me from the depth of their personal experiences. I was sitting in my office that afternoon, working a normal day, carrying on with my daily tasks, being unaware of the deep emotions others in my office were feeling. But when they came into my office, I listened. I mean, I really listened to their personal experiences and descriptions of the injustices they lived. Friends, racism is America’s greatest sin. As a society, we haven’t done enough to eradicate the atrocities of our past. As an individual, I haven’t done enough to change this systemic problem.

That afternoon, I heard the anguish in the voices of my colleagues, and knew I had to speak out. I learned how differently they viewed Mr. Floyd’s death than I did. I was affected by watching a human take his last breath but not with the same deep seated emotion of a historical nature as they did. When we stop and listen to one another, we learn why we must all act now to create change. Change starts with one person. We must continue to talk about racism and understand the perspectives of others. Each of us can be the change our community needs that is generations overdue.

In the legal field, we strive for “justice for all.” Sadly, we are not there yet. This series of Perspectives was born from the tears and laments from that summer afternoon in a Kubicki Draper office.
It is our hope the raw experiences and truths shared below inspire us to make justice true for all.

Please read the full article here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/sj14rovEpYa18/