On Saturday, I had a dream that felt like a nightmare. I witnessed historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John McCain, Gloria Steinem, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Jane Fonda, Harry Belafonte, and many more on a screen,
Photo by René DeAnda on Unsplash
but strangely, they had no mouths. I woke up startled.
In my interpretation, the underlying theme was that the powerful voices we recognize, which have made so many changes in the human condition, have been silenced.
Where have those voices gone? Many have passed away, others have aged and are tired of the fight to help us realize the better angels of our nature and others, well, let's face it, have been silenced by the threat of loss—loss of power, status, name.
Yes, we are at a crossroads in our nation. But I believe we are at a bigger crossroads in our humanity.
The one constant those voices of my dream held was the mantra of "I Am My Brother's Keeper." In other words, whether through philanthropy or public policy, whether Democrat or Republican, we were all in this together.
As a young adult, I didn't always agree with some of those powerful voices, but I recognized the power of the voice and its commitment to our greater good.
I understand today that many are afraid to speak out and speak up. What could be lost is a scary feeling.
But today, it feels like it's every man or woman for themselves. Individual rights are disguised as patriotism. It's "what's in it for me." It's rhetoric, dogma, propaganda, and soundbites. It's fear, which we know is "false evidence appearing real."
For all the fearmongering, where is the evidence? Yet, the evidence on real issues we are facing is dismissed as ideology. Climate change, for example, you only have to look at the polar ice caps to know the climate is changing. The climate has changed for millennia (which is how we have historical evidence of the woolly mammoth, the dinosaur), but our armchair climate scientists continue to be climate change deniers and will be just as affected by climate change in the years to come. Who wants to tell them that the atmosphere and the ozone layer don't care what party you belong to?
Yet, we can defeat what ails us. We have more than enough intellectual capacity in the human species, enough air, water, food, land, and technology if we work together to get the job done. Yes, we can agree to disagree on how to get those things done, but what we need to work together on is that those things that challenge us—poverty, disease, climate change, war, and famine—are all man-made. And when we work together, we can unmake them— together.
With that said, the WEBB Advisory Group is adding its voice—unafraid—to the issues that ail us. Now is the appointed time and these are the appointed hours. The peace we seek for ourselves, and the world begins with "Conversations That Matter."
So, we are saying so long to "And So It Goes..." as we move forward to Smart Talk: Conversations That Matter, to inspire you and ourselves to change communities and the world around us.
Attention Bias
What is attention bias? Attention bias is our tendency to prioritize certain types of stimuli/information over others. At any given moment, an individual's senses can perceive countless stimuli in our immediate surroundings. Threat-related attention bias refers to the tendency to prioritize the processing of threats over benign or neutral stimuli. Is it no wonder we have biases related to race, ethnicity, disability, and more?
Each of us individually generates more information than ever before in human history. We take in almost 90,000 pieces of information daily, yet our brains can only filter in about 10 percent of that information. The rest, well is stored in our subconscious minds and often when we perceive a threat we act upon it.
How do you perceive the world around you and how can you understand your attention bias?
The WEBB Advisory Group Presents
The WEBB Center For Social Impact was developed and designed from more than 50 years of lived experience as a Black Woman in America.
Focusing on domestic policy specifically, our institute provides a global worldview perspective for black and brown women from the diaspora living in America today.
Using research data, lived experiences, and stories of impact, policymakers and leaders can understand the social impacts various policies have on black and brown children and women, today and tomorrow.
In response to various incidents in our country's recent history, history mustn't repeat itself. Therefore, the WEBB Center For Social Impact strives to provide voter information, information on issues for policymakers, information for community activists, and information for anyone who seeks to understand the social impacts of public policy on individuals and communities.
WEBB Advisory Group
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"Inspired (In Spirit), we live and move and have our being."
Learn More About the WEBB Advisory Group
Prayer for the Week
Dear God,
The world around us is changing rapidly. Whether through technology or simply our hearts, we need to slow down long enough to talk with and to each other. We need to have conversations that matter for the future of our planet. Help us to hear one another and to move beyond our egos to rediscover the better angels of our nature. Amen.
"Inspiring Humans...Changing Communities."
"Smart Talk: Conversation That Matter," will feature guest columnist in the coming weeks.
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