Hello Hello,
A perfect summary of my life right now: I just realized my wall calendar in the kitchen is still on August:
Good thing I have TWO pens to write down all of our activities… LOL
So yeah, a bit of groundhog’s day going on here. But still so much opportunity for self-reflection and learning! In a quick update to the previous post, episode #2 in the Throughline (mis)representation series has dropped and can be found here: How We Vote
The 10,000 foot take away is that the country has been more divided in the past than it is today. Voter suppression and voting fraud have always existed. We can learn so much from history (who knew?!).
Anyway, if you’re eligible, please vote.
In other news, I’m so excited to hear about a new strategy that’s rolling out in San Francisco regarding standard policing response. There’s currently so much buzz around “Defund the Police” that people aren’t even looking into the details of what that catch phrase really means – (our ever-shrinking attentions spans are not helpful here. Thanks Twitter, Snapchat, Tik Tok…). Check out this short explanation of replacing police officers with social workers/psychologist/paramedics for mental health related 911 calls: Need to Change the Model . It’s not new – cities like Eugene, OR have shown great success with the program already. In my opinion, this is what ‘defund the police’ looks like in practice. It doesn’t mean removing officers from the streets or actually cutting budgets. It means strategically setting our system up for success based on individual’s skill sets and training.
Thinking of everyone, happy Halloween, stay safe
#blacklivesmatter #diversityandinclusion #courageousconversations
-Jessica
PS – I highly recommend an interesting Podcast series from the NYT called Rabbit Hole – it’s about how the internet (think Youtube, social media, etc) is changing and affecting our culture and It. Is. Something. Else. !!