Like everyone else, I’ve spent the last few days searching for the right words.
As much as I’d like to say I understand, I really don’t. My privileges in life mean that I’ll never really be able to truly comprehend the struggle of black people and of all people of colour.
But the murder of George Floyd- another example on a seemingly never-ending list of police brutality- and the days of peaceful protests that have followed have at least opened my eyes. It’s made me want to learn more about systemic racism. And it’s forced me to have some difficult conversations about the world with my own children.
At the same time, I’ve tried to learn more about the ways that I can help.
Watching the reaction to carefully crafted statements by pro sports teams and the confusion around the #BlackoutTuesday movement, it became clear that it’s about more than just saying the right words.
First, it’s about education.
It’s about taking the time to really listen to people of colour and making the effort to understand the issues. I’ve found the resources here to be incredibly helpful.
It’s also about amplifying the voices of others.
There are many people with expertise on the topic and real lived experience and sharing their stories is more important than my attempt at finding the right words.
And then wherever possible, it’s about finding ways to turn that education and the words of others into action in my own life.
Whether that’s by talking to my own children, by supporting black-owned businesses here in Ottawa or by understanding and speaking out on the very real issues that exist in our own backyard. As much as we want to think this is an issue that doesn’t exist here in Canada, it does. And if we listen, we’ll hear examples of it every single day.
More than anything though, at least for this strange little hockey community, my role is to ensure that I try to provide a place where people can have a respectful and meaningful exchange on important issues. And maybe some day, hockey too.
We don’t all have to agree. We don’t all have to say the same things and think the same way. But what we can all do, is at least commit to talking about these issues and about anything in a respectful way.
In the end, I didn’t really find the right words to say.
But I’m reading them in the resources shared by others, I’m hearing them in the lived experiences of people of colour and I’m sharing them with the people around me.
It’s a start.
