Talking Allyship on The Minority Money Report Podcast

Click Here To Listen To This Week’s “We Need To Talk” Series On The Minority Money Report

Emlen Miles-Mattingly’s “We Need To Talk” series on his podcast The Minority Money Report has been phenomenal. I’ve listened to each of the episodes leading up to this week’s, which I was honored to participate in. Emlen is doing a fantastic job facilitating important conversations that need to be had and heard–talk alone won’t fix the problems we are all focused on, but the first step is to discuss the issues and bring attention to them. If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes of this series I highly encourage you to take the time to do so…and then discuss what you learn with your family.

Speaking of discussing these issues with your family…

At the end of the conversation, Emlen asked us what we can all do to address the imbalance of justice, opportunity, and treatment of the black community and I neglected one of the most important things we all can do–having empathy and listening are important and would still be a part of my answer. But, I have another answer to offer….as soon as we finished recording I realized I never mentioned anything about talking to our children. I was mad at myself, but then realized I could add the suggestion in a blog post.

The battle in front of us all will not be a short one–it’s more than 400 years strong and won’t resolve itself overnight. We can begin making changes today, building the momentum for equality, and set the future on a path to be a more kind and equal world, but victory will be claimed by the younger generations…our children. My boys–Roman, Leo, and Silas and their peers will be an important part of the change we seek. They need to understand the issues, how they can help as they grow up, what they can do as adults, and the values they need in instill in their children.

And it starts with us, today.

I wish I would have answered Emlen with this:

We can talk to our children about the protests still going on. We can educate them on our country’s history, which I continue to learn about as an adult, so they are able to understand why there is so much hurt and anger in the black community. We can also educate them on the systematic racism that exists and is often not understood by those who never experience it. We can teach them to be good people–treat others the way they want to be treated. Yes, that sounds so simple, but if we all lived by the Golden Rule we would not be having these conversations today. We can teach them to speak up when they hear others being hateful and disrespectful. We can help them appreciate the lives they are fortunate to have and help others in need. We can teach them to be good listeners and to be empathetic.

A great start would be to have them listen to Emlen’s “We Need To Talk” series and answer their questions.

Now, that’s what I wish I would have also said.

I want to thank Emlen for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this important series; to be included with Sonya and Jason is a huge honor, in addition to all of his previous guests.

Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining to your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimers page.