January 18, 2021
Michael Jeans, President & CEO of Growth Opps shares words of optimism and reflection
Cleveland, Ohio (January 18, 2021) – As I continue to learn from and reflect upon Dr. King…
I am thankful for abolitionists who neither look like me, nor experience as I do, but who resemble a deep mandate of goodness and decency for all. The abolitionist is one who does not support slavery in any form; further, who takes inconvenient, bold actions and positions, to make clear and alive such core beliefs. As titles come and go, the need for the abolitionist remains today. Ally, friend, or by other names, one who stands for justice, equality, equity, and liberty, expressly for the sake of others, knowing without a doubt, it is for the express benefit of all.
I am indebted to my Black predecessors who in a distant past or recently, lived, were tortured, and died for the creed and constitution of a country that has yet to wholly, equally, nor equitably apply its protection and liberty. I am proud of the enduring resilience and presence of Black Americans who have provoked at each instance, any advancement in America’s comprehension of humanity, her slow-stuttered and resistant steps toward the appearance of good, fair, rule of law and democracy.
We, who are “caught in a network of mutuality,” wrote King in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, find ourselves at a point in time when appearances of decency, rule of law, and democracy are fading against a backdrop of unsettled, persistent ignorance and racism against Black persons. Ignorance, bigotry, and racism, once operationalized within a republic and its institutions, merely start the clock for the day when both will return to their owners. Sadly, but predictably, America wrestles within this reality today, as it grapples with the events of January 6, 2021. While the attack on America’s Capitol represents a visual depiction, the conditions which led to this moment have been dismissed and il-addressed for far too long. The House Divided today has long been divided.
So, on this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I am optimistic. I am optimistic, because the matter of rule by or against race in America is running out of practical options for continued existence, at least in its current form. The House Divided may have difficulty standing with integrity, should she choose to il-address behaviors and characteristics, which have prevented it from the greatness it seeks. The very thing which holds America back from true global greatness is the linchpin of the racism, bigotry, and ignorance it covets. Solve for this America and we will get to the promised land together.
~ Michael Jeans, CEO
Growth Opps
See original LinkedIn post.
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