Boston Office Racial Justice
This year we weren’t able to do our typical Q2 volunteer work at Rosie’s place. They’re still not accepting outside volunteers for anything as many of the women sheltering there don’t have any other place to socially distance. Last week I talked with some of the office leadership and we decided it was time to try something different. It’s easy to say I want to help kids with cancer. It’s easy to say I want to go to a food bank or a shelter and help the food insecure. And it’s easy to buy gifts for kids to help impoverished families during the holidays.
It’s not easy to admit that our society, and each of us in particular, has biases that disadvantage others. And with so many black athletes speaking out about the discrimination they experience here in Boston, we can’t continue to ignore it or say it’s just a problem with a few bad apples in some other area. It’s our problem. It’s a problem we all contribute to through our words, our actions, or through our inaction, and I believe it’s a problem for all of us to solve.
There are so many battles to fight to address the disadvantages black people face in America. Judicial, education, economic and employment, and so many others. A challenge so massive isn’t overcome all at once, it’s overcome by each of us doing our part in a few ways, some small, hopefully some not so small.
The leadership team here in Boston – and I’m not ignorant of the fact that so many of us are white skinned men, more change needed there – have decided today we want to start to do something to help. We’ve decided to raise money for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. One of the obvious small ways in which we can help is to make sure that young black men and women have the opportunity to obtain a strong education in spite of the economic disadvantage they and their families face, and this is a great way to help.
This is not an official CoStar sponsored fundraiser – this is just the group of us asking for your participation in the fight. And don’t forget about all that money you’re not spending on commuting, at the barbershop or the salon, etc. – wouldn’t this be a great place to direct some of that?
One more thought. Even if this fundraiser is more challenging than our other activities, it’s still easy for those of us with so many advantages to give a few dollars and say “I’ve done my part.” I think this fundraiser is important and I’m donating to it, but that can’t be all we do. Vote. Speak out about the problems you see. Confront this inequity. There are so many other injustices in our society but this fight, right now, has national momentum. Let’s do everything we can to finish it, today and every day.
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