11/2/18
She does not owe you
Anything.
You will not use us
For our empathy
For our compassion
For our self-control
and selflessness.
It is not our duty to
Help you piece yourself
Back together
After the last one
Finally, finally (!)
Got tired of your shit.
-Sarah Clinton
Ask a woman, especially a woman of color, how she felt watching the video of Maxine Waters “reclaiming her time” as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to dodge her questions with some BS, irrelevant flattery and you’re likely to get responses that include pride and empowerment.
When I turned 27, one of my challenges to myself was to begin acting on Maya Angelou’s wisdom that, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Key word here being “first.” If you know me well, you know that despite everything, I believe in people. I believe in their goodness, their capacity to change for the better, their ability to achieve anything they put their mind to. Try as I might (and trust me, I have TRIED), I can’t help that—it’s just how I’m wired. That quality is part of what makes me a good coach, a good teammate, a good partner and coworker…but it also means that I don’t walk away from unhealthy relationships, toxic work environments, or generally persnickety felines when I really should.
"Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them."--Margaret Atwood
