PHOTO ABOVE: Wendy and Danielle outside The 3rd, a women of color co-working space. T-shirts by Black Lotus Rising.

A sparkle. A glimmer. A sense. Follow it.

My kid and I wandered into a Lewis and Clark museum to learn about the history and specifically the locale. Alongside the Columbia River, the museum had a vast 40-foot high foyer, a set of beautiful windows with a view of the Columbia River. As we meandered through the exhibits, we began to notice how the story was being told – the suffering of those on the expedition itself, the use of weapons, the cold, the loss of life, and what they discovered on their journey, with a very small reference to the natives that helped them including Sacagawea, who was 16 years old (and had a baby on her back), and the wife of a 46-year-old man. I left the museum with a strong sense of the heroism of Lewis and Clark and a curiosity about the untold stories of the Indigenous people they encountered along the way. What are the stories we choose not to tell?

Unclear. Uncertain. Unknown. Pay Closer Attention.

During our recent wanderings through the Pacific Northwest and Canada, I found a book titled, “The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.” This book tells the story of the arrival of Lewis and Clark from the perspective of the Salish people and passed through the generations. It was created by the Salish-Pend D’Oreille Culture Committee and Elders Advisory Council and is presented in both Salish and English. The English translation shares their stories and “what I am going to tell is what was passed on to me by my paternal grandmothers, my maternal grandfathers, and my paternal grandfathers, by their great-great-grandparents, their great-grandparents telling them…” Whose voice(s) and experience(s) are centered in the stories I hear? How might I find the other voices and their stories?

Learn. Explore. Deepen. Stay Curious.

This is a living example of how Reimagining Racial Equity alters how we see and engage with the world. It heightens my curiosity about what I know and how I know it, and the stories I’ve been told or heard and who has written them. It has changed how I read research materials, how I interpret phrases such as “world-class”, and how I learn while traveling. It is also a living example because my learning changes both what I see and how I live, and I’m open to learning more.

In Reimagining Racial Equity, Danielle and I are inspired to support a new generation of leaders, who will create inclusive environments and also invite senior leaders to make a bold commitment to evolve themselves and their leadership. The workshop will change who you thought you were, how you engage with your loved ones, and how and where you fit into the generations that came before you and will come after you.

Come join us for our Fall Cohort here. It’s so much more than you can even imagine. Re-imagine.

PHOTO 1: Columbia River ©2023
PHOTO 2: Columbia River ©2023