I just finished reading Banker to the Poor, Muhammad Yunus's book about how he started Grameen, the micro-lending bank that fights poverty in his native Bangladesh.
Fascinating story of how it came to be. One thing that stood out to me was his unwavering commitment to seeing poor people as humans.
Humans with possibility. Skills. Needs. Intelligence. Dreams. Desires. Work ethic. Heart. Creativity.
Might seem like a no-brainer to most of us. But, sadly, to many people in power, it's not.
"Poverty is not created by the poor," he says. "It is created by the structures of society and the policies pursued by society."
And the mindsets and narratives that those structures and policies perpetuate.
Classism and racism often intersect.
Racism, too, is created by the structures of society and the policies pursued by society.
Slavery. Jim Crow. Blackface. Lynching. Disenfranchisement. Redlining. Police brutality. Sanctioned murder. Prison pipeline. Unfair sentencing. . .
In our organizations too. Name too Black on a resume. No interview. Not a culture fit. "Diversity" hire. Lower compensation. Fewer opportunities.
People in power need the powerless to stay in power.
To other. To blame. To marginalize. To dehumanize.
Let's reject that philosophy. Let's humanize. Like Yunus.