"This book is ultimately about the basic struggle we're all in, the struggle to be fully human and to see that others are fully human."
– Ibram Kendi, from "How To Be An Antiracist"
Racism persists because we fail to see each other as human.
We fail to see each other as human because we don't get to know each other.
We don't get to know each other because we think we have little in common with each other.
We think we have little in common with each other because we don't tell our stories.
We don't tell our stories because we don't appreciate the power they have to inspire and build connection across perceived differences.
In December 1970, Dr. Kendi's parents met at a concert in Urbana, Illinois at the University of Illinois.
In June 1970, my parents met in a small house in Urbana, Illinois, a few blocks from the University of Illinois.
Dr. Kendi doesn't know me. Doesn't know I exist. Doesn't know what I do.
He doesn't know we both exist because our parents met each other six months apart in the same Midwest college town.
Dr. Kendi told the story of how his parents met in his book. He humanized himself. He humanized his parents.
He connected with me. Someone he doesn't know and may never meet.
A Black man and a White man. Both struggling to be fully human.