Q investment firms, and now I'm, I'm sure you, you're noticing a lot of big companies, Fortune, 500 companies are speaking up about their support for racial justice. What do you make of it? I mean, do you think it's authentic? I mean, do you think businesses will, will or could actually lead the way towards a more equitable and, and just country or, or is it, is it an illusion?
A Well, so I say two things. First of all, we all have reason to be skeptical. Um, but it is a definitely a step in the right direction because frequently businesses stay out of things that are viewed as politically hot or socially, uh, uncomfortable. You know, I'm, I, I guess I'll step back and say, I believe that we need to recapture a notion of community in this country, that we have a stake in our neighbors' dreams and struggles, as well as our own. The way I understood community growing up on the south side of Chicago, you know, and we, I think we may have talked about this, where every, every child was under the jurisdiction of every single adult on the block, right? You messed up down the street in front of Ms. Jones, she'd go upside your head as if you were hers. And then call home. So you've got it two times. And I think what those adults are trying to teach us is that we, we belong to each other. That doesn't absolve anybody of personal responsibility. It doesn't negate the necessity for grit and determination and so forth. But that, um, a community does owe something to each other. And I think that is also true. Uh, of the corporate community and my work in the corporate community has been to that effect. They have been traditionally quite timid, uh, because they have customers and business relationships across the political, uh, spectrum. But it seems to me, you know,…
AI assessment note: “we all have reason to be skeptical. Um, but it is a definitely a step”