Brad Feld

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You are Not Alone

Jun 01, 2020
Category Crisis

On Wednesday 6/3 at 11am Energize Colorado will be launching our Mental Wellness initiative.

While we already have a Mental Health Resource section up on the Energize Colorado, we are starting a weekly webinar series called Wellness Wednesdays.

One of our goals with this initiative is to destigmatize mental health and support those in need of engaging in service during the Covid crisis. I’ve been talking about mental health as the third part of the Covid crisis since the end of March when I wrote the post The Three Crises.

I didn’t anticipate structural racism being a fourth crisis. But here we are.

Yesterday, a friend suggested that a middle-aged white person trying to constructively engage around structural racism feels like walking across lava. It’s dangerous and there are lots of ways that you can say or do something that goes very wrong, even if that wasn’t intended.

I’m aware of that, so rather than tell anyone what the solution is, I’m just going to engage, in the same way I’ve engaged with other issues like gender discrimination. Listen, learn, and do things in support of other leaders who are already involved. For example, in the case of gender, I began my journey in 2005 by supporting and learning from leaders like Lucy Sanders.

This morning, I’ve reached out to several black entrepreneurial leaders I know, including Rodney Sampson. My question to him is not “what should I do” but rather “what are you doing that I can get involved in and support right now.”

So, now we’ve got four crisis. Health. Economic. Mental Health. Structural Racism.

If you are involved in one of these, know that you are not alone.

And, if the mental health crisis is on your mind right now, join us Wednesday for our discussion on our the You are Not Alone webinar.