Reimagining Black Relations

Greg Hendricks, went from the court as a former professional basketball player and coach to becoming a full-time pastor in a mega church - The Rock Church in San Diego, California. Pastor Hendricks speaks about the burden and the calling upon his church and their ministry on the subject of racism, he expands on the commonalities of in-groups and out-groups as a resolution strategy, as he gives out a special invitation.

"We started internally first and we had some really great dialogue. There were some that were uncomfortable, and that's okay. There were some that had issues, and that's okay. There were some that were like - we need to move forward, there were some that were like, I don't want any part of this conversation because it's too much..."  Pastor Greg Hendricks

Shawn Kennedy, a retired sworn member of the Chicago Police Department for 29 years, currently serving as the Information Officer for the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers spoke about the Black police experience as an officer and a citizen. He highlighted, why Black officers are not speaking up enough, the impacts when they speak up, and why Black men are a primary target. He provided specific call to action for Black officers and citizens.

"People say, "are they trying to put us back in Jim Crow"? Please don't think that it's something impossible. If you are asleep, things can happen when you're sleeping, so you need to be conscious about certain things and pay attention. Things are done deliberately for very specific reasons. You may not know what the reason is, but you should question anything that comes across...."  - Shawn Kennedy

Qazi Fakhir Jamil, President of MQ Technologies spoke from Toronto in Canada. A native of Pakistan, previously the CEO of Converge Technologies, the largest digital media and content company in Pakistan, now resides in Canada.

The Tech mogul juxtaposed awareness and exposure with massive data manipulation as a means of changing negative perceptions of Blacks. He highlighted several untapped opportunities in the Technology world and challenged Blacks to leverage the power of e-commerce to elevate the Black race.

"So last year, with everything going on and the unfortunate incident and everything, there's always a silver lining to something that happens. The silver lining was that, it was a priority #10, it now moved to priority #1, which otherwise might have taken 10 years. That was the silver lining that happened. But, with this silver lining, we have to ensure that it stays as #1, till the problem is solved" - Qazi Fakhir Jamil

James Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holdings spoke from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A Cincinnati native, previously division CEO for P&G, Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco and many world class companies, now resides in Dubai.

Jim, also a feminist, described his voting record from '84 to now, his interpretation of mental disarmament from Nelson Mandela's story, his feelings about white privilege, thought about Klans, perception of minority progressions and how to win their votes and trust, and the importance of unifiers as he claimed "if America gets unified, we'd be unstoppable".

"I got 3,500 employees, 3,400+ are muslims and they the best people in the world. And some the finest people I know are muslims. People talk about Nigeria in a very negative sense, and its scams and this and that, honestly, some the greatest people I know are in Nigeria, and the most dynamic, most incredible people. Yes, there can be scams but there are scams everywhere..." - James Lafferty.

Dr. Eve Hudson, Founder and Chief Strategist of Evingerlean Worldwide and Professor of Higher Education at Bellarmine University focused on the main social mobilizer for Black people. She touched on the opportunity available to everyone regardless of the color of their skin or socioeconomic background.

"People were people. Even through my high school, I didn't recognize I was going to a predominantly Black institution, predominantly Black school even, because I was going to school with friends. But even with friends, depending on where I was, they were folks from South Eastern Asian descent, people from Mexico, just from all over the world. And so I had a different concept about people, loving and accepting people, and seeing people for people. And it wasn't really until I had gone to an HBCU that I had thought much about being Black. But then, when I moved to the deep south, I really thought about being Black..." - Dr. Eve Hudson
http://www.evehudsonphd.com/

Julie Kefer, Senior Director of Operations at UCLA was resonate about the need for an equitable society as she acknowledged that racism was always there but it is easy to pretend that it was not. She recognized the enormity of the work can be overwhelming, but she insisted that the outcome must be the motivation.

"I feel very sort of overwhelmed by the challenge and the enormity of what we're all realizing especially as a white person, phew... we're not where we thought we were at all. How do we talk together, how do we get better.." - Julie Kefer

Paul Wilson, a founding member of Black Police Association and former superintendent with London’s Metropolitan Police with 31 years of public service expounded on why changing policing is almost insurmountable. He described the Police Occupational Cultures, vulnerabilities within the police services, and the birth of policing in the U.S and U.K. Paul expressed that the greatest pandemic in London is the loss of young Black men because regardless of your location in England and Wales, Black people are being disproportionately stopped and searched by the police.

"But at that time, they had something called the "sus" law. Suspected persons? And it was a law that was prevalently used if you'd like to control young Black people. Suspected persons member - police officer, could stop any Black person or indeed anyone, and without a victim, and without or little corroboration to arrest that person for being suspected of about to commit an offense" - Paul Wilson

Leah Turner J.D., Professor at Maryland University and a licensed Acupuncturist shared her experiences as a biracial person. She shared her observations on biracial privileges and moving through white spaces, her perspectives on blackness, and the power of the heart.

"She raised me to be racially ambiguous. She didn't hid any of my blackness, she didn't try to deny it. I interacted with my father's side of the family, in fact, That was the only side of the family I knew. My mother's side, the white side of the family actually disinherited and disowned her. So I had no relationship with the white people in my bloodline" - Leah Turner J.D.

Dian Bourne, J.D., was a high ranking official for the government of Bahamas  as head of the legal Unit in the Ministry of Finance. She spoke on the power structures and the residues of slavery in the Caribbean. Dian expanded on the subject of erasure, how to mitigate it, document the truth, and the process of disseminating the truth.

"The narratives they are telling Black people is, we are selling three things: they are either good entertainers, we are good athletes, or we are good criminals. And we know that's not true. What has been erased from that, is all the Black scientists, the Black astronauts, the Black authors, the Black writers. So when you tell that narrative in a certain way, it frames the way people see Black people, perceive Black people, and interact with Black people." - Dian Bourne

Femi Omere, Managing Director of Hosted in Africa Group Limited and Barrister at Law at the Bar of England and Wales, applauded African Americans for their roles in the African movement. He invited all Africans in diaspora to join hands with Africa to regenerate the greatness of all Africans. "Reparation" is a must for atonement and the dignity of Black people.

"And what I want to say to that, because as I've gotten older and I hope wiser, you begin to understand that, hold on a minute, The Americas, Europe, you name it, who built that place? Where were the resources from? This is mine as anybody else's. And once you make that kind of mental leap, you begin to see London in a different light. You begin to see the architectural wonders in a different light. You begin to understand the agricultural might of The Americas in a different light.." - Femi Omere