At this point in American history, our country seems to be flying apart at the seams. The first few days of the current regime saw the issuing of a flurry of executive orders aimed at turning the nation’s back on the people it was designed to embrace, while potentially even scarier power grabs for control of the military were orchestrated by a known white supremacist and manipulator of facts. The concept of “alternative facts” have made their way out of the pages of Orwell’s 1984 into sanctioned reporting.

The attacking of every vulnerable population by the current regime in its rise to power has left the nation raw and the globe nervous. America’s cultural war is in a hyper-elevated state. Every -ism and -phobia is running at a fever pitch.

These times are terrifying.

But oh, the possibility of this time. The checks and balances built into the system seem to be holding for now. Many of us who have been concerned about civil liberties as a concept but have had the privilege to do nothing, have suddenly been shocked out of complacency when the attacks land close to home. Those of us marginalized people that have been living and fighting the fight for generations are like “Where you been? Could've reeeallly used your help a wee bit earlier. For this new relationship to work, you need to respect what we’ve been going through. Now welcome—let’s get to work.”

I choose to fight for change

Because make no mistake, fixing this broken mess is going to be a herculean task and it is going to take all of us. The work will be long and sustained and exhausting. The work will have to be done on the streets and in social media; in the courtroom and in the boardroom and in the classroom; in the senate chamber and in communities and the voting booth.

The fire is now strong in my beloved hometown of Philly. We have an authentic South Philly Mayor in Jim Kenney who’s used to standing up to bullies. Information spreads like wildfire through social media and we show up to protest. We call our politicians and express our opinions.

I am here to do my part and I choose to focus my efforts locally, but where do I begin? What can I do? How can I help the most people? How can my perspective as a GenX, African American, cisgender gay man, in an interracial, intergenerational relationship help bring people together? My answer came from one of my new heroes, Malcolm Kenyatta. In his speech at the Women’s March in Philadelphia, he urged everyone to “find their own lane and run like hell”. In figuring out what that meant to me, I decided to take something that I’m passionate about and surgically apply my talents. Malcolm’s speech also inspired me to think more specifically about how the work we do at Tactile can live up to our company mission to improve the lives of others.  

So now to find my lane. I’ve come to realize that what I’m most passionate about is the passing on my love of tech and design to the next generation. I want the underserved kids of Philly to know that a career in tech and design is possible. I want corporations to invest in the next generation of diverse talent. I want to join the important work of imagining the jobs of Philly’s future. I want us to find ways to use tech and design to make this a better Philadelphia and a better nation for all.

So in the following weeks, I’ll be exploring technologies and strategies to improve the access to tech and design education of our native Philadelphia population. I’ll be posting my thoughts on corporate responsibility and private-public partnerships, the return on investment of diversity and inclusion, implicit bias and meritocracy, and exploring intersectional approaches to maximize the potential of cross cultural collaboration.

I’ve found my lane. All that’s left now is to run like hell.