Black Lives Matter

"We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For." Alice Walker

Kristen Estell, Heartland Capital Strategies

Two weeks ago The Expresso wrote that America was facing a crisis. We were talking about food and the safety of the workers who harvested, transported, stocked, and sold that food.

The truth is, the majority of those workers are black and brown people. As I sat in the safety of my suburban home, I was writing about a crisis without being a part of that crisis. It was academic. The closest that crisis would come to me would be higher food prices or a lack of selection in my local store. My body wasn't on the line. It never has been, because I am white.

In the time that followed that Expresso issue this country has erupted in protest over the long-standing treatment of our fellow Black Americans. The streets have filled with people of all races demanding that this country face up to its systemic racism. What is different about this uprising than all of the previous tragedies? For one,

we all watched

on gritty cell phone videos

police take the lives or brutally beat our Black neighbors.

Heartland Capital Strategies is about building the economy of this country in a way that works for all workers. We must do more.

As Alice Walker wrote, we are the ones we have been waiting for. In this case, no one else is coming to change this country. It is up to each of us to find the way that we can contribute to making this country whole-- not again-- but for the first time.

Whether we are investors, steelworkers, politicians, farmers, teachers, fast food workers, steamfitters, or writers-- whatever our position in this world-- there is work for us to do. If

we cannot be in the streets, then we can be in the board room, City Hall, or even at the kitchen table in our own homes talking to our children. Please join us, in stating firmly and for all to hear, that BLACK LIVES MATTER.