We’re living in a time when we’re each becoming more vocal about the ways that we’ve been discriminated against in the past, and also more aware of the ways in which we might have shown some bias toward another person. One thing that is certain is a path exists toward healing from those experiences.
I was discriminated against while being interviewed for the Air Force. The interviewer asked if I had used illegal drugs before. “No,” I said, which was the truth. He actually told me that he did not believe me, and he instructed me to leave his office. He thought I was lying to him.
Maybe he truly did not believe that a young black man in 1980s Maryland could reach adulthood without doing drugs.
Regardless, I had exceeded what he thought was normal for someone like me and that understanding, or attitude, would not allow him to believe my answer.
I had experienced discrimination before and I wasn’t leaving. I knew love in my childhood and it gave me the courage to reject his attitude. I went on to serve nine years in the Air Force. I came out of the service knowing that the keys to success exist inside us but it’s up to us to use them.
In my new book Love Made Simple, I share that experience as a way to validate the feelings of anyone who’s experienced that uncomfortable feeling under the lens of microaggression. Love is the most important thing to help a person pull themselves out of that moment, and move forward without shame and negativity holding them back.
I invite you to join me on this journey toward a hopeful new perspective through LoveMadeSimple.
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