Friday's Five ππΌ #142
Happy Friday's Five,
We celebrated a premiere this week with ForChiefs and facilitated a virtual two-day team town hall meeting with 130 people from around the world to talk vision, strategy, and values for a large client. What a cool experience and so great to see that technology enabled us to feel connected and close even though we were all in different places.
What I'm reading
Belgium (where I was born and raised) has a dark colonial past. King Leopold II personally (!) colonialized Congo in Central Africa in the 19th century. Und his atrocious, exploitative, and greedy rule, millions of Congolese lost their lives, making it one of the largest human rights abuses of the 19th century. I am reading up on the full story through the book 'King Leopold's Ghosts' by Adam Hochschild and I'm pleased to see that some protesters this week took down statues of Leopold II.
What I'm listening to
Rabbit Hole, a podcast produced by The New York Times, literally sends you down a rabbit hole and explores how the internet is changing, what it does to us, and how sites like YouTube can radicalize viewers. It's uncomfortable to listen to as it hits many of the current forces at play. For a (surprisingly) more hopeful tone, listen to this excellent conversation between Ezra Klein and author Ta-Nehisi Coates about the current events and anti-racism protests.
What I'm watching
'13th' is a Netflix documentary by director Ava DuVernay ('Selma', 'When They See Us'). The title refers to the 13th amendment of the US Constitution which abolished slavery in the United States in 1865. The film features many prominent political voices of both major parties in the US and explores the intersections of race, justice, and mass incarceration. It made me angry and then sad and then angry again. It explains many of the reasons why the anti-racism protests have been so massive. Watch the trailer.
What I'm thinking about
βRace doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.β
β Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Americanah
What else?!
To end on a lighter note, I've enjoyed these videos by Sarah Cooper mocking the current President of the US.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
P.S.: If you've enjoyed this, your best friend might too β thanks for sharing: tinyletter.com/davidnoel
Website | Role Models | Instagram | Twitter | My Work
Subscribe to our podcast for free on rolemodels.co/podcast