Nov 27, 2023Liked by Salomé Sibonex, Joseph (Jake) Klein, Reid Newton
Deeply powerful. Deeply beautiful. Your story captures the incredibly challenging and often lonely threading-of-the-needle that so many of us are trying to do. The world has gone mad. Thank you for sharing your story.
Dec 1, 2023Liked by Salomé Sibonex, Joseph (Jake) Klein, Reid Newton
An absolutely splendid and powerful piece, Reid. Thank you so much for bringing us into your world and sharing your vulnerability and courage. As someone who has had a thoroughly integrated friend group throughout my life, I so relate to your experience of alienation, confusion and disorientation as relationships have been tested and frayed by forces beyond our control. I love and respect that you have the strength and maturity to remain true to your principles: looking beyond color and seeing the soul inside. I am so proud to know you, and we in FAIR are truly fortunate to have you in our lives.
So glad you enjoyed the piece! It really is such a perfect individualized window into the problems we've seen grow on the collective level. But we love a happy ending!!
Many of us see this change occurring from the top down, wondering how anyone could actually believe the colour (can you tell I'm Canadian?) of one's skin is at least as important as the quality of one's character. Didn't we already have a civil rights movement to put these stereotypes back in the closet?
It is extraordinarily refreshing to see this change through your eyes from the ground up. This is what the change looks like and feels like to those who are on the front lines of living it everyday. Thank you so much for enriching me with your experiences. We will et through this because we have to get through this and because people like you will help bring it about.
Thank you for sharing your experience and glad to hear it ends on a positive for you! I found people, especially 2020 and beyond, were more than willing to act as judge, jury and executioner based on superficial characteristics like race, gender, sexuality and political identification without knowing someone’s experience and character.
I was someone who supported a lot of under appreciated talent, including from historically marginalized groups, but I eventually felt unwelcome or uncomfortable due to rhetoric from these individuals or the leadership in these spaces. These spaces either closed or significantly downsized... On a brighter note, in my experience at least, things have really cooled down in the past couple years from the peak of the madness and I found new community and learned to further live by my values. Thanks for being open and I hope your journey continues to bear fruit!
Appreciate hearing your experience with this cultural change. That description of people being more willing to act a judge, jury, and executioner rings so true. I do think things have cooled down too. There's hope on the horizon!
Very powerful read, thank you for sharing this story! It really hit home for me as someone who believes that race as a social construct is harmful. This story illustrates some of the reasons why. Reid, I'm so glad that you found aligned love and that your childhood friends will be their for you when you get married.
Such a profound human story. Thank you so much for being brave enough to share your authentic voice. This is the only way we will heal the divisions in our country - to tell our stories and share our humanity. I can not wait until this mind virus has run it's course and we find our way back to each other again. Each story is a step in that direction…
Thank you, Zander! I hope you’re doing well.
Deeply powerful. Deeply beautiful. Your story captures the incredibly challenging and often lonely threading-of-the-needle that so many of us are trying to do. The world has gone mad. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you for your kind words, Jim. Telling the truth is the best antidote we have to the madness!
An absolutely splendid and powerful piece, Reid. Thank you so much for bringing us into your world and sharing your vulnerability and courage. As someone who has had a thoroughly integrated friend group throughout my life, I so relate to your experience of alienation, confusion and disorientation as relationships have been tested and frayed by forces beyond our control. I love and respect that you have the strength and maturity to remain true to your principles: looking beyond color and seeing the soul inside. I am so proud to know you, and we in FAIR are truly fortunate to have you in our lives.
Thank you for your kind words Monica. That means a lot coming from you! I am very lucky to be a part of the team at FAIR.
So happy you read Reid's story Monica! It really is such a powerful essay. Appreciate both you and Reid!!
More of this, please. The true measure of our society will be realized once we all learn to see each other inside out.
You found love. Bravo!
Beautiful... thank you Reid for being so open :)
Thank you for reading!
So great to learn more about your journey, Reid. I look forward to hearing the interview.
So beautiful and tragic and indicative of the race based seperation that forced so many into their seperate tribes. But love always wins in the end!
So glad you enjoyed the piece! It really is such a perfect individualized window into the problems we've seen grow on the collective level. But we love a happy ending!!
Many of us see this change occurring from the top down, wondering how anyone could actually believe the colour (can you tell I'm Canadian?) of one's skin is at least as important as the quality of one's character. Didn't we already have a civil rights movement to put these stereotypes back in the closet?
It is extraordinarily refreshing to see this change through your eyes from the ground up. This is what the change looks like and feels like to those who are on the front lines of living it everyday. Thank you so much for enriching me with your experiences. We will et through this because we have to get through this and because people like you will help bring it about.
Congratulations on your upcoming proposal! You’ve got this!
Thank you for sharing your experience and glad to hear it ends on a positive for you! I found people, especially 2020 and beyond, were more than willing to act as judge, jury and executioner based on superficial characteristics like race, gender, sexuality and political identification without knowing someone’s experience and character.
I was someone who supported a lot of under appreciated talent, including from historically marginalized groups, but I eventually felt unwelcome or uncomfortable due to rhetoric from these individuals or the leadership in these spaces. These spaces either closed or significantly downsized... On a brighter note, in my experience at least, things have really cooled down in the past couple years from the peak of the madness and I found new community and learned to further live by my values. Thanks for being open and I hope your journey continues to bear fruit!
Appreciate hearing your experience with this cultural change. That description of people being more willing to act a judge, jury, and executioner rings so true. I do think things have cooled down too. There's hope on the horizon!
Looking forward to the interview. Amazing essay.
Thank you!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and happiness for your bond.
So glad you enjoyed it! Such a beautiful, important story.
Very powerful read, thank you for sharing this story! It really hit home for me as someone who believes that race as a social construct is harmful. This story illustrates some of the reasons why. Reid, I'm so glad that you found aligned love and that your childhood friends will be their for you when you get married.
…race as a social construct is harmful and I reject it by no longer referring to people as “black” or “white”.
Agreed, we've seen what happens when people believe race is a useful tool for judging others!
You might like Sheena Mason's work, Theory of Racelessness (https://www.theoryofracelessness.org/), if you aren't already familiar.
Thanks I’ll definitely check it out! I wrote a piece that can be found on my substack called “Why I Walked Away From White People” that explains my thinking on this topic. https://open.substack.com/pub/sustainablesolutionsmedia/p/why-i-walked-away-from-white-people-fa63c9280ed4?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Such a profound human story. Thank you so much for being brave enough to share your authentic voice. This is the only way we will heal the divisions in our country - to tell our stories and share our humanity. I can not wait until this mind virus has run it's course and we find our way back to each other again. Each story is a step in that direction…