The winds are changing.
I was on a Zoom call last Tuesday when one of our fellows asked if I heard bells ringing. It was the wind chimes outside of my window blowing furiously in the wind. I’d never heard them like that and I worried the chime might blow away so I took the wind chimes down, and went to pick up my kids from school.
On my walk into the school, I got a text from my high school roommate: “Rachel, are you and the family doing okay with the wildfires?”
What wildfires?
My time living in the Bay Area during the most destructive wildfires in state history taught me that, often, the smell of fire preceded its arrival, like bread burning in the oven. But I didn’t smell or see anything, until I turned the corner. Behind my children’s school–just a few miles in the distance, I could see plumes of white smoke rising from the horizon. I looked at my husband, and our eyes said what our mouths could not in front of the kids: “not again.”
You see, in the last 20 years that I’ve lived in California, I’ve been forced to prepare to lose everything at least three times due to fire, twice due to unsafe housing, and once due to global pandemic. Parenting over 10 of those 20 years has been the best and worst of times. My nine-year-old knows all too well that disasters often begin with sunny days and blue skies.
I want a better world for my children. And yours.
Watching Los Angeles burn has affirmed that any development–workforce or other– that does not incorporate learnings from these losses cannot be sustained. We must respond to the urgency of our times with urgency and creativity for only creation can combat such destruction and lead to the development of a truly inclusive economy.
Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for an inclusive economy of care when he defined his Beloved Community as one rooted in ideals of shared wealth, equality, and peace. Today we celebrate King’s legacy as a new regime that actively opposes the notion of a Beloved Community takes office. On this day, we get to choose where we tune in.
Esq. Apprentice is choosing Community. In a few short weeks, we’ll launch the Excelerator, our newest program dedicated to legal workforce development and designed to help young women of color explore meaningful career pathways within the law as paralegals, legal assistants, and lawyers.
My high school roommate was the first of many to check in on me from more than seven states across this nation. These fires have an impact far beyond what’s burned and we are connected to one another more than we know. Let’s exploit our interconnectedness and create the world our children deserve. That’s the real work.
And we’re ready!
