Context Matters When Leading Oneself, Let Alone Leading Others.

I was inspired by a recent post from a trusted thought leader and business coach as it relates to context and leadership. He was spot on how drilling down into specifics, context and asking exceptional open-ended questions takes us to new places of understanding in our relationships and leadership. I feel to maximize the effectiveness of context, we must first do that fearless search around the context of the beliefs we ourselves hold dear. How often do we both examine and research the truths that guide our biases, values, and our decision making?

As I have continued to embark on my own journey of becoming a better human sibling and leader, part of that work is to truly challenge the things that I have held true about my origin beliefs and my place in the world. As I have peeled back the layers of my history and history in general, I have come to realize how much of my life had been shaped upon narratives, many not even historically accurate, that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Following are two of the narratives that I have truly had to unseat and educate myself to their origins and accuracy. I will be sharing more in future posts.

Narrative 1: Non-melanated people have been around forever.

The belief that non-melanated (white) people were the first to be on this planet is not scientifically or historically accurate. Based upon the volumes of various historical and ongoing anthropological, historical migration, dermatological, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, and genetic research, the more hairless modern human species started migrating out of Africa nearly 100,000 years ago into other UV zones in the world. The combination of far less body hair and less exposure to UV radiation resulted in the evolution of the body to produce less pigmentation in the skin. This transition happened slowly over tens of thousands of years until those migrants in the northern hemispheres became lighter and lighter in skin pigmentation. How crazy it is to realize how long it takes our species to adapt! I often ponder what wonderful adaptations humans will see over the next 20,000 years, if we endure that long...

This slow adaptation to new UV zones is purported to be how we get the beautiful rainbow of melanation across our planet today, thousands and thousands of years of adaptation to new environs! While it is hard to pinpoint the exact timing of ancient adaptations, one study out of Finland, published in Experimental Dermatology, Volume 29, Issue 9, in July of 2020, finds the fairest of the skin tones are thought to have emerged out of the populations in the more northern hemispheres, specifically the Near East and the Caucasus around 28,000, or so, years ago. And these pigment genes that are most associated with Europeans and Easter. As research capabilities continue to advance, what more will we learn or need to relearn?!

The human species has evolved over the last 1.2 million years. 28,000 of those we of European non-melanated fair-haired ancestry have been roaming this earth. Is it no wonder our melanated sisters and brothers take issue in the fact that the wealth of knowledge and invention that occurred throughout the formation of human progress has been "appropriated" to be associated with the smallest and youngest race on the planet? This leads me to the next narrative.

Narrative 2: White is the norm for being human, that having more melanation is the mutation.

Being "white" is not the normative state of being human. Being "white" or "black" or "brown" or "red" or "yellow" are societal constructs. Sadly, the "white" construct is often seen as the "norm" for the societies in which non-melanated people have been conditioned to fear their larger cohorts of global majority melanated folks. Our reptilian brain, the part of the old brain that is linked directly to the very instinctual parts of our DNA is written to a predisposition to the fight or flight responses that keep us alive. I proffer that those in power have always known that fear is the ultimate old brain motivator. Its cynicism, its tendency to react versus respond, its group think, its inability to move beyond confirmation bias in moments of crisis, were all designed to keep us alive.

Non-melanated folks have never been the global majority, but just as their melanated siblings, they were the beneficiary of more than a million years of previous evolution and inventions. The appropriation, as well as their addition to innovation and advancements, helped them conquer larger populations and cultures. Time and again throughout history, the fear context was the engine fueled by those in power and ensconced tremendous wealth, have sent humans into wars against other humans to not be "wiped out by the enemy", to "take what is rightfully theirs" based upon religious narratives that served to absolve their abhorrent actions. But this is truly an oversimplification. To avoid the swinging my generalizations from one side of the pendulum to the other (because that is what my biased driven brain does), I must look at historical examples that illustrate cultural appropriation and the exploitation of resources by colonizers.

Cultural Appropriation:

In looking at recent history in the timeline of human existence, let's keep it to the last 2,600+/- years or so, Less or Non-melanated human colonizers often appropriated aspects of the cultures they encountered during colonization. This ranged from adopting local customs and clothing to incorporating Indigenous knowledge and practices into their own traditions.

The transfer of cultural elements from Indigenous humans of those lands was not commonly mutual or respectful, as these colonizers often distorted or commodified these aspects without acknowledging their origins or the often-heinous ways they were appropriated.

Exploitation of Resources:

Colonization, going all the way back to ancient times, has always involved the exploitation of natural resources in colonized lands for the economic benefit of the colonizing powers. This included the extraction of minerals, agricultural products, and other valuable resources. The wealth generated from these resources often flowed back to the colonizing nations, contributing to their economic prosperity.

Imposition of European Values:

From the 15th to 20th Centuries, Non-melanated European human colonizers imposed their own values, institutions, and systems on colonized territories. This included the imposition of European legal systems, educational structures, and religious practices. The dominance of European values contributed to a power dynamic where the colonized cultures were often marginalized or suppressed.

Innovation and Invention:

There is a connection between appropriation of innovation and the fear-driven context of non-melanated conquerors. However, I must acknowledge that innovation is a complex process influenced by brilliant minds of all times and races, including cultural exchange. But there is no denying that appropriation intellectual property was a thing.

African, Asian, North/Central/South American, European, Middle Eastern, Oceanic nations have all made substantial contributions to science, technology, and the arts throughout history, however, it is beyond time to give the appropriate recognition to that which was appropriated, and then their true origins hidden, to prop up colonizing narratives.

Global Trade and Economic Imbalances:

The patterns of global trade often shifted to favor the colonizing powers, leading to economic imbalances. Those powers controlled trade routes, which allowed them to accumulate wealth at the expense of colonized regions. This economic exploitation contributed to disparities in wealth and development that persist today.

Colonization was not just a political or military conquest; it involved the appropriation of cultural elements, the exploitation and removal of natural resources, and the establishment of economic structures that perpetuated inequalities. These nuanced historical perspectives help give light to the impact of cultural appropriation and the accumulation of wealth by non-melanated conquerors.

As mentioned, there are countless narratives yet to unpack (and please stay tuned for future posts). I encourage you to explore what has shaped you as a human and a leader. If you are a non-melanated human and your journey is anything like mine, you may find aspects that evoke a sense of shame. For much of my life, willful ignorance shielded me from realizing how my silence and complicity were, in fact, aspects of the privilege of having been born non-melanated into a society where that is the held up as the ideal. I was born into a family who could provide more than the mere basic or survival necessities for me, so my privilege is even greater. But the fact remains that the poorest in the non-melanated white construct of society has always had access to some level of information and resources denied to melanated "others".

On this journey of discerning the context of my belief systems, I resisted acknowledging any latent racist tendencies, but the truth is, systemic generational racism permeates our societal fabric, and those norms and biases are like the air we breathe; invisible and always there. Does being born non-melanated mean I should feel ashamed? Certainly not. However, I must confront the "whiteness" construct of the society that shaped my own origins and thus my formational belief systems. Then, I must thoughtfully continue to chart a path forward as a more conscientious human sibling and leader. I share my journey with the hope that it inspires other non-melanated folks the desire to quest for continued self-awareness and a search for context in order to lead themselves well, and to be the best human siblings possible.

#antiracism #contextmattersinlifeandleadership #systemicgenerationalracism #leadershipstartswithinme #leadershipmatters #leadwell #melanationmatters

?