The Power of One

I have long believed that one person can change the world. We have lots of examples around us of individual people who have made significant change in their community, in the broader society and in the world cue Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Congressman John Lewis; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Mother Theresa and most notably today, Stacey Abrams. Often admired and revered because of their role in changing our world, we tend to lump them into a category of exceptionalism. We treat them as if they are an exception to the rule, an anomaly, above average, not ordinary, irregular.

This same level of thinking seems to apply to the work of anti-racism and racial equity. We tend to think that because we’re only “one person” we can’t make any change and certainly not any scalable, long-term change. Maybe we can influence our co-worker or our family member but everything else seems out of reach.

In my work, I have the opportunity to facilitate many discussions with groups of people who are hungry for change, they want to know what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Sometimes they are energized and inspired to advocate for change and sometimes I can tell they are completely overwhelmed. It’s true that the system of racism and white supremacy is a mammoth. Systemic and structural racism permeates every part of our lives, dictating who is served and how well they are served; dictating who wins and who loses; dictating who amasses wealth and who lives in generational oppression and poverty. It’s true that it is a massive, seemingly invisible system that one person can’t possibly change, right?

Wrong. The norms of white supremacy culture tell us that progress is bigger and more [1] refuting the claim that I’m making here, that change and progress can happen with one person, one idea, one comment, one decision and one action at a time.

You might be wondering what this means for you and the work required to dismantle systems of oppression. Well, it means that you don’t have to wait for a group of people to “join the bandwagon” or to agree with the fact that racism is alive and well today just as it was 400 years ago.  You simply have to decide that you want to join the fight for justice, equity and full inclusion of all people in our society. Once you make that decision your next step is to act. This is where people tend to get stuck. Questions such as “what do I do, how do I do it and who can I do it with” surface and create an instant paralysis. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The reality is, action looks different for each person based on where they are situated, based on the community they live in, based on their local landscape, based on their level of risk tolerance, based on their level of intolerance and based on their level of privilege and access.

For one person action might look like asking questions about decision making processes in an organization; for another person, it might look like changing the way they speak about an issue (i.e. framing challenges as systemic rather than individualistic); for another person, it might look like advocating for the creation of an REI or DEI committee /taskforce in their workplace and for another person it might simply look like choosing to bring their full and authentic self to work each and every day. You get to decide which action you will take and how you want to disrupt.

I am a firm believer that we each hold the power to seed and lead long-term, systemic change in our society and in our world. We don’t have to wait for everyone else to agree with us, we simply have to decide that we will no longer stand on the sidelines and watch. Fear cannot drive our decision to be silent, courage and conviction should inspire us to BE the change we want to SEE in our world.

If you are one of the people who has decided that this moment in time won’t leave you standing on the side, ask yourself the following questions:

1)   What is one thing that I can do each day to disrupt the norms of racism and white supremacy in my world?

2)   Who is one person that I can talk to about equity and justice?

3)   What is one question I can ask that will create space for reflection and change?

4)   What is the one article or book that I can read to increase my knowledge of the issues?

Once you’ve considered these questions, decide how you will act. Remember it only takes one idea, one comment, one decision, one action and one person to seed transformation. Choose to be the one every day.

“Do you know that in a race all the runners run [the very best to win], but only one receives the prize? Run [your race] in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours!”  1 Corinthians 9:24.

Clair Minson is a talent and workforce development professional with a specific focus on systems change, working at the intersection of race, racism and workforce development. She is passionate about changing the outcomes for people of color for generations to come and is a fierce advocate for race-conscious programming and policy design.

[1] https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html