Roger That

PUBLISHER NOTE: Yesterday's federal holiday and today's recognition of Juneteenth are about emancipation, celebration and reflection... reflection is a retroactive inventory of what we have learned, mistakes, as well as, progress made, and how we individually and collectively, will make tomorrow better. I am thankful to have learned, grew a bit, and recognized why I must always be doing better. Let's democratize freedom and opportunity for all humankind. This article is a re-post from June 2020 and remains relevant and motivational to me today. Thank you to my mentors who help me do better.

In the rock musical Rent, the character Roger Davis said, “you can’t wipe out an entire tent city then watch It’s A Wonderful Life on TV.” Metaphorically that is what is happening now across the privileged sectors of the United States.

I live just a few short miles outside of Boston where 53 people were arrested last night. They were all identified on a local news website this AM and the vast majority were in their early 20’s and the charges were mostly for looting, assault and destruction of property. The leafy streets of my home in Waban were peaceful and undisturbed.

I watched Magic Johnson on CNN last night. He is my age.?As a Knick fan growing up, I always had a grudging admiration for his talent and he was hard to dislike, mostly because he was so good and always smiling. To hear his story about the conversation he had to have with his two sons about how to conduct themselves if they are ever approached by a police officer was certainly not new, but equally foreign to me. I never had to have that kind of conversation with any of my four sons.

I saw federal troops surround the White House last night. They aggressively pushed back on what seemed to be a large but peaceful demonstration to open a path to a church on 16th Street; a street I know well and where I stay during my frequent visits to our nation’s capital. I assume the graffiti will be cleaned up, and the tear gas canisters long since spent before my next trip.

I believe in diversity, being responsible, and a stewardship approach that defines this new era of stakeholder capitalism. That means being all-in. You cannot pick your hobby horse and ignore what you can’t fix or don’t feel you own, because it is not happening in your own air-conditioned tent city. Let’s face it. Our industry has a lot of work to do and we do not have clean hands on this issue. To treat what happened in Central Park a couple of weeks ago as a glancing blow is short-sighted and perhaps too convenient. Look at the leadership and governance of most of our organizations. That part of the website mostly looks like me and CAIA Association is certainly not leading by example here either, and that needs to change.

When it comes to tamping down any bias, it is the unconscious part that is the hardest to identify and root out. If none of us have any racial biases, unconscious or otherwise, why are young black men in handcuffs, or simply out for a jog, being killed, why has the word ‘Karen’ entered the vernacular, and why does a celebrity, the likes of Magic Johnson, have to have ‘that conversation’ with his sons??

The leaders in our industry need to switch off “It’s a Wonderful Life” mostly because it isn’t for so many around us. Stewardship starts with a recognition of an issue and a determination to at least make it better on our watch. If you don’t know where to start, look at your leadership, your words, and your actions.

Let’s own it, and start by leading with empathy… Roger that?

Seek education, diversification of both your portfolio and people, and know your risk tolerance. Investing is for the long term.