What Does the Future Hold?
Vanessa Womack
Inclusive Community Development Consultant, College Professor, and BoardSource Consultant
It’s that time of year when most organizations break out the usual Black History Month template of events.?
If you are expecting this newsletter to pontificate about the relevance of remembering the historical past, present and future contributions of black and brown folks, or communities of color or African American people in the U.S., sorry, not today. I am too triggered about the absurdity of continued violence, unreasonable politicizing of our education system that some localities want to dismiss selected history that causes emotional trauma on a majority, but will not or does not want to empathize or admit the pain endured by generations of the minority populations.
Not today, Satan! (Okay. Preaching is done!)
All I got are questions about the future. What does the future hold in its enormously large universal hands? What are the images in that magical crystal ball resting on the soothsayer’s table behind the shrouded curtain inside the mysterious carnival tent? What kind of future could I imagine shaping forward based on the events, actions, and decisions of our current collective humankind today?
I HAVE QUESTIONS, NOT ANSWERS
So allow my imagination to run amok. Just this time, bear with me, as I would bet that some of you have wondered about ?similar questions.
1.????Imagine 25 years from now. Will Black History month have been erased?
a.????How about Women’s History month? Hispanic? Pride? Indigenous Day? Confederate day (Yes, please erase!)?
b.????Would celebrated events rooted in our historical past no longer be recognized?
2.????What would our education system look like?
a.????K-12? Community college? Advanced degrees? How much training would one need to get a specific job? Will technical training be just as valuable as college degree programs?
3.????How much will AI replace human labor?
a.????Will Chatgpt AI be our undoing leading us to a sci-fi robotic nightmare indicative of Matrix? Which pill should I swallow – red or blue?
b.????Will we almost completely lose the art of writing? Thinking? (Let’s face it, cursive is extinct!)
4.????Will certain corporate organizations of today become the conglomerate monopolies of the future?
a.????Will leadership roles be more reflectively inclusive of our society in the future?
b.????How will we measure success in the job market?
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c.????Will we still be grappling with bias, racism, other isms?
5.????Will our systems of government still operate the same - local, state, national, or global?
a.????How long did the Ukrainian/Russian war last? What was the outcome?
b.????Will there be other wars over the 25 – 50 years?
6.????Will the U.S. have another Black President (Obama, please come back!) or one or two women as President/Commander in Chief?
7.????Will poverty be erased? Racism removed?
a.????Can we dismantle the identifier known as ‘race’ from our vernacular, our society? One can only hope.
WHAT WE DO NOW INFLUENCES THE FUTURE
There are some who can predict short term occurrences like the weather, stock market, medical diagnosis, and when certain emails or alerts hit your phone. Insight into the distant future, in my opinion, has too many variables to predict. My focus or priority is what I do now should positively and intentionally impact the future in an ‘if I could change the world’ way.
Because that is what I want to do, my purpose, in the small crevices of my mind, I wrestle with that. How to do that? Who will receive that as encouragement? What itty-bitty difference could I make?
I am not stressing out over the future though. Why not? I may not know the answers or the future, but I confidently know who holds it. My faith looks up and holds up!
As I end this month’s newsletter, if anyone is confused how what’s written here applies to leadership, diversity, and education, I think I covered all that in the questions. IYKYK!
The future is calling. How will you answer?
Being relevant in 2023 is my theme!
Thank you for reading this newsletter. Please subscribe and share with others. PASS IT ON!
Vanessa’s LinkedIn Learning course link:
Ordained Minister
2 年Excellent questions and wish I knew the answer. But I believe that one part of the answer is simply acknowledging the concerns and formulating that questions. And that is what we are doing with Facing Issues Grace-Fully. We are keeping the conversation going.? Waltenapride.weebly.com/fig