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The Evolutionary


Jun 12, 2020

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and all of the police killings and violence leading up to the murder of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests that have ensued across the nation and around the world, I am in the process of my own personal awakening and self-directed education regarding the system of racism that we were all, as americans, raised into.  And like any other aspect of a worldview, it is so pervasive that we may not even see it, as a fish cannot see the water.  It's invisible and it’s everywhere.  

In this journey I have come to see that racism is not only perpetrated by hatred and violence, but it is supported, and held in place by what Dr. King called the white moderate: meaning those of us who are sympathetic to the plight of POC, but we don’t understand the depth of the issues or the pervasiveness of the system of valuing whiteness and subjugating POC.  This is the system that our nation was built on from the very beginning.  A system that continues to thrive to this day.  

So in contemplating what I can do, it seemed fairly obvious to utilize the platform of The Evolutionary podcast to discuss these matters and attempt to keep them in the light, so that we can follow through on what we have now started as a nation:  That being the process of evolving into a nation of actual equality, a nation that lives by the higher ideals it has espoused for centuries, but has yet failed to instantiate.  

For that reason will be hosting several discussions on the Black Lives Matter movement on The Evolutionary, for there isn’t a movement on the planet today more charged with evolutionary opportunity than this.  

For the first BLM discussion, I asked Judge Kemp to be on the show to share his perspectives on social injustice and the experience of being a minority in the United States.   And his perspective is especially valuable because he sees it from multiple angles.  He is Black, Gay, and in a interracial marriage with a white man.  He also has the added perspective of having grown up in the south, as well as having lived overseas for 7 years.  

He is a familiar face among LGBTQ Portlanders with a deep history of community service.   Judge is a former member of Q center in Portland, a long-time supporter of Our House of Portland (a charity that provides housing and other vital services for people living with HIV).  He is also the former Board President of Red Dress Portland (a fundraising organization benefiting various charities in our community), and he has Served for the Governor on the Commission on Black Affairs for the State of Oregon.  He is also a beloved friend.  

His personal mantra is “community-focused and globally driven.”  He has a blog at judgedontjudge.blog.  Judge has graciously taken the time to discuss race in America on the show.