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Let me tell you a story...

A child walks into a grocery store. People stop. They look at her, suspended in time. She finds the pack of gum she wants and reaches above her head to place too few coins on the counter. A man behind her tells the lady at the register, "It's ok. I will pay the rest."

Quaint story. Warms your heart; doesn't it? Let me add a layer to broaden the context so that the cultural values acted in concert can be better understood.

The year was 1968. The grocery store was in the Black neighborhood of Itta Bena, Mississippi. The little girl was 5 years old and white. She had wandered inside and all the people in the store froze... not because they were noticing how cute it was that a little white girl had somehow bravely come into their midst, but because something deadly could happen from the most innocent interaction, especially if she had been sent in by a group of angry white people. The Greenwood Movement's boycott of white businesses had been going on and violence against Black people had increased, during those days.¹

Changes the meaning completely. Doesn't it? There's always more to the story.

We have competing contextual and cultural narratives. Meanings often get severely misunderstood or displaced. Overt or covert unconscious biases of histories and legacies are usually not talked about. But, we must listen to understand; we must bravely learn how to unlearn, in order to right the wrongs of previous generations OR to celebrate the triumphs of accomplishments, yet with humility.

My life's work has been about studying the deep divides between contextual and cultural mindsets. Code words and ways of identifying groupthink cliques often trigger unnecessary wars of rhetoric and talking points. We live in a time of constant posturing, especially within families and work spaces.

As that little girl who wandered into a small business, I felt safe and happy; yet, only as an adult was I able to look back with compassion and sorrow, wondering about how much fear my presence stoked. 

Dr. King had been there in Greenwood on March 19, 1968 to support the 20-month boycott where African Americans were fighting for dignity of work and to be called "Mr. and Mrs." instead of more derogatory names. 

Since I was a precocious child, too inquisitive to stay in the daycare with my sister, one of my grandmother's friends--a white nurse in Leflore County--asked one of her Black nursing colleagues to help my grandmother out for the month, taking me with her all over town. "I am NOT your babysitter, Melissa," she'd say, every day, "I am your friend." Mrs. Rosie poignantly educated me in many ways during late March of 1968 up until after Dr King's funeral on April 9, 1968. There was urgency always as she imprinted lessons upon my young mind.

I watched Dr. King's funeral with Mrs. Rosie. "Do you see that little girl there?" she asked me, pointing to 5-year-old Bernice King, "She is just like you." Mrs. Rosie wanted me to KNOW... and to write about it all some day. "Write," she'd say, handing me a pencil and paper before I could spell. Then she'd pretend to read what I had written... educating me with words I wish I could still recall; nevertheless, they sunk in.

The 5-year-old learning during a critical time in our country set the course of much of my ongoing work throughout my life's trajectory. So, the story continues to unfold...

Does Your Team Need to Work Better Together, Despite Political, Philosophical, Racial, or Generational Divisions?

A Nine-Week Implementation Will Change Your Work Team

_{¹ Eastburn, K. (Feb. 1, 2018). Greenwood movement's boycott brought change. The Greenwood Commonwealth. Accessed: July 24, 2023.}

_{² The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, Emory University. Accessed: July 27, 2023.}

Mental Wealth Consulting is a psycho-educational storytelling platform that creates opportunities for:

• Better communication
• Values-driven growth
• Happiness in teamwork
• Work-life balance
• Empathy in learning
• Prosperous structures
• Equitable outcomes