Reflecting on Week One

Hello friends,

What a week it's been! I can hardly believe that it's been five days since I signed up for Substack and only a couple of days since the soft launch of the newsletter. Thank you all for being among the first subscribers.

Of course, that also means you get to see the working as I whip this thing into shape. It's a work in progress, but here's my rough plan:

• one weekly piece of new content (or one of the pieces I'm moving over from Medium) for all subscribers

• a weekly reading list post for all subscribers (part of my mission here is to amplify others' voices)

• a behind the scenes post every couple of weeks for paid subscribers

• discussion threads as needed, including an AMA (ask me anything) for all subscribers sometime in September

Of course, since I still have my day job, this schedule is subject to change if I have client deadlines to meet. And there may be times when something comes up that means I send an extra newsletter.

Importantly, I want this to be a useful resource for us all. If you read something that you think others should know about, send it to me to be considered for the reading list. And if there's a discussion you'd like to have related to anti-racism, email me and I'll see what we can organize. I'm still finding my way around Substack, but there's a lot of good stuff under the hood.

OK, that's pretty much it from me, but since I've got your attention, I'd like to share two extra pieces this week.

The first is by Rebecca Stevens Alder, titled Why Corporate Black Lives Matter Initiatives Are Doomed to Fail.

And the second is a response to Rebecca's piece by Julia E Hubbel, titled How the #Black Lives Matter Forces Us to See What’s Wrong With D&I Programs.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the articles.

Happy reading,

Sharon Hurley Hall