Read the LA Times article, “Activists and celebrities urge Dodgers to dump oil industry advertiser” by Sammy Roth for my comments to marketers, pr, and social good executives. Grateful for the independent press telling stories of truth and not marketed misinformation. See the open letter to The Dodgers.
I’m proud of this campaign as greenwashing and the marketing and public relations of social good is an invasive species of today’s problem. America has created ecosystems and verticals to mask the social problems created in our lives and environments. We're presented with bandaids instead of solutions. The world of philanthropy and nonprofit codes is complacent and incentivized to not solve problems, window dressing has a purpose. It's cosplay, HR for Capital, and leaders are in positions to protect and uphold inequity, locally and globally. People are working. People with titles and jobs placed, proclaim “woke” & “impact” to mask the ecocide of natural resources and the destruction of people's health and well-being. The buzzword soup, beautiful gowns and titles to pay bills are humans who aren't like us. They are Goofy’s with checks at their best.
It’s been about saving lives since I was a teenager, not representing and speaking for corporations. I've been trained in greenwashing since day one. Brands came and executives became colleagues and friends due to their will and actions. It’s always been about kids with asthma in their chest, teen girls with migraines in their brains, life expectancies a few years shy of 50, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. It's not natural, people are working. I can now call out the autoimmune illnesses, and understand the realities this group of disabled people face. Many of the marginalized are undiagnosed and dealing with the realities of these nightmares as if it’s simply an unlucky struggle. Leaders will not knock on doors and tell citizens they’ve been poisoned with their choices. In the 21st Century, children and adults pose with large itty bitty checks, turkey giveaways, and other unique bandaids by a not-for-profit corporation.
I’ve never been more grateful for my footprints and all of the yes’ and every single no, than I am these days. I have what I need to be the leader I need to be for myself and people in communities mirroring the air and environmental factors of South Central LA. I have information and tools for resources outside of the traditional healthcare system and the mainstream understanding of environmental issues. I can be who I need to be for me. I’m grateful for my parents and younger siblings, and my magical 5yo niece for caring for me. Myself is subjective as I’m never alone, I move with Spirit anywhere and my ancestors can always be seen if the right person is looking.
What a treat to sign the letter to “Tell Dodgers to Stop Greenwashing” at this time in my life and love of career. I’ve had a tumultuous time navigating my days as my health has been on the decline for the last 5 years. I haven’t been able to work consistently in years. Entrepreneurship is the only job I've ever had, I can't be sick if I want to submit an invoice. When work is leading strategy, solutions, and imagination, and you can't show up, everything shifts.
Over and over for months and years, I had no words to explain my symptoms and state of being. I have so much love for those who can hide illnesses, I wish I could’ve, I truly do. My ego doesn’t think people deserve my vulnerability, my soul doesn’t disagree. However my body wants to scream. I knew I wasn’t OK many times and didn’t understand why. How do you explain to someone that you can't move today are in extreme pain, when you were okay yesterday? People want answers. How does one explain not being able to move? How bad will it become? Where is this heading?
Head-to-toe fatigue, memory loss, joint pain, and the muscles in my legs, arms & torso, hair loss, and arthritis in my hands. Not to mention, nausea, losing 25 pounds, and food becoming a descipable enemy. Some days I couldn't walk, and learning how to crawl again was humbling, over and over.
Lupus is a conjunction of autoimmune symptoms enabling illness in the body, A medical term, and a broad diagnosis of inabilities. It’s 80% environmental, its factors and causes are directly connected to the toxins put into the environment by corporations and the lack of regulations for commerce. The environment has more impact on our being than we are taught. People are working. You can’t shift environmental effects with individual actions. We aren’t Sandy with a helmet, this isn’t SpongeBob.
I’ve been able to focus on a few things consistently:
learning to recite gems while boxing the air trying to open a spaghetti jar while cooking and remembering I can’t use my hands (no more gr8ful jar)
laying on my Mom and Dad’s couch as it’s the most comfortable position for my body
playing Mortal Kombat and listening to the uncomfortable sounds of ammunition on Fortnite, to get my mental intact to deal with doctors and their lack of interconnected knowledge and boundaries of American healthcare.
saying no to going outside and being out in public unless there's purpose, getting the flu is easy and can be delibating for weeks.
playing with my niece as she explores and learns the world almost weekly
I ate dessert maybe daily at times. Rough days would start dessert for breakfast. It’s what kept my imagination whole.
Eric is on my mantle, next to Kobe Bryant and Elon’s Solar City remote for the solar panels on the roof.
In June 2024, I celebrated my body and back no longer in pain while sitting up. I'd end calls praying and hoping it wasn’t a waste because I’d be so weak after hitting "Leave Call" on Zoom. Year after year, meetings, seemed wasteful and only reminded me of what I couldn't participate in due to disability. It didn't matter if I had limited work or a partner and team. It surely didn't make dealing with entrepreneurship's probability of users, scammers, and selfish people's expectations of a leader at all, the unwell personalities were at an all-time high over the last 4 years. It helped me pull back and care for myself without any explanation. The experiences and moments still haunt me, worthy lessons of selfishness, as an Aries(all 3) making its way back to me.
The 4th week of July made one full year I’ve been able to cook for myself since 2021. Cooking is my absolute favorite way to honor and love myself. What a joy it has been to get back to Love. Grounding in the joy and recalling that love comes from my hand and heart first. It's the only love promised to be abundant, kind, and consistent.
I wish I could say I’ve been treated respectfully by my doctors. I have not. It’s been unfortunately ugly. Too many voice memos of the realities of being a Black woman needing help from strangers with authority. I get in trouble because I can articulate my problems. I have a folder of letters for my records that I’ve had to email to the CEO of my health plan. I now have 3+ numbers of medical professionals to call if I have issues. How many more people will I meet? How many more people will I have to learn and remember the names of to recite the symptoms from my Notes App for help? How many more? How long will it take? Can I heal myself?
We shall see.
