Today I am tired. Today I am overwhelmed. Today I am sad, anxious, angry, and frustrated. One of the most difficult parts of my role as the CEO of CAP and Prism Health is finding strength to be a light in the dark. I have sat here searching for the right message to send to you, and if I'm honest with myself, I don't have the strength today for eloquence. So many names weigh heavy on my heart and mind -Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Andre Emmett, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and on and on. So many lives taken for no cause, and with no justice. 

It has been one week since the unjust murder of George Floyd and in the last 72+ hours an environment of civil unrest has become the reality in communities across our nation and right here in our own backyard. There is a clear difference between the peaceful protest / marches of thousands and the destruction and looting of the few. I know and acknowledge that often the media, our elected officials and beyond don't always make that clear. By doing so they dilute the critical message and intent of these peaceful protests. That Black Lives Matter. That the response we are seeing across the country (peaceful or not) comes from being pushed too far and comes from something that has been stewing in this country for decades. That even if people don’t condone it or understand it, that there is a reason that all of this is happening. 

This moment is a culmination of the pain of racism, the fight for justice, dignity, life and human rights. 

Our community is not new to this moment. We have been a part of it time and time again - during the civil rights movement, together at stonewall, in the suffrage movement, and during the height of the AIDS Epidemic. Through it all, we have remained strong, steadfast, and resilient. And while we wax nostalgically on these great moments of social progress, we forget all of the blood, sweat, tears, suffering, and pain it took to make those changes a reality. We fail to acknowledge the trauma and violence that so many of our people, specifically our Black and other Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), experience every single day of their lives. We invoke the names of Sylvia, of Marsha, of Miss Majors, but we continue to shy away from the very real work of addressing the systems, including within our own movement, that marginalize and threaten those who have offered everything, including their lives, to bring about lasting change.

But today is not about the past. Today is about the present. It is about each and every one of the millions of Black lives that experience racial injustice on a daily basis. It is about the inequity that exists in jobs, healthcare, and education for our BIPOC communities. It is about the rampant racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia that have cost the lives of thousands of beautiful Black and Brown bodies who had so much to give this world. Today is about action. We can either continue to ignore the responsibility we carry and the work we still need to do to truly move forward to a better future, or we can stop dead in our tracks and acknowledge the truth of our history and its resulting inequities. We can choose a new tomorrow. We MUST choose a new tomorrow.

CAP and Prism Health are committed to identifying and eliminating manifestations of racism across our systems to create a more equitable tomorrow. We are committed to a tomorrow that values all Black and Brown lives. We are building a tomorrow that improves the lived experience of our BIPOC clients and community through health equity and racial justice. And above all, we demand a tomorrow where Black lives aren’t forfeit for simply existing.

This moment is a reminder that we cannot relent in our pursuit of equity and racial justice. I am committed to this pursuit, but I cannot bear that burden alone. We must all work together if we want to dismantle decades of institutionalized racism in our communities and our culture. We must all work together to stop the senseless loss of Black lives. And We MUST ALL work together to create an equitable tomorrow for our friends, families, communities, and our country, because our lives depend on it. As a Black man, my life may depend on it. Together we can create this change. Together we can create a better tomorrow. 

I Am With You,

Tyler