Marking four years of this race beat journey

Before we (briefly) Haiku our way into whatever passes for a weekend these days, I wanted to take a breath to express my sincere thanks to all of you: RaceAhead turns four years old today.

I’ve been looking forward to this moment for three years and 364 days. At launch, the newsletter seemed impossibly daunting. Daily content about the one thing that nobody really wants to talk about? I imagined I would default to coverage of barely-budging diversity data, profiles of inspiring chief human resource officers, and sage reminders to not be a racist jerk at Halloween. Instead, the world served up white supremacist rallies, police shootings, children in cages at the U.S. border, debates about Robert E. Lee, and a commander-in-chief who traffics in dangerous and racist rhetoric.

I went there and you went with me. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t have pitched this beat. But it was my two bosses, Alan Murray and Clifton Leaf—then the head of Fortune the brand inside Time Inc., and editor-in-chief of the magazine, respectively—who saw an opportunity in the marketplace of ideas for Fortuneto lead this vital conversation and decided to take some strategic risks in digital, print, and purpose. The world affirmed their instincts, but the biggest risk they took was on me.

I am so grateful to all of you who read and share and ping me on all the socials, to the extraordinary DEI professionals who have taken the time to make sure I understand what’s at stake, and to my peerless colleagues who make me smarter and more courageous every day. A special thank you to my edit-partner Tamara El-Waylly who shares the load and patiently saves me from myself on the regular. She is a true believer.

Truth be told, I miss the pre-pandemic raceAhead, in part because building it daily had become such a big part of how I understand the world. But the fierce urgency that described life before has become a global emergency of disparate impact now. I’m struggling to get my arms around how to cover it all, but I find solace in knowing that I’m not alone.

It is always you, dear reader, who is doing the real work. My new mantra: I represent the village that raises me daily. I hope you’re taking good care.

I will end with the wisest of words from the Broadsheet’s Kristen Bellstrom. She was one of the first people I turned to before I launched this damn thing. Her advice turned out to be ideal for anyone facing an important, intimidating, and risky new adventure—like we all are now.

Don’t have an opinion before you have an opinion, she advised. Take a breath and think it through. “It’s okay to cover something the next day, it’s better to be sure you know how you feel about it.” Next, find people to advocate for you and ask for help when you need it. Then, the brass tacks: “If you survive the first three months, you know you’re going to make it.”

Now, here’s a tribute to you, in Haiku.

You do the work, you
make the way. You shine the light.
Now: Go out and play.

Wishing you a happy and (socially distant) playful weekend. 

Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com

On point

Googlers claim the company is dialing back on its diversity initiatives And the nightmare begins, right? According to eight current and former Google employees who have been sharing their stories with NBC News, the move is designed to help the company avoid the appearance of an anti-conservative bias. One popular program called Sojourn, a racial justice program that focused on helping employees navigate bias and difficult conversations about race, has been cut completely. “It does not want to invite lawsuits or claims by right-wing white employees about Google discriminating against them,” said one employee. Melonie Parker, Google’s chief diversity officer, disputes the claims, saying that the company is "maturing our programs to make sure we’re building our capability.”
NBC News

Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga: “Inclusion is a fancy word for human decency” On our latest episode of Leadership Next, Fortune’s podcast on leadership practicing stakeholder capitalism, Ajay Banga was unflinching in his commitment to inclusion, in the workplace and across the financial world. It was a fascinating dive into how the economic recovery can and should raise people up, rather than deepen divides. “The first thing you have to do is look after your people,” Banga told Alan Murray. “That is all part of thinking through inclusion. Inclusion is a fancy word for human decency.” On the flip side, you’ll also hear me ask Blackrock global strategist Kate Moore on what the recovery might look like, which companies are poised to thrive and what is keeping her up at night. (Spoiler alert: inequality.) A must listen and share, and do us a solid and smash that like button.
Leadership Next

Breonna Taylor was an EMT worker She was 26 years old when fatally shot by police in her home in March. The outrage (rightfully) continues to grow, and her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. As an emergency medical technician, she formed part of the essential workers on the pandemic’s frontlines—a hero. But, as Jamil Smith writes in this Rolling Stone commentary, “[w]hat value is celebrating an ‘essential worker’ if, when the uniform comes off and she rests in her own bed, her blackness makes her disposable?” This is a must-read as Smith explores the double standard of the “‘hero’ status” and how it enables a racist system that fails to protect all. 
Rolling Stone 

The beautiful battles of Verzuz The premise was instantly exciting: Two musical artists with at least 20 songs appear on Instagram Live and perform head-to-head. Fans vote on the winner. It turned out to be perfect quarantine-viewing—surprising, spontaneous, unscripted, and with the production values of a garage band practice session. The idea was created by producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland and launched in March. Now, fans like Michelle Obama, Adele, and Jay-Z are tuning in. Some battles fizzled; the latest one, starring Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, was more of a lovefest. Special mention to music executive Andre Harrell, gone too soon, who understood early on that Verzuz was less about chest-thumping swagger and more about “black musical excellence.”
Washington Post

Librarians will save us all, along with grad students and actual experts A massive grassroots coalition of volunteers, calling themselves the Librarian Reserve Corps has been sorting, curating, and categorizing the massive crush of information about COVID-19 that has been generated. The goal is to push the right information to the right people who are working on pandemic-related issues. Elaine Hicks, education, research, and public health librarian at Tulane’s Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences, started the effort. “This is an organically developing organization,” she told Library Journal. “It has no ownership, no budget, no bureaucratic guidelines.”
Library Journal

Coronavirus in the community

• Puerto Rico has a breakthrough: Largely thanks to the private sector, there are now more than 2,500 coronavirus tests being administered per day. David Begnaud has the scoop.
• Mara Gay is a member of the New York Times editorial board. She was young and healthy. Coronavirus made her very, very, sick.
• The majority of coronavirus cases in Chicago are in the Latinx community.
• Some 42% of all coronavirus-related deaths in Florida are residents of nursing homes assisted living facilities. Health officials tested only 6% of these facilities between April 11 and May 11, and only three of the 10 facilities who have the most coronavirus patients are doing widespread testing.
• The pointless death of an Innocent: The coronavirus is having a devastating impact on Montreal’s poorest, and mostly immigrant, neighborhoods.
• Mind the gender gap. New research from the London School of Economics shows women are more likely to lose their jobs than men in the coming recession.
• South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to the Rez: Drop dead.
• The State of Ohio set up a website so employers could report employees who refuse to come to work during the pandemic, thereby voiding their right to unemployment. Hackers then flooded the “COVID-19 Fraud” site with junk data and halted the processing of fraud claims.
• Kyrgyzstan’s government has badly bungled its coronavirus response, alleges a rapper called Begish. The anger in his latest song, Sayasat (Politics), needs little translation. Bonus content: Kyrgyzstan is beautiful.

On background

Annalise Keating, we barely knew you Kellee Terrell, a filmmaker and journalist, digs into the complex legacy of How To Get Away With Murder, a complex television series worthy of the Shonda Rhimes imprimatur, and filled with chaotic-yet-compelling characters you just can’t quit. They generate a lot of dead bodies for law school students, too. But Terrell singles out Annalise for a special mention, and the brilliant way Viola Davis used her to transform the entertainment industry. “An openly bisexual character whose struggles with alcoholism and childhood abuse, as well as her unscrupulous legal tactics (among other things), made her one of the most complicated black women in television history,” she writes.
New York Times

Come to find out, Kyrgyzstan has a big rap scene And it’s been going on long enough to have hip-hop elders who acknowledge their place in the genre's continuum. “At some point, Africa Bambaata and Grandmaster Flash laid the foundation for this shit, and today the streets are ready to give their recognition,” said one such OG named Belyi. Western hip-hop was smuggled into the country in the 1980s via illegally traded tapes, restricted by the then Soviet Union. The kids made due on their own, and hip-hop became the soundtrack of the early days of Kyrgyzstan independence, which was declared in 1991. But hold up: The country has its own millennia-long tradition of musical improvisation, and improvisational poets are known as акындар, or akyns. Akyns hooray, hey, ho.
Calvert Journal

Why the “backfire effect” makes it hard to change your mind This utterly delightful tale, told in a graphic romp, is a wonderful explainer for why, despite your best efforts, you are predisposed to believe some facts more than others. And why, despite all good sense, some new information will make you explode into a fit of rage, and other new information won’t. It has to do with your brain. Counterarguments to core beliefs are perceived as physical threats to your well-being. So, when you tell Cousin Peggy that black lives matter, her brain interprets that information like a predator just burst into the room. Don’t believe me? Click through. Just promise to read to the end.
The Oatmeal

Today's mood board

Ellen McGirt

The family business

• Kelley Johnson, CEO of KJE Consulting and Coaching, is hosting a free webinar called Pivot, Learn How to Prepare and Partner for the Path Ahead, specifically for DEI folks. “As we see the disparate impact of COVID on the very communities we are striving to support, it has become clear that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are #essentialbusiness,” she says. It’s May 22 at 11 AM CST, more here.
• RaceAhead’s dear friend, Chris Staten, is an author, an executive presence coach and an IBM partner, and he’s worried about all the interns out there. “Onboarding for new hires can be overwhelming,” he says. “I can only imagine how it will be for newcomers and interns during this time." “I am contemplating doing a free workshop for incoming hires and interns on how to navigate virtual onboarding, become essential to your team, and set themselves up for long term success,” he says. Ping him with your incoming position title at chris@optimistpresence.com to get on the list.
• Aleria is a software platform that aims to help corporations plan, execute, and measure the impact of D&I initiatives. Co-founder Arshiya Malik is working with pro bono consultants from Net Impact on some research to determine how they can best support inclusion leaders at this critical time. Got 20 minutes to weigh in? Head here.
• I was invited to participate in a Salesforce Leading Through Change series, to talk about how COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color. I was humbled to join epidemiologist and family physician Dr. Camara Jones and CNN’s Van Jones in the conversation, Jennifer Hudson capped things off in a musical performance. It was an emotional and lively conversation and I learned this: It is one thing to write about the destruction that’s visiting Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities now, it is a much different bit of business to hear yourself say it out loud.