"I've been learning a great deal about interdependence. I've been learning about how to trust your team.... After coming back from a three-month sabbatical... I felt it was really important for my leadership and for my team to also practice stepping back as well as also sometimes stepping in. And what I learned in this process was that we need to acknowledge that different people contribute different strengths, and that in order for our entire team to flourish, we have to allow them to share and allow them to shine.... I saw our team rise up in my absence. They were able to launch new programs, fundraise. And when I came back, I had to give them a lot of gratitude and praise because they showed me that they truly had my back and that they truly had their own backs.... In this process of my sabbatical, I was really reminded of this Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu. I am because you are; you are because I am. And I realized that my own leadership, and the contributions that I'm able to make, is in large part due to the contributions that they make, right? And I have to acknowledge that, and I have to see that, and so my new mantra is, "Keep calm and trust the team." And also, "Keep calm and thank the team.""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Activists from the United StatesCivil rights activistsAnti-racism activistsWomen academics from the United StatesAfrican-American feminists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
An Interview with the Founders of Black Lives Matter, Ted Talks, (October 2016)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Opal_Tometi
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Opal Tometi
25 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Opal Tometi โ
Related Quotes
"People have begun to engage in mutual aid and support for their neighbours. Even if people didn't have much, they werโฆ"
"We also believe that we cannot truly become free when marginalised Black communities are kept at the margins and are โฆ"
"I'm extremely gratified that people have heard and are taking ownership of Black Lives Matter. People now know that iโฆ"
"We finally had time to sit at home and reflect on how our society functions and whether or not it's functioning well โฆ"
"When you're sitting at home or living at a slower pace and you see that Black folks in your community are attacked, kโฆ"
"We are now in a moment where people have no excuses to deny the injustice that's happening in the middle of a global โฆ"
"People are really trying to show up in this moment for black people, but I think they are also doing it because they โฆ"
"When we first started Black Lives Matter, I always knew that this needed to be a global movement and that we needed mโฆ"
"We are finally achieving a mass consciousness. We're seeing a widespread awareness and commitment to anti-racism thatโฆ"
"We know that it's increasingly more important to step up and stand for all Black lives, including queer and trans folโฆ"