America right now is an interesting place. Racial inequality has come to the forefront of politics in a climate of politically charged responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ordinary people have joined the protests and the discourse on racial inequality, police brutality and racism in unprecedented numbers. If you have expressed “it feels different this time,” it is probably because the intensity of the current situation that has fed on itself. It just so turns out that pandemics throughout history help ignite protest energy.

To understand the Black Lives Matter pro-justice movement, one has to be able to understand that it did not start with police brutality in 2020. It is in fact the vestiges of 246 years of slavery, 99 years of Jim Crow, 52 years and counting of red-lining, mass incarceration, and police brutality. In sum, it encompasses over 400 years of a violent system never meant to protect Black America.

Calls to listen, read, and learn have been echoed across social media, book lists, and celebrity talk shows. I thought I was aware of racial injustice and a host of “isms” as an Arab-American woman. It turns out, I too had a lot to learn.

I listened to stories of a person dear to me of his growing up in a Philadelphia inner-city neighborhood in the late 1960s. The lessons of how to negotiate streets between gang members on corners or police who could lock you up for any semblance of insubordination or failing to say “yes sir, no sir.” Decades past by in seconds; each story more remarkable and educational than the next. Those events fostered street smarts and built his confidence to seek out opportunities and achieve success. Coupled with strong family-values, parents that instilled that education, dressing for success, having good manners and being ready for opportunity when it presents itself, it is no wonder that he amassed shelves full of plaques indicative of meritorious successes, whether on a basketball court, in the classroom or in the boardroom.

He told me about being the only black person on the board of an in-house lawyer group. For all of the forward-thinkingness ascribed to this particular locale, a liberal bastion of progressiveness, the group itself was not yet that diversified. In the early-2000s, the group was recognized with a monetary grant to implement a diversity project of its choosing. No one knew what to do with the grant. They turned to the only black person sitting around the table. He ran with the project the same way he would run with any project in which he was entrusted. The project turned into a multi-year diversity internship program for law students to be placed in the legal departments of several sports teams.

“In his words, the ‘not knowing’ is what keeps racial injustice on repeat. He likened his experience to the difference between having a map versus not knowing that the map even exists.”

Being the only black person in the room is still not an uncommon thing a couple of decades later in 2020, unfortunately. What struck me was what he said next: “I did not think anything of it. I just set out to make the best program I could.” He no longer saw color. He had earned his stripes and had a seat at the table. I thought: “While you did not think color, the others at the table sure did. What if you had not been at that table in the first place?”

On further reflection, he acknowledged that being at the table was one thing, but being equipped with the knowledge of how the system works it entirely another. In his words, the “not knowing” is what keeps racial injustice on repeat. He likened his experience to the difference between having a map versus not knowing that the map even exists. He continued: “As if it’s a type of ‘intentional forced ignorance’ or ‘information deficit’ such as not knowing the secret knock or handshake and no one was planning to tell you it.”

In a corporate setting, a crisis can be an opportunity for individuals to step up to leadership roles. The same can be said for finding ways to step up to leadership on race. Whether a CEO, colleague, homemaker or student, doing the right thing matters. Here’s how to rise to leadership anytime and anywhere drawing on the work of corporate leadership coach Dianne Morrison:

1. Listen: By being an active and empathetic listener. When we train ourselves to really listen, not to “already listen” which means we have formed and re-affirmed our judgments.
2. Acknowledge: By acknowledging the stories and what others have endured, how hard they worked, the results they have achieved, the extra things they are doing.
3. Gratitude: By demonstrating gratitude for the contribution of others, perhaps of those who have stepped out of comfort zones to ask for change or have taken actions and have paved the way.

When you do the right thing, it creates a long-lasting memorable leadership experience for you too.