One of the great things about being a Hal is that you’re introduced to so many different challenges and situations. Recently I had a customer who was trying to figure out how to do more with the time at home they had as a result of the COVID-19 issue that we’re all grappling with. I got a chance to introduce them to a whole new world of educational options that they never thought of prior to picking up the app and calling on Hal for some help!

This customer was trying to take the long pause that life force fed all of us during this unusual situation and use it not only for self-improvement — but to also educate their teenage children in a way that school could not: to raise awareness around the systemic influence of racism in America.

When the customer texted me, they shared that they wanted to take the downtime that was afforded them during the shelter in place and use it to help their children understand the impact of racism and make sense of what the kids were seeing on TV regarding current events around George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many, many others. They asked what they could do to raise that awareness in a way that could be both educational and helpful, since they were unaware of what resources may be available or best suited to share with their teenagers to convey the importance of these issues — and some of the origins of racism itself.

Fortunately, there are many such resources — but because they don’t get the same amount of press, the customer needed some help in locating them. I started by sharing that there is a Netflix documentary (featured for free on YouTube) called 13th that was produced by Ava DuVernay. That powerful documentary talks about the link between systemic racism and the prolific imprisonment of blacks in America.

I also shared that there is a great series of videos on YouTube by renowned black Stanford social psychologist, Jennifer Eberhardt, which introduces her book “Biased”. It is a deep dive into the genesis of racism and how it infects both black and white communities and traces the origins of some of the deep rooted issues that plague the American historical landscape. It also examines the collateral damage that racism has done and continues to do in America. It is a journey that unveils to us all just how universal this problem is and it is narrated by the author herself.

I later uncovered that this customer also has a subscription to Hulu. As fate would have it, Hulu is featuring several shows and documentaries to help raise awareness in this area as well. Those shows include Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland,16 Shots, Roots,Whose Streets?, The Rape of Recy Taylor, and Your Attention Please. Some of these premium HBO or Showtime features or documentaries are actually available for free into late June or into the month of July to allow ALL viewers to see these shows. Many are powerful gripping stories ripped from the pages of buried news stories that speak to the deep rooted injustices against blacks or historical accounts of how black people suffered under white supremacists in America for decades. Hulu also features an entire platform of shows that are featured by black creators of television and drama as well.

The added bonus in all of this was providing the Skillshare website because it actually helped in two ways: it provided the customer a means for continuing education on their own — and also another platform to help educate their children about the importance of Juneteenth!

Skillshare has a number of both free and paid coursework that anyone can enroll in for ahost of skills they want to acquire to include writing, photography, business skills, artistic endeavors, and so much more. Beyond that, this month there were three artists who were showcased on Skillshare to help raise awareness around Juneteenth. It was a perfect opportunity to help the customer educate their children around this important date and its significance relative to racism. Although Juneteenth is still not recognized as a federal holiday in America, the fact that awareness is getting raised and companies like Google and other major tech companies are bringing it to the forefront, it is now becoming an area that is slowly becoming more widely recognized and hopefully will shed light on the impact of racism in the United States.

Needless to say, the customer was thrilled that there were so many areas that they could explore to help engage their teenagers and raise awareness around how to recognize and prevent racism. It was also refreshing to see both dramatic and educational resources that they could utilize to provide a well rounded picture of the historical injustice and what could be done better or differently to help move the cause of racial justice and equality forward.

So there you have it! A plethora of resources that adults and teens can learn from — from cautionary tales, to a sordid historical past, to a hopeful future. This is just one more reason why being a Hal is so very rewarding and serves other people with a type of “social intelligence” that is far from artificial. (Sorry — Not Sorry, Siri!)

MAVRick

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd919Yijdnt/