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Every time I start working with a new client or mentee, I begin with the same foundational tool: the Powell Memo.
Not because it’s a history lesson.
But because it’s a map…a clear record of how intentional and strategic the harm we've all experienced has been.
Right now, I’m mentoring four young Black women: 20, 25, 32, and 34. And each of them is in that heavy, disorienting place that I know too well…the mourning of innocence.
They’re at the point in their journey where they’re beginning to truly grasp that the pain, frustration, and barriers they’ve encountered, personally and professionally, were never random. They weren’t just “bad luck” or isolated events. They were by design.
Once I show them the Powell Memo, I follow up with what many describe as “an avalanche” of supporting resources, case studies, history, analysis. Not to overwhelm them, but to reveal the truth:
What we’re living through did not just happen
The attacks on education, the economy designed to exploit the many for the benefit of the few, the weaponization of culture to maintain the supremacy of whiteness…
Every piece of it was built with intention. Which means: we cannot transform what we don't understand.
That’s why this work matters. That’s why I push. That’s why I keep sharing even when it feels heavy.
Because when we see clearly, when we understand the depth of the problem, we stop looking for personal fixes to intentional and strategic systemic harm.
And we start to reframe our roles as change makers.
Not with guilt.
Not with shame.
But with clarity.
With responsibility.
With vision.
There’s no easy way through this mourning stage.
But I’ve seen what’s possible on the other side.
If you’re ready to move from confusion to clarity, from mourning to mobilizing, Start with the Powell Memo: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=powellmemo
Then join us inside the PWO Community, where this kind of learning, unlearning, and healing happens in community, not isolation.
Because understanding the harm is only the beginning.
Reimagining the future is the work.
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