The Talk: What white people need to know

As told to Laurie Fosner by Gwendolyn Stringer

This is an edited transcript of a talk Gwendolyn gave to her fellow employees as part of our ongoing conversation about race and how we are affected by it. She begins by answering a question: Why she chose to share her experiences as a black woman and how it feels to do this.

It’s a very sensitive matter for me. It’s a difficult conversation, and as I describe the joy that I feel in having this conversation, I have to pull from a compartment that I have. I have compartmentalized my feelings on what’s going on in this world, in my life, in the race relationships. I have to have a place to put the hurt, the fear, the frustration, the discontent, the hopelessness, the anger. I have to store it somewhere because if I don’t, I can’t function because those feelings are too heavy. And so, I do that daily, I do that by my Christian faith.

So, I’m going to pull some of those things out to talk about them. What will happen is that my countenance will change; my voice changes, my smile goes away, the decibels increase, my facial expressions exaggerate because now I’m looking at something that’s not an easy thing to talk about — it’s a painful thing.

What motivates my voice today, is that I want the best for my three sons, who deserve to be seen for their…