Dallas, We Elected a New Mayor. Our Work Is Not Done

Dallas, after a long process and a crowded field, we have a new mayor. As is true in elections, some are thrilled with the outcome and some are disappointed. Regardless, Mayor Eric Johnson will be sworn in as our 62nd mayor, building on the legacies of Mike Rawlings, Tom Leppert, Laura Miller, Ron Kirk and others.By all accounts, leadership matters, but the soul of our city is won or lost by each of us - one interaction at a time. Here are three ways we can do our part to secure the best possible future for Big D:1. Pay attention to our past. Time's up on hoping that ignoring our racially violent past serves us. While it's a common move from the southern playbook to not discuss the uncomfortable, underneath the veneer a cancer grows. It's critical that we support the efforts of groups working to set us on a course that acknowledges the genocide of the indigenous people who were here long before John Neely Bryan rode into town. It's critical that we reckon with our ugly history of slavery, lynching, the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow. Jerry Hawkins, the executive director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (with the support of the Kellogg Foundation, Embrey Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, and many others) is thoughtfully inviting us into a different relationship with racial healing. His process acknowledges the complexity of the issues, is inclusive, and is already resulting in concrete action. Anyone can get involved; check out the website: dallastrht.org. 2. Watch our pronouns. Dallas is a tale of two cities. In a study done by the Urban Institute, Dallas ranked 274 out of 274 large cities for overall inclusion. We were dead last. No matter the pockets of prosperity, the fact that access, opportunity and inclusion don't extend across our city is our Achilles' heel. A bright future will require a shift in our mentality away from "how terrible for them" or "why can't they just" to "we can do better." We have to nurture an active response to the reality that we are all connected and that what happens to any of us, happens to all of us.3. Be guided by vision not fear. When vision is in charge (and built on truth telling about our past and inclusivity) hearts and minds open up and the way forward is much easier to see. By contrast, when we allow fear to be in charge, and we spend all our time thinking about what we don't want, we get more of that. Let's focus our attention on extending thriving communities that are far less segregated across our city, and on policies that rectify the decisions of the past that were designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many.Without question, much of our future rests on Mayor Johnson and his capacity to move us forward in a way that grounds us in hope and energizes us toward a collective vision. Responsibility also lies with City Council to show up as the grownups. We should hold them accountable by remembering that they represent us at the decision-making table.But let's not be passive and leave our future in the hands of a small group of people with titles. Let's look for our place on the rope and when the whistle blows, let's pull for and with our new mayor and our city.Michelle Kinder is a nationally recognized leader in social emotional health and works with leaders invested in social change. She is a licensed professional counselor and a Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project. She wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.  Continue reading...