Something new – originally called Good Reads* – I’m now going to try and post some thoughts and articles every Sunday of things that I’m reading and think you should read too!
This week was a heavy week.
First some news, news, and I’ll get to the marketing stuff at the end.
We’re 80 days into the pandemic and 100,000+ American lives lost, 365,000+ lives lost worldwide.
Not to add on to what’s messed up in America, but let’s also tack the egregious display of white privilege from Amy Cooper, a white woman against Christian Cooper, a black man. Regardless if Amy Cooper consciously realized what she was doing (and I do believe she did, with her “how dare you call me out” / “I’ll show you” reaction), she isn’t innocent. No matter how much we can blame the systematic racism in society, there are plenty of other people who would not act the way she did.
That’s not even the worst of escalating racial tension in America: the wholly unnecessary use of police force against George Floyd in Minnesota that subsequently led to his death at the hands of 4 police officers have kicked off protests and riots across the country.
There are a few things that I wanted to note: Firstly, I have a lot of opinions on these matters, but while I am a person of color, I cannot pretend that I’m unbiased. Even though no one wants to admit these things, EVERYONE is a little bit racist. The difference is those who try to actively be anti-racist.
If you’re not sure on how to be anti-racist, a lot of wonderful resources are out there. Before we can change the world, we have to actively address our own hearts and minds, then have these conversations – raw, real, and realistic – with our immediate communities, and that’s how we can start to change the world.
I was an activist in college for Asian Pacific Islander Americans and have participated in my fair share of protests. The one thing I’ve learned is that protests don’t change things: they may eventually LEAD to change, and are a way to grab the attention of a larger audience. With that being said: if you want to affect change, protests need to be organized AND there needs to be tangible asks.
To be organized there needs to be leadership. Who are our MLK, Malcolm X, Yuri Kochiyama, Susan B. Anthony, César Chávez, or Harvey Milk‘s of our generation? How are they planning to amplify the outraged voices into a movement that enacts change?
And what are the asks? Justice for George Floyd and the many other unnecessary deaths that have happened in the past few years is 100% a part of it, but what does that mean? Does that just mean just arrest and criminal charges (Derek Chauvin has been arrested)? What about the end of police brutality? Again, 100%, but what does that mean? Where can we begin?
And what’re everyone else’s’ responsibilities? It’s not just our government and law enforcement that need to change, it’s everyone. Where do we begin?
On a brighter note
In case you missed it yesterday, NASA, SpaceX launch astronauts from US soil for the first time in a decade, and it was a bright spot in a pretty shitty week. They’ve just docked at the International Space Station as I’m writing this post.
And some marketing & business-related stuff
Of course, this is what you came for! This is a marketing blog after all. These aren’t new in the past week, but there some of the things I’ve been reading that have been super interesting.
- How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users from Lenny Rachitsky
- Category Creation Is the Ultimate Growth Strategy by Eddie Yoon
- How I promote my content from Marketing Examples
- How to Remember More of What You Read by Emily Underwood on Medium
*Unfortunately Good Reads was short lived – exactly 1 post – but I’ll try a bit harder this time.
Header Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash