“I can’t breathe” George Floyd, American citizen, May 25th, 2020
We are haunted by these three words spoken by George Floyd as he was slowly choked to death by a policeman, face down on the street in Minneapolis, USA. Words which would finally ignite a global protest movement too widespread to be ignored. How did we allow our societies to reach this horrific moment in history and why did it take us so much time and so many lives lost or ruined to realize we were here? At 5 we are searching ourselves, our histories, beliefs and shared narratives to discover how we have continued to foster the racism and blatant abuse of power which have led to such suffering and death.
Now is the time for all of us – individually and as leaders of families, communities, companies and countries – to thoughtfully examine how we have arrived at this point in history and what we can do to be a part of changing its course. While one can never truly ‘walk in the skin of another”, we can and must challenge ourselves to do better, be better and to demand change. If one of us “can’t breathe”, none of us can.
Our focus is on how each of us can walk the long road to freedom that will eventually bring us together. Here is a selection of stories to inform and inspire!
