Thread by @rgunns

my op-ed for the @nytimes came out today, and i'm prouder of it than i've been of anything in a long time.

i know i'm supposed to write a long thread linking to facts and follow-up, but the thing i want to say most is that i almost didn't write it. 1/

nytimes.com/2020/04/15/opi…

one of the weird things about amassing more power (/moving up in your career/becoming a leader/getting older) is that people want to hear what *you* think. you're allowed to speak clearly and without qualifiers. you have earned, somehow, the right to have an opinion. 2/

but i've seen people too many lose jobs, lose respect, even die because they said their opinions out loud. and i'm not talking about cancel culture. i'm talking about people – regular marginalized folks – who had the nerve to speak before they were asked to.

i've seen it happen to my mom. to my friends. hell, i've almost lost a job or two over it.

that stuff stays with you. it stayed with me, at least.

so when i got an email asking me to write an op-ed, i almost said no. i don't like putting myself in danger.

and i really, truly felt like i was in danger. (yes, i know that it was mostly in my head.)

but thank God for the people who see you and tell you that they will walk with you, even when it gets scary (like @ArielaRW and @JenParker393). thank goodness for the folks who think your opinion matters in the first place (like @kevinjdelaney).

and thank goodness for the @rooseveltinst for giving me a crew of co-workers who also believe that we can remake the world in the ways that we need, even when people tell you to be "reasonable" and "strategic" instead.

i know that i just tweeted an oscars acceptance speech for an op-ed 😂 but i did something i never thought i could do so i'm gonna celebrate it and reflect on it for a bit.

i'm not just somebody's analyst anymore.