October 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 40

KEYNOTE
Parks & Recreation magazine recently
spoke with Myers, in which
she reflects on her early influences,
discusses overcoming implicit bias
and shares how park and recreation
agencies can advance DEI.
Parks & Recreation: How did
your early lived experiences
influence and guide your
career path?
Vernā Myers: I was 8 years old
when Martin Luther King [Jr.] was
assassinated. It was actually the
night before my eighth birthday, and
I [recognized that moment] as being
a really big turning point in my life
because first of all...Martin Luther
And from then on, I just really
cared so deeply about justice,
equality, opportunity and
community, and [I really felt]
responsible to my ancestors
and the people who had
supported me.
King had been a real hero of mine,
and it was my first understanding
of how serious his work was. But
there was something on that day
that made me feel like...this person
had sacrificed his life for me, and I
intend to be the person who carries
out the dream - or at least fulfill...
my responsibility of that dream.
And from then on, I just really cared
so deeply about justice, equality, opportunity
and community, and [I really
felt] responsible to my ancestors
and the people who supported me.
In particular, I really felt like...in
America, the dream is to have true
freedom and rights.... So, that was
the starting point. It pointed me towards
being a lawyer because in my
mind, I thought lawyers were the
40 Parks & Recreation | O CTOBER 2 0 2 3
ones [who] are the advocates for the
rights of the people.
And then little by little being in the
legal field, I started to see that there
were real gaps and the law could do
one of two things: it can actually allow
for more freedom, more opportunity
and more justice, or it can really
cement advantages for those who
have resources within that system in
a way that perpetuates injustice and
inequity. And from there, I decided I
[wanted] to do something to change
what people are experiencing, especially
within the legal field and/or the
corporate field. I was the first Black
attorney in the law firm that I joined.
And I thought, " There's something
really wrong here. " It was a while ago,
but I was still very surprised that I was
breaking the color line. [T]he people
were fine and nice, but so much of
what they did and how they did it
really reflected only one culture. And
so, I got very interested in diversity
and inclusion. And then, ultimately,
[I] had a number of positions that
allowed me to learn more about how
to create not just diverse spaces - in
other words, diverse representation
- but also the kinds of spaces where
lots of people can come from different
backgrounds and still experience
respect, success, and be able to thrive
and make contributions.
P&R: During your 2014
TED Talk, you spoke
candidly about your own
implicit biases. How do we
overcome biases that we
may not know we have due
to our upbringing and our
environment?
Myers: You have to really be committed
to seeing the things that have
been invisible to you because of the
lens on the world - how your culture
and background have shaped
you. Most people don't want to
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see [it] because it's destabilizing. It
makes you have to question everything
you thought you knew, but
there's so much more to see than
what we have been taught. And
I think there is a lot of joy also...
when you start to commit to paying
attention and looking for your
biases. And one of the ways you do
that is to expand your social circle
to intentionally create relationships
across differences by showing up
in places and meeting people who
may not be in your comfort zone.
Say someone invites you to a wedding...from
a very different culture
than you're accustomed to. You
discover that there's so much newness
and joy that you've been missing
about other people's cultures.
But what you're also starting [to
notice] is that the thing you thought
you knew about a group or culture
[is] actually not true because now
you're with a large group of people
from that culture and you see that
there's a lot of heterogeneity within
the same group or culture.
And you start to go, " Oh my
gosh! I didn't know! " or " What else
don't I know? " You've got to confront
your biases by exposing yourself
and developing real, authentic
relationships with people who you
haven't spent much time with. DEI
is a contact sport. A lot of times
people are thinking, " Well, I'm just
going to read about that culture. "
That's fine. Please read and watch
and educate yourself about other
cultures, and especially your own.
And maybe you do that before you
say something that might be insensitive.
But you're ultimately not going
to get comfortable and capable
in this area, unless you also decide
that you're going to build relationships
and expand where you go and
who you know. And you have to
be willing to be uncomfortable and
October 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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