Dear Kiantha: Realizing your dreams may mean leaving home

Dear Kiantha,

I am a millennial woman of color born and raised in Washington and I am for the first time in my life looking for work outside of a place I love because I am so frustrated with the lack of diversity and opportunities for people of color in this state. I’ve witnessed both my mother and father and countless other people of color be passed over for jobs they were overqualified for and I don’t want to waste my life reaching for something that is unattainable for people who look like us. My parents’ generation looked at the world differently than my generation. They put up with things that my generation would never deal with. Am I wrong for wanting to leave Washington?

Dear wanting more,

Doing what is in your best interest is not wrong. Your life is yours to do what you please with, and there are a few things that I would like for you to consider as you decide what is best for you. Washington’s history of having small communities of color who historically have been underrepresented in leadership did not begin with your parents’ generation. In a state with less than a quarter of its residents being people of color, there is certainly room for steep improvements in access to opportunities and cultural integration into every crevice of our statewide community. Think of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest who are fighting for their native land, culture and languages from being erased by colonization. They too wonder if there will ever be opportunity for them to thrive in a community that seems to pass them over time and again.

You are correct that many generations prior to yours operated from different paradigms than your generation. The end goal for them was survival, which often meant being silent in situations in which speaking up would jeopardize their safety or the safety of their families. That is very different than what your generation rightfully expects, which is an equitable existence both personally and professionally. Your generation is demanding that you be seen in the fullness of your cultural identity and that you are afforded access to power and opportunity. That for millennials is the bottom line, and I applaud you for being willing to leave from any place you do not feel welcomed.

The consequence of leaving can be that our region’s arrival to the place where millennial and zennial dreams and expectations can be actualized is delayed. Take time to evaluate the opportunity for you to influence change right here in this state. If, in your evaluation of impact, you find that staying in Washington and helping to usher in the change you want to see would be of detriment to you, by all means find a place that allows you to flourish, but remember even there, wherever there may be, there will still be work to do to move us closer to the world you imagine.

Soul to soul,

Kiantha

Dear Kiantha can be read every other Friday. To read the column in Spanish, visit spokesman.com. To submit your questions, please email DearKiantha@gmail.com.