I was soaking up the remnants of good conversation with a colleague and the welcome mat of the Elk Refuge bathed in morning sunlight, waving over my shoulder as he ducked into his office entrance at the hospital. The reflection of my dogs’ wagging tails caught my eye in a window as we worked our way around the building; I stopped short, and my smile evaporated.

Most of us with any leadership responsibility or appetite for socializing have heard or uttered the words, “OK, I’m off to see and be seen.” Whether we say those words out of Fear of Missing Out or a need to make good on an obligation, the words don’t really evoke a sense of depth or weight.

A friend recently sent me an article with a lengthy argument about “what the data say” when it comes to police violence against people of color, Black men in particular. The author made a logical and coherent argument, which my friend felled with one observation: “the data don’t tell the story about why moms of color still need to worry about the safety of their children in a way that I don’t.”