This month we celebrate LGBTQ Pride and the end of legalized slavery on Juneteenth in the midst of increasing political turmoil and what seems like rising levels of intolerance. In this piece, June Wilson, Executive Director emeritus of the Quixote Foundation, reflects on the value of uncovering and examining unconscious bias, shining the light on how other funders can do the same.

Taking a stroll down memory lane, I remembered the deep unspoken homophobia in the black community of my youth. Growing up, my father made sure that my brothers knew how to fight and stand up for themselves, proclaiming "there are no sissies in this house." My nephew, at sixteen, unable to fully be himself in our family, ran away. He returned at eighteen, as an adult, now free to express himself openly as a gay man. A few years later, he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and died at twenty-two. The following year, we received a call from my oldest brother. He too was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. He died from its complications within the year. Losing two family members to AIDS devastated our family. We paid a high price for our homophobia, and yet there was no collective epiphany, recognition or acknowledgement of our bias. Only as I entered the dance community where gays and lesbians became my dearest friends, colleagues and lovers, did I slowly begin to remove my homophobic blinders.

It would be ten years before I understood my bias and another ten before I learned to see past it. And still I don’t always see clearly.

Uncovering the layers of unconscious bias is the journey of a lifetime. I am only now able to openly and honestly share this story because of the racial equity work I spearheaded at Quixote Foundation. That work was born out of my realization that as the Executive Director and Board member of the foundation, where I clearly held positional power, I felt and acted as if I had no authority. It was a profound epiphany that emboldened me to seek out understanding and change.

Read the full article about uncovering the layers of hidden bias by June Wilson at ncfp.org.