Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are making headlines (in the best way possible) thanks to their latest joint Zoom appearance.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently spoke with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust during one of their weekly video discussions and addressed the topic of institutional racism and injustice.
During the 20-minute call, the duo (who are President and VP of the QCT) spoke with Chrisann Jarrett, a QCT trustee and the co-founder and co-CEO of We Belong; Alicia Wallace, the director of Equality Bahamas; Mike Omoniyi, the founder and CEO of the Common Sense Network; and Abdullahi Alim, who leads the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers network.
“When it comes to institutional and systemic racism, it's there and it stays there because someone somewhere is benefitting from it,” Harry said in the clip. “We can’t deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently. However, once you start to realize that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to become more aware…so that you can help stand up for something that is so wrong and should not be acceptable in our society today.”
Markle chimed in, “It’s not just in the big moments, it’s in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, both passively and actively.”
And while all of the participants reflected on their own behavior and experiences, the duke and duchess made sure to address the history of the Commonwealth.
“When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past,” Harry continued. “We all acknowledge there’s so much more still to do. It’s not going to be easy and in some cases, it’s not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done because, guess what, everybody benefits.”
We love to see these two keeping it real about such important issues. And seeing them do it together is an added bonus.
