In this interview, the host (Speaker B) and guest (Speaker A, Kim Peterson) discuss the recent murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, reflecting on the emotional impact and the broader implications for racial bias in society and business. Speaker A describes the horror and personal anguish felt upon witnessing the graphic video of Floyd’s death, emphasizing the unprecedented visibility, the callousness of the act, and the helplessness of bystanders. She notes that the incident feels different from past cases because of its widespread exposure and the timing following Ahmaud Arbery’s killing, suggesting a heightened public awareness of systemic police brutality. The conversation underscores the belief that no criminal record or perceived threat justifies lethal force against unarmed Black individuals, and hints at how such systemic injustices intersect with equity and inclusion challenges within the business world.
Chapters
Black lives matter. See me. Value me. Value my life. Value our history. Acknowledge, you know, that. Bring equity and equality to the occasion. Do not see me as less than.
First of all, I want to thank you for doing this interview again because we spoke What was that, 2 months ago maybe?
No, it was probably just about a month ago.
It was a month ago. It was right before George Floyd was murdered, I believe.
Yeah, like 3 weeks. Well, yeah, you're right.
What was your impression of that when you heard the news that George Floyd was murdered?
It was really hard for me. My impression was I was incredulous.
It reminded me of, I cannot remember the names, in Missouri, I don't remember who was murdered, but same thing, police brutality, and a black man was murdered. There was protests and unrest, Something's different this time. I mean, it's been funny for me saying that something's different. Clearly something's very different this time. What's your, what's your thoughts? Why?
Well, it was horrifying. It was a horrifying act, and one thing I know to be true is we actually saw it. We were all witness to it. We saw it. We saw the callousness. We saw the last breaths leaving. We saw please. We saw a begging for mercy. We saw defenselessness. We saw someone who was no threat. And I saw a man crying out for his mama. That really rocked me. All of it rocked me. But the fact that this is a grown man, you know, your mama is someone who protects you. Your mama's gonna go be mama bear and, and fight your fight for you. His mom wasn't even alive. She died a couple years ago, and he's crying out for his mother. So what makes it different? I think it was, it was so visible and it was so long and it was so callous and nobody could, nobody could help. I mean, you had bystanders who were even pleading for him and, and nobody was going to be able to intervene. I think it also was just on the heels of Ahmaud Arbery, who got shot for running through a neighborhood. I mean, what is that? Regardless of what any of that backstory is, the point is this for me. Whether you have a criminal record, whether you did some crime, you committed some crime, There is never any excuse, especially if you are not a threat and you are unarmed, right, to be shot and killed, right? Or, or, or in George's murder, his case, to, to be murdered by the way he was.
Yeah, almost— not almost, torturous. You know, I wanted to bring you on because, uh, You and I met, we were in Seattle. We ended up sitting next to each other during dinner and was just so impressed by, first of all, your entrepreneurial journey. I love entrepreneurs.
