TapHistory Threads

Damocles Is My Home Boy

So what’s behind this shirt?
Back during the early days of the pandemic, my husband  received two job offers including salary upgrades and a new upward mobility title. He accepted the position that he felt most aligned with his values. We felt blessed. When it seemed that the world was coming to a stand still and the ills of society were unravelling right before us on a global scale, we were presented with what felt like a gift to our small corner of the earth. The feeling of relief and of gratitude during that tumultuous time, brought a sense of what I would later describe as a neurotic peace. I recall conversations where careful consideration was given to outward facing company values as we scoured their websites. My husband and I are black and the proud parents of two beautiful children. Belonging to a workplace that is safe, inclusive and lends to thriving as professionals and as everyday humans, is very important to us. Our health  and the health and wellbeing of our children depend on it.
Beneath the veneer of this new job, threads were coming undone rather quickly. Angsty conversations at the dinner table, weekend and evening chats at gatherings with our joyful community of fam and friends, soon illuminated trends and patterns. Experiences, like threads woven through our collective of doctors, lawyers, accountants, psychologists, social workers, teachers, business women and men, were textbook. Hired for expertise but often doubted. Kept at a “safe” distance. Always feeling like a visitor. Bombarding and offloading, then questioning if you are up to the task. Observing in plain sight, the favours and preferential treatment of others. Emails mistakenly cc’d to you about you, saying “good diversity hire”. Talking at you. Surveilling your every move. Reasons for being let go: Not a good fit. 
With blood pressure rising and the constant feeling of being under a knife, the only thread that made sense was black.

This is where the “Sword of Damocles” comes in. “The sword of Damocles is now commonly used as a catchall term to describe a looming danger…Likewise, the saying ‘hanging by a thread’ has become shorthand for a fraught or precarious situation.” (https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-sword-of-damocles)

“Above, where seated in his tower,
I saw Conquest depicted in his power
There was a sharpened sword above his head
That hung there by the thinnest simple thread.*
— Chaucer, *Canterbury Tales*, l. 2027–2030[^[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles#cite_note-14)[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles#cite_note-15)]

According to a quick Wikipedia search, *“the phrase has also come to be used in describing any situation infused with a sense of impending doom, especially when the peril is visible and proximal—regardless of whether the victim is in a position of power. “*

Clarity and acceptance of these experiences came reluctantly and over some time. It is not comforting to come to a realisation that the melanin content of one’s skin is still a predominant factor for the ignorant to determine your worth and belonging. One night over dinner, after another tough work day, my husband sighed and said “Damocles is my homeboy” and I replied, “that needs to be on a shirt.”

Thankfully, my husband and I live in a place where love abounds across all colour, creed and cultural lines. Joy, hope and the experience of all types of people gaining knowledge together to make life better for all futures, keeps us alive and often thriving. 

Peace.

THREAD THE WORD.