This Woman’s Work: Shirley Sherrod

Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing Shirley Sherrod speak. If you don’t recall the incident, read this.

The Shirley Sherrod incident was a FAIL. An EPIC FAIL. And at least for me, tarnished the last bit of credibility mainstream journalism had left.

I can’t recall the last time I watched a PR nightmare unfold on TV like this, all the way to the POTUS.

But listening to her yesterday really brought home to me a few things: Above everything else, know yourself, maintain your integrity, and be accountable.

I’m sure you yourself have participated in or been witness to events where things you said or someone else said were taken out of context. I recently had to deal with it myself when something I wrote in an email was forwarded to the editor of a major food blog I had contributed an essay to. I addressed the editor and the email immediately, laying out the context for the email and allowing the editor the space to fully work through and understand why I wrote what I did.

I was just asked to write another essay for the blog.

You can’t please everyone all of the time, and even less some of the time.

And since simply being alive is bound to offend someone, at the end of the day, all you have is your word and your integrity.