When Powerful Leaders Refuse to Name the Problem

In the past few weeks I’ve been reaching out to some of the most influential people in my networks — thought leaders in product design and UX, editors in chief at top U.S. publications, faculty at Northwestern, and C-level executives at tech companies. I reached out to share my concern about the severity of what Chicago, our communities, and the nation are facing.

I’m sorry to report that only about ten percent of these figures are willing to acknowledge how dire our situation is. It’s not surprising. Fear of losing status, fear of accountability, and fear of honest conversation are common among today’s leaders.  

One C-level exec at a well-known tech hardware company told me, “Wow, this reality you describing—it’s so dark and grim. I see hope and brightness ahead.” Their response wasn’t just dismissal—it was gaslighting, steeped in white, straight privilege and the comfort of systems built to uphold white supremacy.  

While many peers continue to deny the existence of a dangerous, fascistic state that has turned its military against its own people (and against undocumented immigrants who deserve full human rights), I hold fast to the ten percent who looked me in the eye and said, “Yes, Cesar, we must do everything we can to dismantle this system, even if it requires real sacrifice.”

Together, we’ve agreed to use the influence and power we’ve gained from capitalism’s structures to build something entirely new—one that ends genocide, human-rights violations, and the incarceration and erasure of our people.