Scared To Faith
by
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Looking back on this situation, I realize that what I viewed as an act of fear, Barbara viewed as freedom; at least one question begs further discussion: At what point does one’s freedom acts become impediments to the perceived freedom experienced by others? Another question comes to mind: How does one manifest his perceived freedom when fear is the basis of the competition, and the behaviors and actions of the competitor are supported and sometimes encouraged?
Through introspection, I realized that the crying was a release of harbored thoughts about why I was experiencing such blatant levels of disrespect from a few colleagues. The tears flowed uncontrollably when I became true to myself and acknowledged what I had tried to suppress and attribute to something else. The level of disrespect that I experienced was due to racism. Once I accepted the reason as being racial discrimination, I was free of the experience.
My perception of freedom changed at that point. The tears cleansed my soul of the effects of the experience that I had chosen to hide deep within myself. The crying was the catalyst that escalated my release of fear of confronting the real issue: racism. The tears were an acknowledgment of my truth and my detachment from the experience itself. At that point, I experienced more freedom.
The level of fear displayed by Barbara was a result of her own insecurities working with persons of color. Later Barbara remarked to some colleagues that she had never had to work with Blacks and she was not about to start. Barbara’s level of insecurity is relational to her perception of superiority over a perceived minority race of people. This dichotomy still exists today: the perception of a minority race of people that suggests that the non-minorities are majorities. This assumption is sometimes viewed as privilege. I beg to differ. The perception of minority in this country is a reflection of the level of insecurity and fears inherent in those persons that, historically, believed in superiority of being. In other words, the perceived majority race of people in the
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About the Book
Scared to Faith highlights some of Valerie Opher’s key life experiences as an African-American woman who has worked in not-for-profit as well as for-profit organizations in Corporate America. To be the only and sometimes first African-American woman in several leadership and management positions presented Valerie Opher with many racial and political challenges. Valerie experienced a racial attack by Caucasians that was mentioned on Fox 45 Ten O’clock news in
While employed by a Fortune 500 company, Valerie Opher was asked to tell the other four Black members of a team of 100+ persons not to sit together, because “it makes the rest of the team uncomfortable”. Even though we often rationalize that our inclusion is simply tolerance, how do persons of color in Corporate America maintain and honor our identity when we are fewer in number and are continually challenged to demonstrate acts of respect for White colleagues?
Each of the experiences shared in the book demonstrate Valerie’s determination to acknowledge a higher power that she calls God. Each time that she was faced with a challenging work experience, she ©traveled to self, or communed with her spirit. She learned the importance of acting on the spiritual messages, because they yielded remarkable results every time! Consequently, Valerie Opher learned to become ©scared to faith and very little else.
Scared to Faith is about being scared to the point of believing in a higher power.
About the Author
Valerie Opher, BSN, RN, MAS, DM is a registered nurse licensed in the state of Maryland, and she is currently employed as a Senior Medical Information Scientist focusing on cardiology at a major pharmaceutical company. Before transitioning to a career in the pharmaceutical industry, Valerie Opher worked in nursing, hospital, and healthcare management. Dr. Opher has an extensive educational background that includes degrees in nursing, management, and organizational leadership. Valerie Opher is single, and for the past 5 years, she has lived in