Build a Table, then invite someone to it

Shortly after becoming the first woman to train a horse to victory in one of horse racing's triple crown races, Jena Antonucci said, "never give up, and if you can't find a seat at the table, make your own table."

Horse racing's triple crown consists of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Each of these races have been run since the late 1870's. So when Antonucci's horse, Arcangelo, won the Belmont Stakes yesterday, that was a significant addition to history.

It was telling of who she is when she used her moment in the spotlight to inspire rather than to celebrate. It was clearly her dream come true moment, yet she used the moment to encourage others to dream.

Many of us have dreams of living or working or creating in spaces that don't look like us. Spaces that through various messaging - some messages direct and some implicit - tell us we don't belong.

We can accept that we aren't going to get an invitation to the table and walk away, leaving our dreams behind. Or, as Antonucci suggests, we can just bring our own table to the space.

Maybe I can't sit next to you, but excuse me while I put my table right up next to yours.

What a story. What persistence. What a table. Rejecting over 150 years of history and tradition and likely a whole lot of exclusion and declaring, I don't need to be welcomed, I just need a little corner to build my table.

Antonucci had another message I thought was powerful. She said, “you fight for that spot and you feel you have to prove your worth. Horses don’t care. They don’t care who you are. They know who you are. To have a horse believe in you, and your team, the way this horse does … I wish more people could be like horses.”

I wish more people could be like horses.....

It would be nice. It would be nice if we'd start looking at our tables and asking who is missing and not who belongs.

It would be nice if we'd start wondering how much more we could achieve inviting people to tables and not excluding them.

How much different would the next 150 years of history look.

Invitation, not exclusion.

Well done Miss Antonucci. I'm a big fan of your table.

Here's hoping we will all build more tables. Great big tables. Big enough to invite everyone.

Because we all deserve a seat at the table.