Thank you to Erica Mills Barnhart, host of Claxon Marketing’s Marketing for Good podcast.

As Erica describes the episode:

“You can't just shmeer some marketing on issues of race, equity, justice and liberation without doing the internal culture work to back up the claims. But how? Erin & Marlette would say, "Start with a culture audit." See what you learn and then take the next step. And the next. And the next.

For more insights and actions, listen to this week's episode of the Marketing for Good podcast. From cancel culture to operationalizing #DEI, they share so much wisdom.

Take a listen by clicking the image above, or following this link.

I was a junior in high school when my American History teacher introduced us to A People’s History of the United States. It was the first time I remember learning the full story of the millions of people who were already inhabiting the continent when a hapless Columbus arrived some 530 years ago. To be sure, there are some who struggle with accepting an accurate accounting of our history. Thankfully we have moved beyond a time when the superficial and harmful narrative of Columbus’s faux discovery of America is heralded as our shared truth, and toward a re-envisioning of the day named in his honor. Indeed, many have come to recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous People’s Day to honor Native American peoples, commemorate their histories, and learn about their cultures.

Learning about indigenous lands should be a critical component of the necessary work of honoring the people who inhabited the place many of us call home. Writing for Mashable, Heather Dockray published an article in 2018 directing visitors to a Native Land map. Entering your ZIP code or other location details provides results on which native lands you currently inhabit, the lands on which you were born , or innumerable other contexts that make this information meaningful.

On what lands do you currently live? What do you hope to learn about the historical occupants of those lands?

Happy Indigenous People’s Day.

Find Voter Registration Resources here, at WhenWeAllVote.org .

I’m deeply appreciative of the warm reception that the Harvard Business Review article has received. The weeks since its publication have been exciting— folks have reached out to talk more about “the woke-washing article”, clearly a reference to the title of the piece. The title emerged as part of the editorial process; admittedly, Marlette and I wanted to highlight the concept of statement fatigue (the working title of the piece was “Statement Fatigue is Upon Us” for a while). We wanted to cover the effects of statement fatigue on employees, as well as provide actionable strategies for what organizations could do to combat it. Woke-washing as a concept became a central idea to that discussion and—as we now know— a great title that drew folks in to want to further that conversation more.

However, I’ve been very intentional about highlighting the source of that particular woke-washing concept in my subsequent conversations about the piece. As far as I can tell, the term originated in Arwa Mahdawi’s 2018 article for The Guardian. This is important (1) to continue to center the other women of color whose thought leadership informed our article, and (2) to remind us that woke-washing is not new. Organizations have been attempting to “cash in on social justice,” as Arwa stated two years ago. You can read more from Arwa at The Guardian, and subscribe to her newsletter The Week in Patriarchy for Arwa’s regularly-curated updates.

In addition to Arwa’s piece, other notable women of color have written about woke-washing as part of their research. Dr. Francesca Sobande is a lecturer, researcher, and writer who explores issues concerning racism, sexism, structural inequalities, media, and the marketplace. She is the author of a number of scholarly works on this issue, including Woke-washing: intersectional ‘femvertising’ and branding woke bravery. Francesca’s book, The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, is forthcoming, and you can follow more of her work on her website or at Cardiff University, where Dr. Sobande is a lecturer in Digital Media Studies.

As more and more people continue to join us at the table for this important dialogue and subsequent action in response to racial and societal injustice, it’s critical to acknowledge the voices who’ve been part of this conversation, and to continue to look to women like Arwa and Dr. Sobande for the same type of brilliance and innovation that has in turn allowed us to continue this important work. When people approach me with their appreciation for “the woke-washing piece,” I take care to acknowledge the women who have been traveling this path before me, and I hope that others will do the same.

Last week, Marlette and I virtually sat down with Michelle Penelope King: a journalist, writer, women's rights activist and advocate for gender equality. In addition to serving as the Director of Inclusion at Netflix, Michelle is the author of The Fix, a book examining workplace inequality and ways to shift the power imbalance in ways that work for women. As if that weren’t a full plate, Michelle also curates The Fix podcast, where she takes the conversations about workplace inequality even further through dialogue with thought leaders in these spaces. You can order Michelle’s book The Fix here, and check us out on the podcast The Fix here!

One of the (many) incredible things about Black women is our freedom and ability to wear our hair in myriad ways for myriad reasons.But like many of our liberties, the freedom to wear our hair the way we want does not come without a price. Research tells us that hair bias is a measurable and harmful phenomenon that impacts Black women and personally, it’s a stigma that I associated with wearing my natural hair in the workplace. In fact, it felt like a radical act to request professional headshots featuring my natural hair. However, I set aside my own recognition of hair bias for what I deemed the more compelling goal— modeling the notion for my two daughters that our hair need not be straightened to convey that we’re appropriately coiffed for a “special occasion” or a professional affair. For me, my natural hair is the professional representation of my full, authentic self that I bring to work.

This is of particular importance to me as I reflect on the significance of today, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. August 13th, 2020, marks the date on which the average Black woman has finally earned the same amount as a similarly-situated White, non-Hispanic man in 2019. In short, we’re in need of radical acts to make this a date we never have to observe again. In a conversation earlier this week with Erica Barnhart, Erica pointed out that "radical” acts are really those acts that are rooted in a thing— and not necessarily acts or behaviors that we might view as extreme, as our conversational definition of radical might hold. The “radical act” of displaying my natural hair— a choice rooted in who I am fundamentally— brings to mind other radical acts of solidarity that people and organizations can undertake to eliminate the pay inequity—and mitigate the loss of over $1 million in income over the careers of Black women.

Here are 3 things you can do right now a radical acts of solidarity:

ENACT A WRITTEN PAY EQUITY PLAN.

This is truly the most radical act in this process, because it is most fundamentally linked to the pay inequity crisis. If you have not reviewed the salaries in your organization and undertaken a pay equity audit, first familiarize yourself with your legal obligation to pay your employees fairly. Once you’ve done that bit of light reading, be prepared to take a thorough look at compensation data, taking care to pay an expert in this field if you’re unsure of how to approach this. True pay equity requires going beyond superficial assessments of whether employees are performing the same jobs, and requires a closer look at whether other historical factors have resulted in a pay disparity between groups of employees. In the context of Black women’s pay considerations, this can absolutely be the case. This process should end with a written timeline for the resolution of any identified areas of pay inequity.

HONOR OUR AUTHENTICITY.

Engage in dialogue with the Black women in your organization to better understand what their experiences navigating the professional space have been like. Often, this radical act will uncover truths and disrupt assumptions that have consciously or unconsciously fed into the corporate and cultural myth of the angry Black woman. This myth can have destructive consequences: our mere existence, historically interpreted as angry or combative, can lead to negative outcomes in our performance evaluations, our opportunities for professional development, and of course— our pay. Undertake the radical act of learning about and honoring who we are and what we bring to work every day; it will pay moral dividends in terms of company culture and, of course, it will pay actual dividends to Black women over time.

BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS.

Even when controlling for other factors, Black women earn as much as 27% less than White men. While we can certainly start down the path forward by establishing a pay equity plan and enforcing equitable performance metrics, we can also seek out more holistic ways to level the earnings playing field. Black women are more likely to be burdened with student loan debt, more likely to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and more likely to have disproportionate work and childcare demands. Organizations can begin to create a more equitable society by increasing the number of scholarships and paid internship opportunities for Black women, initiating salary negotiations when extending an offer or promotion, and expanding affordable childcare options.

Taking these important steps toward closing the pay gap can help your organization to end the historical discrimination levied against Black women, and they are among the ways we can grow from the aspirational to the actionable.

Uniting our Past and Future with Introspection and Imagination

This piece originally appeared as part of the On the Human Spirit series presented by the Center for Equity, Justice, and the Human Spirit at my alma mater, Xavier University of Louisiana.

As stewards of our institutional legacy, we are charged with pursuing equity and justice regardless of our emotional or physical circumstance. This charge has become even more salient as we find ourselves at the nexus of two powerful forces. We are reckoning with the forces of the shared trauma of our ancestral past, which again manifested on the national stage as we witnessed the horror of George Floyd’s murder. At this same time, we are emboldened by the shared hope and determination of the fight for social justice in the wake of this watershed moment. As a principle, the work of unity seems inextricable from our current discussions of social justice. While we often think of unity as a state of being between two distinct entities, it is equally important to unite the truths of our past selves with our visions of the future.  By endeavoring to unite these two parts of ourselves, we can fully commit to the work of the present and the creation of an equitable future.

To challenge our past identities, we must embrace the discomfort of our current state.

Through thoughtful introspection, we each should make time to attend to the moments of discomfort that we have experienced in recent weeks. Though it is widely quoted and accepted that one cannot pour from an empty cup, it is equally important to learn about the shape of that cup, how much each of our vessels can carry, and where its cracks lie. Until we identify and face our recent feelings and experiences, we will never uncover transformational truths about our strengths and limitations. This introspection is critical to our ability to pour from our vessels into the collective wellspring of innovation that will drive real change. During this time of unrest, each of us has had to face knowledge about the world or ourselves that has been out of alignment with what we once knew to be true. For some, this tension may arise because prolonged isolation has magnified certain unpleasantries of our existence. Others may feel trepidation about sustaining a level of activism that has reached a personal and social zenith over the last month. In her essay The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House, Audre Lorde lays out our call to action for sustained personal and social change:

“In a world of possibility for us all, our personal visions help lay the groundwork for political action.” Lorde goes on to implore us to “reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside [ourselves] and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lies there. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices.”

To define our identities of tomorrow, we must turn our imaginations toward the future.  In his essay on Embracing Radical Imagination, Maro Guevara tells us:

“Social movements are powered in no small part through radical leaps of imagination: a building of a collective narrative world none of us have lived in, but long for.”

Indeed, when we have done the work of embracing our past, we become free to imagine a shared language of equity and a community of complete belonging. By leveraging the truths of our past and clearly balancing our footing in this current moment, we realize the strength and the shade of the threads we each weave into the tapestry of this next frontier. We can think radically about roles we will play in the pursuit of justice and envision the parts of ourselves that will evolve as part of the advancement from justice to true liberation. 

For Reflection:  On our path from justice to liberation, what transformational truths do you hope to learn about yourself?

A demonstrator holds a banner reading "I Can't Breathe" in Washington D.C. on May 29, 2020. Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

This piece originally appeared on ModelExpand, and was co-authored with Dr. Marlette Jackson.

Phrased lightly: the past several days have been fraught with social justice issues that, while chronic, have been (again) brought to the forefront-- observers such as Don Lemon have aptly framed these issues as the pandemic of racism.

Phrased bluntly, and more accurately: Following their repeated exposure to the traumatic assault on Black humanity, Black Americans are again expressing their exhaustion at the injustices plaguing their existence. Coupling these expressions--most peaceful, some not-- is the idea that it is insufficient to define social justice alliance as mere non-endorsement of racism. Indeed, for many Black Americans, Dr. King’s prolific words from the Birmingham City Jail still ring true:

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

So what can “the good people” do? Moreover, what can “good organizations,” comprised of and led by good people, do? We offer five practical suggestions here:

1. Be Vocal, Now. People and organizations stand to lose valuable ground in the interest of trying to find “the right thing to say”. A simple statement coupled with the offering of counseling and other supportive services to employees may go a long way as an organization’s first step toward being a vocal supporter of anti-racism and psychological safety for its employees. Writing for EducationDive, Natalie Schwarz provides additional practical steps for colleges in the wake of a racial crisis; these are relevant action items for virtually any organization’s response to racism:

“After a crisis... leaders should listen to key stakeholders without giving defensive responses, speak “from the heart" instead of prepared statements, acknowledge racism on the campus, and involve [stakeholders]  in the decision-making process.”

2. Restate the Moral and Ethical Case for Alliance. The prevailing and easily-compelling strategy here would be to convey the benefits that social responsibility has on an organization’s bottom line, often dubbed “the business case”. However, Sarah Kaplan makes an important point about the moral and legal case for dismantling oppressive systems as the more effective vehicle for transformational change. Kaplan is referencing Georgetown’s Jamillah Bowman Williams, whose research shows:

“Despite the appeal of the business case for diversity, emphasis on corporate interests actually generate negative beliefs about inclusion and more biased decision making. Civil rights law, with a deeper historical, political, and moral grounding, appears to exert a stronger normative influence.”

It’s therefore incumbent on organizations to have done their historical research as well as a regular review of current thought leadership, in order to provide a comprehensive response capable of influencing organizational culture. This is especially true during periods of crisis.

3. Listen, then Act. The simplest and most effective way for organizations to support employees through racial crises is to listen. An organization’s constituents—  employees,  students, and  community—are its most powerful resource for creating safe spaces and eliminating racism. Engage these groups in conversation about their needs. That conversation may take the form of a succinct survey geared at asking how employees would most feel supported, or a discussion with Business Resource Groups about long-term goals. Following this fact-finding, an organization can formulate an action plan, keeping in mind the importance of deliverables and metrics.

Listening is more than silence. Leaders must reject organizational silence by listening actively: open channels to receive meaningful information, evaluate and retain that information, and provide actionable feedback based on what constituents have to say.

4. Bring Diversity & Inclusion Home. The value of calling out societal racial injustice is diminished when an organization remains silent to its own internal injustice. Indeed, the words of senior leadership are likely to fall on deaf ears if the same leaders who are vocal about George Floyd are silent about the discimination and bias perpetuated against underrepresented employees in their own organization. For many employees, more of their waking hours are spent at work than any other place in their lives. Additionally, ability to form meaningful connections at work is tied to organizational success. In short, an organization is a home for employees, and it’s  “at home” where leaders should represent diversity and inclusion values.

A few ways you can ensure equity and inclusion efforts are not siloed in your organization are: 1) Provide human and financial capital to a division charged with diversity, accessibility, and equity, 2) Create a culture of inclusion that senior leadership emulates and the entire employee body advances, 3) Co-create a D&I strategy in partnership with multiple stakeholders and inclusive of multiple accountability mechanisms.  

5. Be Proactive about Social Justice. An organization should not simply be reactive in times of racial injustice and strife, rather, it should be consistently and thoughtfully engaging with the constituents and communities they serve. Actively allying with communities, while also acknowledging your positionality as a steward of capitalism, is critical in this regard. Be sure to align with the “work with and not for” approach, and ensure your process is one of co-creation, not infiltration.

Your organization can proactively advance social justice through creating community outreach programs, donating financial capital to social causes, and supporting minority and women owned businesses. 

Becoming a vocal organizational ally need not be a daunting task. On the contrary, tools like these are exemplary of the small, immediate steps an organization can utilize to take social justice from aspirational to actionable.

When one of us loses a child, all of us feel that hurt; vicarious trauma is an integral aspect of Black motherhood.

— A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, writing for Vox

The global pandemic has likely forced a more shared experience than our society has known in modern history. For the first time in at least a century, each of us has a firsthand experience with the shifts in our existence caused by the COVID-19 public health crisis. This includes those of us who work, who have had to reconfigure our work-life balance in an environment that places these formerly-distinct entities (often too) close together. This also includes those of us who are parents, many of whom are navigating the competing demands of having two bosses now— their supervisors and their children.

Since the nation has convened in an unprecedented way in response to the recent affronts to Black humanity, many parents are continuing, revisiting, or realizing something for the first time. Along with meeting our tiny bosses’ physiological, mental, and emotional needs during this time, our kids need to hear and learn about anti-racism. This is a big ask, and is undoubtedly overwhelming. Indeed, many of us as adults have difficulty talking about racism, despite the fact that we know it exists and persists. To that end, many people and organizations are sharing helpful resources to guide children and their parents through the process of cultivating an anti-racism mindset, and unlearning systemic rhetoric that has undermined that goal.

“I am reaching to the strength in Afro-American heritage. I am learning more about the heritage and history of Afro-American culture. Knowledge = strength and strength = power.”

— quoted in Beverly Daniel Tatum’s Talking about Race, Learning about Racism: The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom

Here you’ll find links to many of these resources, including children’s books and Google docs with a wealth of information on your journey to educate the children in your life on social justice issues. Be sure to vet them for yourself, and pace yourself to make the educational process meaningful. Write yourself an outline or calendar of what you’ll try to cover, to avoid burnout and overwhelm. Most importantly, remember that education is a process, and must be continuous. Please check back as this list grows.

Special thanks to Brittany Howard Gilmore and Unique Brathwaite of the Community Resource Exchange for compiling and distributing many of these resources.

Google Docs:

Talking to Kids About Police Brutality: A Community Resource List

Talking to Young Children about the Principles of the Black Lives Matter movement

From the Center for Racial Justice in Education, compiled by Border Crossers

RESOURCE GUIDES:

Listen, Learn, and Participate: a #BlackLivesMatter Resource Series from the Oakland Public Library

The Center for Racial Justice in Education’s Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, and Racialized Violence with Kids

Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Racism, Pretty Good Design

Social Justice Resource Guide from the Children’s Community School

Anti-Racism Resources for allies seeking to deepen their work on the issues

WEBSITES:

The Center for Racial Justice in Education

Children’s Community School: Social Justice Resources

A WORD ON BOOKS:

Support LOCAL bookstores by searching and shopping for these titles on Bookshop.org . Where feasible, I provide a link to Bookshop.org retailers as well as a link to buy on Amazon via Amazon Smile. If purchasing on Amazon through the link, Amazon will donate directly to the organization I’ve selected (the Center for Racial Justice in Education).

BOOK LISTS:

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards - List of All Winners Since 1970

The Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature  recognize diverse authors (or co-authors) whose works feature diverse main characters and address diversity in a meaningful way.

A wonderful Twitter thread on children’s books by Brittany Smith, M.Ed.

Elementary School Book List, with a helpful calendar

Confronting Racism: A Bibliography

Great Books for Teens by African-American Authors

The @DiverseReads Instagram page, curated by Vera at the Tutu Teacher

The HereWeeRead Instagram page, curated by Charnaie of Here Wee Read

BOOKS (PRESCHOOL):

A is for Activist, Innosanto Nagara (or here via Amazon Smile)

All the Colors We Are : a more clinical celebratory book for children on how skin gets its color. (also here via Amazon Smile)

I like Myself (or here via Amazon Smile)

Hair Love (or here via Amazon Smile)

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices (here on Amazon Smile)

I Am Every Good Thing (here on Amazon Smile)

BOOKS (ELEMENTARY):

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down (also here on Amazon Smile)

Henry’s Freedom Box (also here on Amazon Smile)

Let’s Talk About Race (also here on Amazon Smile)

A Sweet Smell of Roses (also here on Amazon Smile)

Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells (linked here with a Teacher’s Guide) (also here on Amazon Smile)

Astro Girl (also here on Amazon Smile)

How High the Moon (also here on Amazon Smile)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (here on Amazon Smile)

BOOKS (YOUNG ADULT):

Howard Zinn, a Young People’s History of the United States - available to order through the Zinn Education Project, or here on Amazon Smile

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning (or here on Amazon Smile). This is a young adult adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning (available via Bookshop or Amazon Smile)

Punching the Air (here on Amazon Smile)

Say Her Name: Poems to Empower (here on Amazon Smile)

Riot. Baby (here on Amazon Smile)

Harbor Me (here on Amazon Smile)

Dear Martin (here on Amazon Smile)

Ghost (here on Amazon Smile) : part of the Track Series

Monster (here on Amazon Smile)

Children of Blood and Bone (here on Amazon Smile)

Brown Girl Dreaming (here on Amazon Smile)

Bud, Not Buddy (here on Amazon Smile)

Copper Sun (here on Amazon Smile)

Tears of a Tiger (here on Amazon Smile)

Just Mercy (here on Amazon Smile)

Anger is a Gift (here on Amazon Smile)
The Hate U Give (here on Amazon Smile)

3 Key Takeaways for Organizations Emerging from a Pandemic

“Essential business” has been the center of much discussion over the last two months. By mid-March, the country was grinding to a halt, and by March 19, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released an advisory list of essential businesses. That list, though not exhaustive, includes segments of the transportation, IT, energy, and agriculture sectors, whose function is “to ensure the security and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure.” Most state and local governments agree on designating some businesses as essential, such as grocery stores, gas stations, and laundry services. However, there remains some significant difference among cities regarding what is essential, based at least in part on the values and priorities that vary from city to city.

Against this backdrop of the essential business inquiry, I assert that equity work should be essential business.

Whether or not we realize it, this is an argument most of us have been making daily. There have been outcries in the public forum about not-so-small businesses swiping the lion’s share of federal stimulus payments. There’s been backlash against  Amazon’s now-clarified position on whether the trillion-dollar entity was asking for public donations for its relief fund. In each of these instances, what people are railing against is a lack of equity . Listening to these outcries, the consistent theme is that organizational coronavirus responses have not equipped each and every person with the resources that they need to thrive, which is equity work’s central goal.

Vulnerable populations will undoubtedly absorb the brunt of any changes--especially cutbacks-- that organizations make during this time.  We know that coronavirus-related layoffs and reductions in force will impact marginalized populations first and worst, compounding the existing challenges these groups face. Hilary Beard outlines the race-based challenges to health equity presented by COVID-19. Diminished equity is central to virtually all of the detrimental effects of the coronavirus, including who will experience the worst of its symptoms and outcomes.

Nonetheless,  the picture of equity in the midst of national crisis is not entirely bleak. In fact, there is an enormous opportunity for change as organizations. We know that to some extent, certain aspects of our lives will never revert to what we viewed as “normal” two months ago. There will be change, but will the change be equity-minded? 

Organizations must continue to prioritize equity and advocacy for their marginalized and vulnerable populations, particularly bearing in mind the potential organizational harm that comes from failure to keep these goals top of mind. To assist with this task, I provide three  directives for organizations to focus on as society continues to shift due to COVID-19.

1. DETERMINE YOUR EQUITY-BASED NEEDS. What are constituents in your organization saying during this time? What are their grievances? Use this time to develop metrics and establish what your results should be. How can your organization define and measure these concerns in a data-driven way, and  what benchmarks will you use to track that success as we emerge from the pandemic into an equitably sustainable future? Next, determine how you envision the successful realization of these goals. The sky's the limit here, and the answers likely come from the voices of your constituents-- your employees, your students, or your staff.

2.  TIE the METRICS to YOUR MISSION and PRINCIPLES. Next, take a look at your organization’s mission and vision. Organizations experiencing decreased workflow  due to COVID-19 may even choose to leverage the change in volume by reviewing their pillar documents and structures such as mission statements. Does satisfying this mission meet the equity-based needs your constituents have shared? 

3. USE YOUR DATA AND THESE NEW GOALS FOR THE LONG HAUL. Dr. Sumi Pendakur warns that short term reductions will lead to long term harm for individuals and groups who are marginalized or on the periphery. Accordingly, organizations must be cognizant of the “ripples” or “waves” of this pandemic on vulnerable populations. Consumer Health Foundation’s Yanique Redwood implores organizations to keep their constituents informed on policies and developments that will ultimately have a long-term effect. 

From the Aspirational to the Actionable

Numerous organizations nationwide focus on  training organizational leaders on how to center equity in their work. Based in New York City, the Community Resource Exchange works to reduce poverty, promote equity, and increase opportunity in the communities it serves. Based in Los Angeles, the USC Race and Equity Institute strives to provide solutions via actionable intelligence. Based in Dallas, the author of this post works with organizations of various sizes to identify areas of equity-based opportunity. The list goes on and should continue to grow.  Moving forward, it will be imperative to posit equity as essential, and equally crucial for organizations to strategically partner with those who can help to formulate and implement their equity goals. Together we can solidify equity as an essential component in our security and resilience.