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Hey Subscriber First Name, This past month or so has pushed me to rethink what it means to actively support the Black community. This ongoing process includes continuing to examine and work to unlearn my own biases, recognize my privilege, and seek ways to leverage that privilege to support this fight for equality. As I saw companies from all industries seemingly “waking up” and posting their solidarity statements, I also saw too many that were rich in empty promises and poor in actionable commitment. Wanting my company to be better than the examples I’d seen, I called my manager one day (after explicitly asking if we could talk and if it was a “safe space”), who’s also part of leadership. I shared concern that our agency had not yet addressed the Black Lives Matter movement, nor shared any action items in terms of (a) how they were planning to support their own employees, and (b) how they were planning to contribute dollars to the movement. Later, I learned that a few of my fellow POC colleagues had also flagged similar expectations to leadership, which made my heart happy knowing this is the company I keep. For those wondering, leadership released a well-received internal email with encouragement to take time off if needed and a promise to reallocate work loads as needed to help make that happen, and a dollar commitment to help employees financially contribute to the organizations that resonate most. I share this story to encourage all of us to consider how work, too, can be a place for advocacy. I understand that I am lucky to have a good relationship with my manager and as a result, feel enough job security to even hold such conversations. On the flipside, if I did not feel able to speak up for fear of jeopardizing my employment, I would deeply question whether it’s worth staying with a company that clearly doesn’t share the same core values as I do. As talent, we have the power to let companies know that supporting Black folks and their human rights is a non-negotiable—this can happen both with current employers and in prospective interviews. We also have the power to do this with our dollars as consumers, and our time. Money is not the only commodity we can leverage. The following sections share food-for-thought / suggested starting points for advocating for the Black community and Black LGBTQ folx, initiating tough conversations within your own family, further reading, and leveraging your dollars. Wishing you courage, however you choose to rise up! Hugs,
Haemee P.S. special thanks to both Stephanie, @subtlesugar_studio and Zoee, @audaceart for this issue’s amazing artwork!
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