Responding to the Uprisings Protesting Police Brutality Against Black People
Like many of you, I've felt crippled by grief this past weekend. I'm grieving George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, James Scurlock, Tony McDade, and many others whose names I'll never know. As I watch police increase violence targeting black people protesting across the country amidst a global pandemic and economic recession, it feels like too much to bear or even comprehend-- especially as I continue to grieve the comforts and routines I've altered for the sake of public health.
It's easy (and human) to feel hopelessness and despair right now -- that's certainly how I've spent much of the last few months, weeks, and days.
This morning, though, I found energy in my work -- my tools to do something about all this. I built my consulting practice to share these tools so that values-driven organizations like yours can create positive change, especially in times of crisis.
My work -- and our work together -- is rooted in a mission to disrupt systemic injustice through strong internal policies, practices, systems, and cultures -- and a belief that without these intentional tools, organizations can perpetuate inequity and injustice by default.
With that in mind, I'd like to offer you a few tips and resources for this moment:
Internal Communications: If you haven't yet, it's critical to acknowledge this moment for your staff. Silence in the face of injustice, after all, is complicity. While it may be tempting to retreat into Business As Usual as a coping mechanism, remember that business simply is not usual -- it hasn't been since March. Feel free to reference my COVID-19 toolkit for more on managing in a time of crisis, and reach out so we can strategize together around how best to message this in your particular company culture.
Employee Support: Make space for your employees--especially your black employees--to grieve and care for themselves during this traumatizing time. Reach out to let them know you are thinking of them and their well-being. Space can look like adjusted timelines/goals, additional PTO (and explicit time off to attend protests), schedule flexibility, staff meetings, and more. Again, there's tons of information in the toolkit about why trauma can make it impossible for us to be productive, and how to effectively engage employees in times of crisis. Please use it! As always, I'm available to help figure out what the best solutions could look like for your unique circumstances.
External Communications: Finally, you may be considering making a public statement -- which could be a great thing to do! We've all seen (and cringed at) many brand statements in response to current events, and it can feel challenging to know just what to say. The best guidance I've seen on this recently is from film maker Rafael Cascal, who created the image below as an example of what *not* to do. His guidance for a good public statement is essentially to write about the anti-racism work that your company is committed to, and to which your customers can hold you accountable. For a great example, see the statement Sir Kensington's (one of my clients) just made. More on this below.
Regardless of whether you want to make a public statement about it, being mindful of your organizational impact on systemic racism requires deep work--if it were easy, you'd see a lot more orgs doing it! But through your diversity, equity, and inclusion work, you're well on your way. Many of you are building equitable hiring practices, compensation structures, and performance review systems, and hiring historically underrepresented talent into leadership positions. That's a big part of what will help decrease the pay gap between white people and people of color. Others of you are making sure your employees are trained to address microaggressions, have support systems (like employee resources groups or DEI councils) to process current events with, and modeling vulnerability and allyship across your leadership team. This is a big part of the ongoing work that creates powerful infrastructure to support employees without re-inventing the wheel in times of crisis. And per that last bullet, sharing about it publicly sets an example in your industry that can push other brands to make similar commitments, so your impact is broadened.
None of this is simple, but it's certainly easier when we navigate it together. Please, reach out to talk through any of this. I'm here as your thought partner, strategist, and co-conspirator.
Thank you for the opportunity to affect powerful change with you.
In solidarity,
Natania