Black History Month Reflections

Every February, Black History Month provides us the opportunity to reflect on the many accomplishments and continued struggles of Black Americans.

There are meaningful ways organizations can celebrate and honor Black History Month that go beyond making a social media post about Black History Month or the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or hosting a book club to read works by Ibram X. Kendi, Toni Morrison or other Black authors.?After all, we are in a day?and age where more and more workers are making a conscious choice to seek employment with diverse and inclusive organizations. Companies who are committed to becoming diverse and inclusive will greatly benefit from supporting their Black (and brown) employees year-round.

If you or your team are invested in creating a more inclusive environment for your BIPOC employees, here are four strategies that you might want to consider.

1. Invest in sustainable change

Creating a thriving inclusive organizational culture doesn’t happen overnight. It requires a long-term strategic commitment, equitable policies for hiring and beyond, accountability for leaders and team members at every level of your organization, and so much more.?Contact Kindall Evolve ?today to learn more about our DEI assessment?and strategy services designed to transform your people and your workplace.

2. Build awareness through learning circles

A certified diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator like those from Kindall Evolve can help you provide a recurring workshop series on topics such as understanding microaggressions in the workplace, racial equity and emotional intelligence, interrupting unconscious bias, inclusive leadership, and more. Or, you can also bring in authors, historians, activists, or artists to speak to critical topics surrounding Black identity.

3. Support social justice

If your company currently donates to nonprofits, assess how you can diversify those donations to support organizations fighting for social justice causes. You can also choose to use your business' social media platforms to educate your audience about anti-racism and other issues your business cares about. Lastly, support employees who want to volunteer for social justice organizations by allowing them paid time off to do so.

4. Amplify and empower your Black Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

To start, if your company does not have a group specifically for Black employees, put a plan in place to start one. If you do have a Black ERG, make sure it is sponsored by a member of your executive team so the group has a direct line of communication to the top of your organization. Also, make it easy for employees to participate by committing financial resources and ensuring that employees' schedules allow them to contribute.

From our CEO, Jackie Kindall on why she celebrates Black "Firsts"

I’m seeing posts on LinkedIn and other platforms in which people are expressing negative reactions to celebrations of "firsts" when an individual is the first Black person to be honored with X; first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court, first Black person to hold a specific board seat or executive level position, first Black person to be on a stamp, first Black person to be on a quarter, etc. I’ve seen people say it’s racist to state that the person being celebrated is?Black. And I'm very curious about that. Racist? How so?

Black people are not the dominant group, nor do we, as a group, have the same privileges and power as do white people in America. Many of the systems (government, technology, judicial, healthcare etc.) do not support us equitably if at all. For hundreds of years (up to and including this very moment), Black people have been marginalized, discriminated against, lynched, over-incarcerated, under-funded, denied housing, experimented on, denied adequate healthcare, have received harsher sentences for lesser offenses than non-Blacks, and oppressed in other ways. It is ever apparent that Anti-Black racism did not stop when slavery ended.

Celebrating a Black person who is the first to achieve something does not in any way diminish any other marginalized or dominant group. When people ask, "why do you have to say the person was Black," it's akin to the "all lives matter" rhetoric.

People also say things like "why are we talking about a person's race?" When people stop being punished and oppressed because of their race, then we can stop mentioning race. That's one goal we are working towards here at Kindall Evolve - eliminating racism.??

Although I know this is the sentiment of many Black people, I do not speak for all Black people. I speak for myself. And what I'm sharing with you today is that there is no shame (or racism) in celebrating and it's important to me that I celebrate year-round, including during Black History Month. I honor my Black brothers and sisters who are extraordinary and achieve greatness even within systems that are still not FOR us. And I will celebrate their achievements unapologetically.?I hope you will join me.

How can you make a difference? Speak up when you see this rhetoric. And if you know someone who is fine with a post about the first woman to achieve an honor but offended by posts about the first?Black?woman to achieve an honor, then encourage them to get curious. Ask themselves why they're ok with celebrating one marginalized group (women) but not ok with celebrating other marginalized groups (in this case, someone who identifies as Black - could also be a post celebrating some who identify as Latinx, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and so on). When we lean into conversions from a place of curiosity, we can open the door to constructive conversations and ultimately, a more inclusive culture that will benefit all Americans.

And in case you're curious about the origins of Black History Month, we suggest checking out these helpful resources.

History.com

Harvard Library

If you are looking for tangible ways to better support the unique workplace needs of your Black employees, we recommend the sources below.

Articles

• 6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for your Black Employees
• 16 Actions for Shifting Culture to Support Black Employees
• What White People Need to Know about Racial Trauma in the Workplace

?Books

• Right Within: How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace
• Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias

Podcasts

• The Diversity Gap
• Living Corporate

While these resources are a great starting point, creating a thriving and inclusive workplace takes time and commitment. Contact us today to learn if our fully-customized DE&I initiatives are right for your organization.