Honouring the Black women around you

Honouring the Black women around you

The intellectual labour of Black women and Black queer women is world-shifting and life-shaping. As a Black queer woman nursed on the teachings of my grandmother, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Bell Hooks and my Black sisters, I’m grateful for the efforts of generations of women who metabolised their lived experience into knowledge the rest of us could (and can) use to better understand our own lives. So, it was with great humility that I took to the stage of London Southbank University in January to accept an honorary degree from the university, in recognition of my decades-long work fighting for equality and representation for marginalised communities.?

It’s no small thing to be recognised for the work I’ve done and continue to do out in the world. I’ve known, as long as I’ve been conscious, that I had to do my part to create a world that is safer, braver and more loving – not only for me and people like me, but for my daughter, too. And it matters that my voice is heard and my work is seen within the hallowed halls of institutions like London Southbank University because the intellectual labour of Black women who do not attend universities is so often discarded as not as valuable, or transformative, or impactful. This honorary doctorate represents — to me — a recognition of the intellectual labour Black women and Black queer women have performed for the world. It represents our impact within these spaces, even if we are often on the outside.

Whether front, centre and behind the scenes of movements for Black lives or spearheading initiatives for inclusion in the workplace, Black women play a vital role in the advancement of equality for all; but it’s not often Black women we see celebrated, recognised or awarded for their work. While awards aren’t the end goal, nor should they be the motivation, in industries that skew towards hiring those recognised with awards from industry and beyond, the erasure of the work of Black women in this way becomes not only an issue of contradiction, but of earning potential.??

This is true for the workplace, too, where the labour Black women perform on the streets is metabolised into initiatives (largely led by white women) to foster diversity, equity and inclusion within corporate structures. In the workplace, confronted as we are with variations of the same discrimination we meet on the streets, Black women continue to overlooked, underestimated and tokenised, with our lives, lived experience and contributions often emerging as an afterthought when charting systemic change within organisations.?

I learned something important as a young girl chasing after my grandmother’s coat tails: Black women have impacted and are impacting the very things people learn about and do in all manner of institutions and situations. In the university, those of us on the outside inform and guide via” kitchen table” conversations; and in the workplace, we are often the ones offering alternative and intersectional ways of understanding change. If Black women play such a vital role in our collective understanding of equality, so too should we be recognised for that contribution. Our lives matter.?

My grandmother always asked me challenging questions so she would feel confident I was listening to her, even when she wasn’t speaking directly to me. So in her memory and spirit, I put one to you: How will you honour the intellectual labour of Black women in your workplace?

Things to consider and action for LGBTQI+ or Women’s History Month(s)

1. Black queer women have played essential roles in movements for equality and freedom across the world. Do some research and amplify four Black queer women during the month of March. Tell people what these women do or did, and how their example informs your work and thinking.

2. Build a company-wide reading list for Women’s History Month that includes a diverse range of Black/queer women from across the world. Remember to look beyond our borders for a better understanding of how resistance to the UK’s colonial regimes impacted feminist thought and activism.

3. Consider who you celebrate and amplify. Diversity, equity and inclusion roles are overwhelmingly held by non-Black men and women, and this won’t necessarily be reflective of who deserves increased attention. Who are the women who make contributions to work, culture and social movements, but who rarely get spoken about?

This article was written as part of the LinkedIn #Changemakers campaign – a campaign shining a spotlight on individuals using LinkedIn to drive genuine change in the world of work. To find out more about the partnership, read more here https://blog.linkedin.com/changemakers-uk

#Changemakers #BlackWomen #Intersectional #ConversationsForChange

Drawn photo by 'Making Art Marks'