How will you use your voice today? From awareness to allyship

Violence fueled by racism and xenophobia is all too common. As recently as this week, we are mourning the tragic and unnecessary killings of eight people – including six Asian women – in Atlanta, Georgia, just over a year after Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man, was shot while jogging in his neighborhood.

These events, and far too many others like them, are a source of deep pain and collective mourning for the communities impacted by these racist acts, and should horrify all of us. No one race or group of people is better than or superior to any other. Any belief system that stands by such an assertion goes against the very idea of equity and true inclusion.

As an S&P Global Operating Committee, we knew that many of our people have been carrying fear, isolation, hurt and anxiety associated with these recent attacks and many injustices before them. It was imperative that we make space to share these experiences across our company, and do the work of educating ourselves about the long history of racial violence not just in the United States, but around the world.

To that end, we launched a series of internal events called “Courageous Conversations,” which we’ve been conducting on a monthly basis across the company. The speakers we’ve hosted are academics, athletes, authors and public figures who have shared their insights on the impacts of systemic racism on all aspects of society. Following the sessions, we’ve also introduced “Brave Spaces” to create an open forum where we can share, ask questions, and have constructive discussion following the day’s event.

As I prepared to host my second Courageous Conversation on February 23, I started reflecting on all the sessions we’ve held to date. Personally, I have learned something and been positively impacted by each speaker who has joined us since we launched the series last year. I have found these sessions are critical for discussing, understanding and confronting systemic issues that plague our society and especially impact our colleagues from underrepresented groups. Here are some of my key takeaways, so we can continue the conversation via this network as well:

• We held several sessions with Jane Elliott that gave me a new perspective. Her “Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes” experience was eye-opening in illustrating how insidiously prejudicial actions can take hold. Before this session, I always thought what my mom told me was true – treat everybody the way you like to be treated. My biggest takeaway was that I must treat people how they like to be treated.
• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi compared racism to sexual harassment. I learned that ‘racial harassment’ has a system, support and policy and that working against racism means working to dismantle the policies that support it.
• Dr. Robin DiAngelo defined systemic racism as a collective racial prejudice backed by legal authority and institutional control. From her, I learned that racism is a system NOT an event.
• Maya Moore highlighted how change starts with our thoughts and posture – being open to learning, accountability and growth. I learned that cultural competency (taking time to listen and learn) and cultural humility (not assuming your culture is better than someone else’s) are critical concepts for the majority culture to embrace when encountering minority cultures.
• We also hosted the CFO of a global financial entity, who opened up about his experiences of being Black in the corporate world. I learned that as a leader, I need to take the platform that is accessible to me and speak – my audience is listening to what I do and don’t say. It is always important to speak up for what is right, even if we think it will be an uncomfortable conversation.
• In listening to Isabel Wilkerson share more deeply about her work on Caste, I learned that one’s ignorance is NOT a protection from consequences. This is a point that should hit home for all of us. I must be proactive in facing, examining and engaging with what I might rather not see.
• In the discussion with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, he observed that what is too painful to remember, we choose to forget. This highlights why I need to act on what I’ve learned this month, or over the course of the last year, and remember that these issues did not start in 2020. The question now is, what will I do about them?
• Lastly, one of the key takeaways I had from my conversation with Dr. Robert Livingston is that while racism in the world is a larger issue to tackle, racism in the workplace can be effectively addressed. Organizations are ideal places for promoting racial equity. I learned that to be an ally, I must go beyond solidarity and be part of the social change.

Having Courageous Conversations like these is important, but we must also follow through in our culture, actions and policies. There is a distinct difference between not being racist and actively being anti-racist. We must commit to doing the work, and as leaders we must commit to modeling the openness to learn and – critically – change. It will require action from all of us to eliminate discrimination, racism and microaggressions from the workplace. Racism is a systemic and global issue. While we can’t change the world overnight, we have the power to change our workplace.

Being an ally in this way is an active role – it requires that you use your voice to make change. Here, I’d love to hear from my network. What change have you recognized that you need to make to be a true ally? How will you bring about that change?