Post Juneteenth

This Friday, I had the opportunity to observe Juneteenth as an official holiday, a holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. I am grateful and proud to be part of a company that is making the efforts and taking the necessary steps to drive change and embrace diversity and inclusion, tough and as uncomfortable that journey may be. Thank you for standing with my community – the black community, PitchBook.

For me, a born and raised Nigerian blooded Londoner, Juneteenth served as a day of extra awareness; it has also given me the opportunity to use this weekend to pen down my thoughts.

I have drafted and redrafted this, and deliberated on whether I should post this at all because until now, these stories have been rarely shared beyond my close friends and family. But in all honesty, I feel it would be remiss of me to not share at a time where now more than ever, irrespective of the medium, people and companies are willing to listen and change.

The traumatic videos and images of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s killing in the US, the injustice of Belly Mujinga’s case, a black essential worker here in the UK who died of Covid-19 after being spat on by a man who claimed to have the virus, and the many other atrocities committed against the black community has resurfaced my rage, grief and sadness.

I am tired.

I am tired of hearing “at least we’re not as bad as the US”, “why do black people always play the race card?” “I don’t see colour”, “Why are we even talking about racism in 2020?” “Can we move past slavery already?” Trevoh Noah puts is aptly - “A lot of people don’t seem to realise how dominos connect, how one piece knocks another piece, that knocks another piece…each story seems completely unrelated, and yet at the same time…everything that happens in the world connects to something else in some way, shape or form.” I read somewhere; nothing goes away until it teaches us what we need to know, and I completely agree. To wholly divorce the UK from the US, in my opinion, is to ignore the parallels of abuse and trauma inflicted upon the the black communities in the US and the UK; it is to reduce the relational impact on the African diaspora. It is to discount Europe’s colonial past and the symbiotic relationship of structural racism pervasive today.

As a black woman in Britain, it saddens me to say that we still face racism here in the UK and Europe, albeit in different forms. Please know, the corporate world is no exception; it is systemic and more insidious but no less damaging or harmful.

“Diversity shouldn’t be an actionable thing, it should just be.” – Daniel Kaluuya

During this time, in quarantine, I have done a lot of thinking and reflecting on my career, a journey that started almost a decade ago. I have been thinking of the many episodes that have shaped my career to date. While I remain eternally grateful for the amazing people that have helped me along the way and for organisations like Target Chances and SEO London who paved the way for opportunity through their mentoring programme. I also remember the reality and struggle of finding my first corporate job, hiding my Nigerian surname on LinkedIn in the hopes that it would increase my chances of being hired. I remember being told my hair had to look a certain way to be deemed professional. I have been asked countless times where I am from…. where I am really from (emphasis on really). I have been mistaken for the other black girl when in fact we looked nothing alike. I remember finally securing a job and noticing that I was one of the very few black people in the company, and coming to realise that there was a massive underrepresentation of black women in the industry as a whole, which could impact the way I would be perceived.

Fortunately, I have worked and currently work with some remarkable and unforgettable people, I’ve worked under some amazing female and male leaders, CEOs, and I have had the privilege to pursue opportunities despite my race or gender. I have had people advocate for me in situations where my privilege was unfortunately limited, and I have been fortunate enough to not experience some of the heart-breaking stories I have heard; stories of violence and dehumanisation incited by racism. I recognise that I am merely a voice of many and I can only speak from my experiences.

To my colleagues, managers, clients, business leaders, who have continued to advocate for diversity and inclusion, opting to be anti-racist, who recognise to be “not racist” is simply not enough, I see you and I thank you. I am seeing more discussion of diversity and inclusion, ant-racism and discrimination than I ever seen before. And while it is heartening to see #IAM, #talkaboutblack, #blacklivesmatter and many pledging their allegiance to the black community on social media and LinkedIn, I encourage you to continue when the hash tags retire and the news move on. Real change happens behind closed doors, in private meetings and boardrooms. Using our spheres of influence to get things done is where it all starts. Almost every black or mixed race person of my professional network has some story of experienced micro-aggression, tokenism, discrimination, or explicit racism. I urge you to listen to their stories.

In the words of Ray Dalio,“recognise that to gain the perspective that comes from seeing things through another’s eyes, you must suspend judgement for a time – only by empathising can you properly evaluate another point of view.”

It is my hope that one day (in the near future) I will walk into a private equity conference or any work function for that matter and see more people that look like me, at ALL levels. It is my hope to see more women, more black women in the C-suite. I am tired of attending conferences that would see hundred to thousands of attendees, and counting all of the black people on my two hands. It is nerve-wracking, to say the least. To walk into a room knowing that you don’t have the luxury to opt in and out of your skin; it can feel heavy sometimes. What I would love to see is more representation, a blend of people, culture, gender, colour, and experience. Isn’t it funny, for such a “progressive society”, I still see puzzled expressions flash across faces when I walk into the room.

I have been told that I am in the wrong room, and the event was “for registered attendees only”, said in a tone that I fail to find the words for right now, meanwhile my name sits there, in black and white, right at the top on the list. I have had to justify my presence and prove I deserve to be in such rooms, events or meetings more times than I care to tell. These experiences have caused me great anxiety, panic and sufferings of imposter syndrome, but through it all I still feel it is important for me to speak up and show up where and when I can, make myself comfortable, and prove the skeptics and doubters wrong. Tiring as it may be, I often tell myself, if my predecessors didn’t show up, speak up, act or protest, I would not be in a position to share my thoughts so openly with you today. They paved the way for women like me.

So, with all that has been said, how do we move forward?

Education. We all know that knowledge is power. It is profit. It is opportunity. And it is the catalyst for change. True growth and change happens only by actively learning, reading, listening and observing. I have been using this time to learn more about systemic racism and how deeply rooted it is in our culture.

It’s time to listen to your black friends, peers, associates and employees. It is important to create a space for them to feel safe enough to be honest with you. If somebody reports something to you, do not go on the defensive. As Stephen Covey advises, listen to understand, not to respond. Recognise it takes an emotional toll to muster up the courage to have that conversation with you. Empathy goes a long way and breeds a culture of inclusivity.

Look inward. As a person and as a company - ask yourselves, who are you and what do you stand for? At work, review your hiring processes and outreach. How are your represented? How do you want to be perceived? What does your senior leadership look like? What does your staff demographic look like? Essentially, are your actions commensurate to your values?

Please see colour. It irks me when I hear "I don't see colour". There is absolutely nothing wrong in seeing and appreciating the colour of my skin or any person of colour. At work, set benchmarks to have more representation in your company and in leadership. If you don’t have a more diverse and inclusive culture you won’t be able to motivate, keep or sustain a diverse pool of talent. So, extend outreach to more diverse representations of professional networks in your affiliated universities, partnerships, organisations, local businesses etc. 

As a business if you don’t know where to start, liaise with consultants or third parties who are well equipped in this area and implement their strategies.

Provide extensive bias training to all levels of management and all employees. Have measurable mechanisms in place. Should the unfortunate happen, there should be real consequences? Accountability and consistency is key in any type of discipline. In my opinion, HR and Employee Resource Groups should be a microcosm of your ideal organisation and at the very minimum representative of your client base.

Relax your policies on wellbeing and benefit policies. If you are not doing so already, extend your company wellbeing benefits to include therapy. Therapy is not an ugly word and in the society we live in, I struggle to find anyone who doesn’t need it in some way shape of form. While most companies are supporting mental health and awareness, in times like these, acknowledge that some employees may need extra support to heal from the pain inflicted on their communities. Show you care; your employees, friends, associates and peers are humans.

Donate your time and skill to underrepresented communities, be a mentor, share industry insights, we can all learn from shared experiences.

Give your black colleagues, peers, associates their credit. Did they help you with a project? Were they instrumental in getting that deal over the line? Introducing that client? Securing that investment? Honour them. Equally my fellow black people, put yourself forward (if you’re not already doing so), make your presence known and advocate for your self and your work.

Companies, please invest in mentorship and sponsorship programs. Invest in the career development of your underrepresented staff. Share your skill, knowledge, and insights. Personally, I would appreciate a mentor right now!

Be transparent in your reporting. Introduce ethnic pay gap policies to ensure black, brown, and other people of colour are being compensated equally and fairly.

Fund and support black owned businesses. Be conscious in your spending and investing. Amplify melanated voices in your boardrooms, book clubs, shareholder meetings, and at home. Black history should actually be compulsory for all pupils and students.

Make sure that your stance towards racism and discrimination is unequivocal.

For those who are seizing the Black Lives Matter movement as an opportunity to deflect or quibble over semantics, please stop. While I appreciate that history is complicated, messy and contradictory, this is simply not the time.

The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted many untold stories and buried histories. For me, it has certainly exposed my obliviousness to many things and my limited knowledge when it comes to race and discrimination. I think I speak for many when I say we have come a long way, but there remains much to do, and much to learn and unlearn in the fight against racism and discrimination in society and in the workplace.

I think it’s time we openly learn from each other. Feel free to share your ideas, thoughts or steps you are taking to create a more diverse, welcoming and inclusive society and workplace.

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

Vivien