What is an anti-racist organization, exactly?

I’ve been asking the same question since I founded RISE as an anti-racist organization in 2018 and I have been trying to figure this out over the past five years. Things have obviously changed from when I started this journey compared to today. People and organizations are more willing to name things like racism and white supremacy culture but have we figured out how to leverage our understanding of these systems to create a liberated work culture that is sustainable, meaningful and joyful for all of its team members, especially team members of color??

Now comes a quick humble brag: I think we are doing a great job of figuring it out.

So, what exactly is an anti-racist organization?

If you were to do a Google search asking this question, you would get about 18,900,000 results. Yikes! Which one do I pick? Ok, let’s move over to ChatGPT. Let’s see what they have to say about this topic.?

According to ChatGPT, “An anti-racist organization is one that actively works to eliminate systemic racism and promote equality for people of all races. Such organizations seek to identify and confront racism and discrimination, both overt and subtle, within their own structures and in society as a whole. They promote policies and practices that advance racial equity and work to dismantle systems and structures that perpetuate racism and inequality.

Anti-racist organizations may engage in a variety of activities such as organizing and advocating for policies and legislation that promote racial justice, conducting educational programs and workshops to raise awareness about systemic racism and its impact on society, and working with communities to develop solutions to address racial disparities.”

Not bad, ChatGPT. I would make a few changes though (but we all know we can just ride with the first thing ChatGPT spits out). One thing that is definitely different for us is that there are some structures we don’t have to undo (at least not right now) such as discrimination or the perpetuation of racism because we created RISE with an anti-racist lens. So, here is RISE’s definition of being an anti-racist organization:

An anti-racist organization is made up of INDIVIDUAL team members whose collective beliefs, mindsets, knowledge, skills and actions are coupled with the ORGANIZATION'S culture, policies & practices, which are all aligned to liberated principles.

Let me elaborate.?

Any individual person joining RISE must have certain beliefs about the world. They must agree that systems of oppression including racism exist even if they don’t fully understand how it operates. They must have certain mindsets including believing in abundance (as opposed to scarcity). They must work to advance their knowledge and understanding of specific topics such as race, racism, identity and white supremacy culture. They must have skills (or work towards them) such as vulnerability, empathy and the ability to receive feedback. And finally, they must be willing to take actions such as working on themselves, disrupting oppression when they see it and acting as an ally.?

As an organization, we commit to creating a culture of liberation through our practices and policies. We work to create a sustainable work environment by allowing our team members to set their own schedules (as opposed to having specified work hours such as 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.). We intentionally include gratitude practices in our team meetings and always create the space to enjoy each other's company instead of diving into business right away. Finally, like many other organizations, we have adopted “Rest Periods,” where we collectively shut down operations as an organization.These are just a few examples of some of our practices but there are countless ways we lean into liberation in many micro-moments throughout our day.??

I’m curious. Do you work in an anti-racist organization? We would love to hear about what you are doing. We are always looking for new ways to lean into liberation. Let us know!?

#AntiRacism #AntiRacistOrganization #Liberation?