Diversity Deep Dive- June 2020 by June DePonte Sernak
This has been a particularly challenging time in our country. We as a nation have endured a global pandemic and systemic racism that has led to tragedy and triumph. As an advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, this is a time to unify our communities, our businesses and our nation. Many are struggling with a range of emotions as these occurrences trigger intergenerational trauma that we may not know the best way to respond. Businesses have been impacted with layoffs, closures & financial constraints. These circumstances have also caused employees to have a multitude of reactions that require them to be heard and acknowledged. Moments of silence, personal time off and participation in community wide events such as protests or prayer vigils can be positive coping mechanisms during stressful times.
This is an opportunity to create or update an equity minded strategic plan for your business with understanding legal implications of bias, using inclusive language and avoiding microaggression conversations. Change is an uncomfortable process and understanding the many layers of DEI requires asking questions and respect of differences in culture, ethnicity, race, religion and lifestyle unfamiliar to you. The beginning of change is to become an Ally and embrace those differences. Being an Ally is lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people to share in the mission of respect and equity. Here are a few tips for becoming an Ally.
1. Actively listen to people within the group with whom you want to ally yourself.
2. Be aware of implicit biases you might have.
3. Understand and reflect on your own identity, biases, and privileges.
4. Do your research on the issues facing the oppressed group for which you want to be an ally. Don't expect those with whom you want to ally yourself to teach you.
5. Support the group you're allying by letting them speak for themselves whenever possible, instead of speaking for or over them.
6. Don't take credit for the thoughts, actions, or ideas of the marginalized group for which you're supporting.
7. When you make a mistake, apologize sincerely, and use it as a learning experience to help you grow.
8. Remember, ally is a verb -- you need to do the work, every day. There will be instances that make you uncomfortable to speak up, but you can't be a part-time ally.
June is also Pride Month also known as Gay pride or LGBTQ pride which is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements. Allyship supports all forms of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and by looking through a new lens can create change for a stronger world.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” President Barack Obama
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