Back in June amongst the anger and grief following the murder of George Floyd (amongst too many others) I made some statements here abut my own commitment to antiracism here.
Since then, I have been working on better understanding my own white privilege and getting comfortable with some uncomfortable truths. I have also:
Worked through Me and White Supremacy by Lalya Saad including the daily journal prompts.
Joined the Patreon for Rachel Cargle Lisa Renee Hall and partially completed here Inner Field Trip and intend to revisit it in October.
Joined and have been active in an Anti Racism Mastermind with 3 other white female business owners so we can discuss & share what action we can take in our personal and business lives to do better.
Nominated myself as the Equality and Inclusion lead at my place of work and have commissioned a project into identifying what can be done to make our organisation more inclusive
Completed an Unconscious Bias training session
Actively participated and promoted Black Pound Day
I share this not for praise or recognition as those have no value in this work. I share these updates purely as a piece of accountability for myself and to demonstrate that these are important values to me an my business.
As such, I have committed to the following Equality Statement being a core aspect of my business and pledge to provide quarterly updates in the form of blog posts like this to ensure I remain accountable and active in this work.
This is a movement, not a moment and the work will last a lifetime but it is worthy; long overdue; much needed and essential if we seek to live in a world that is equal for all.
EQUALITY STATEMENT
I stand in solidarity with Black and Non-Black People Of Colour, and all those that
experience racism and oppression globally.
I pledge my commitment to be actively anti-racist and a driver of positive change within my personal development; my work as a coach and within the coaching & well being industry in general – now and always. Silence is not an option.
As a white, able bodied, cis gendered, hetero woman I recognise the privilege that these (and
other characteristics) afford me.
I have taken the time to reflect on these privileges and have committed to an ongoing educational journey through reading, listening, discussion, unlearning and relearning on both a personal and professional level.
I realise that I can and must do better. In a time where so much of the future is uncertain, I want to ensure that I go far beyond paying lip service to movements such as Black Lives Matter by keeping promises and progressing with several points of action including:
Investing in my ongoing social justice education by working with racial justice educators and paying them for their work
Reviewing, updating and maintaining my business practices in the interest of remaining open, transparent and inclusive
Continuing to seek out and amplify marginalised voices and to never speak over, instead of or in place of them
Engaging in ongoing social justice work within my industry, community and peers to ensure I continue to expand my awareness and understanding
I will not speak on panels, host workshops, or feature on podcasts where people who look and speak like me are over represented
I will continue to research the businesses that I work and spend money with to ensure that their values, strategies and practises incorporate diversity and inclusion
I want to be held accountable for this pledge to drive positive change so will publish what I have implemented on a quarterly basis in the form of follow up blog posts that will be tagged “social justice”.
I invite you to join me in this work and am open to discussing it further and suggesting suitable resources that you may find useful.