Stop Silencing black voices.
The time for change is now
Last Wednesday I tried to hold my old employer accountable for their #Blackouttuesday post and their seeming support of #BlackLivesMatter and justice for the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery to name but a few. They let me and others down. Long story short, they deleted the post.
I want to make it clear that I am not naming them for shaming’s sake. It is not about shame or controversy. But I do think it’s right to call them and other businesses out in order to move forward, to hold brands accountable and to make things better, particularly at an organisational level.
Blackout Tuesday
On the Tuesday, like many others, I scrolled through my insta to see my feed pretty much blacked out. Regardless of whether Blackout Tuesday had any positive impact or not, I found it profound and it was something to remember.
A few of those squares stood out to me because this was the first time I had ever seen them post (or talk) about this. And that’s okay if they meant it. How do we start if we don’t do things for the first time? After working at Dennis Publishing for 15 years and leaving just a couple of years ago, I wasn’t overly convinced that their black square wasn’t another brand displaying a typical act of performative activism.
Not just any ‘brand’ to me though. This is somewhere where I spent many amazing years meeting some brilliant people and learning lots, for which I am grateful for. It was my home for a long time. Yet my experience told me that there was nothing anti-racist about this place where I had worked. Far from it. I witnessed many forms of racism during my time there and I wanted to know if their black square was equal to action. Solidarity is not solidarity without action.
Performative activism
Using a shared template to hold organisations/brands accountable for their posts, I (with some hesitation) attempted to, and with respect, hold them accountable by asking what action went along with this post. You can see and read for yourself the posts that followed from me and then one other ex-Dennis employee. I reckon less than an hour after she spoke out and posted, they deleted the entire thing.
So basically they panicked, then deleted and in doing so silenced a former, female, Black employee brave enough to come out publicly and speak the truth. In doing so, going against part of the very fabric of what Black Lives Matter means. Quietly trying to ignore the fact that they had knowingly or unknowingly (it really doesn’t matter which) tried to cash in on the trauma of Black people.
"A huge part of this decision was due to the dismissal of my grievances and a complete failure to address the issue of racism embedded in to company culture."
<DELETE>
It’s a disgrace. A company that sells its audiences of millions should be using their platform to make change, not trying to cash in and then ignore.
My own fear in a racist system
Apart from reaching out to my former colleague and mentioning this to a couple of people in the days since, I’ve basically sat on this until now. That hasn’t sat well with me, even if deep down I knew that I would eventually say something more publicly. I saw that my ex-colleague posted on her own insta stories too, which I have to thank her for. After a few days of reflection, questioning my own imperfections, my integrity, my knowledge and my intentions, I found motivation to share by thinking about why I wouldn’t and wasn’t going to call it out.
“The visceral feeling of fear, providing me with adrenaline as I type, is a perfect example of the system in place, working like the perfect virus to keep it alive.”
It’s obvious to me why I hesitated. It’s because of the fear of what calling out anything or anyone about racism can do. Do to my personal relationships, to my reputation, to my business. I’m pretty anxious now, writing this, knowing that there will certainly be some people that negatively judge me for it.
That fear. The visceral feeling of fear, providing me with adrenaline as I type, is a perfect example of the system in place, working like the perfect virus to keep it alive. A system built on white supremacy that BLM is trying to tear down.
People that I respect might get offended by this.
Friends of mine might be hurt.
My own fear of taking up the space of Black people could move from fear to truth.
A slight fear that the (I’m guessing) non-leadership person looking after their insta will get in trouble, unfairly IMO.
Individuals and organisations will think I’m ‘too much’ or was wrong to name and judge me for this so choose to not work with me.
I’ll be criticised and no one will support me.
It could end the business we’ve tried to set up TBFH.
A lot of genuine fear, anxiety and unknowns. And then some. Recognise it?
A note. I suspect there are now a few internal conversations happening about this which is also a valid reason to hesitate. Perhaps they have done lots of work and had many conversations in support of BLM but as far as I am aware that is not the case. I’m not privy to firsthand internal communications; I write on the true experiences and facts that I have witnessed.
What can we learn?
Fear is not enough reason to say nothing. These are some of my reasons why in this instance:
Actions speak louder than words. In order to make real change, we have to challenge everything we know and have been taught, maybe even the people we love. That’s uncomfortable. And fear is a big part of that discomfort; it’s partly what holds a racist society in place. I can’t tell anyone that follows me or that I speak to that ‘We need action’, or to ‘Push past the fear’ without doing it myself.
There is strength in numbers. We are stronger together. Maybe if I speak up, others will do too, in their own organisations or in their own spaces.
Companies must be authentic in this space. I mean truthful, honest, real, considered, genuine. Unfortunately, all too often they are not. To stop those words from meaning absolutely nothing to you, it’s useful to use this as an example of why. Here’s a company’s talent attraction page trying to attract talent. Maybe trying to attract Black talent and other POC, maybe just thoughtlessly thinking, ‘We should post too’. Either way they are explicitly representing that they care about Black people and implying that they care about their Black employees - “Come work for us - we care.” Deleting the post implies that, right now, they don’t - they care more about the optics. So, what happens when Black talent is hired? Organisations that do this are setting people up for a negative, sometimes traumatic, experience. And what about their Black employees? How do you think they feel? This is wrong on so many levels.
Brands have major influence and therefore a responsibility. Many people today are reflecting, listening and genuinely wanting to stand with their Black friends, colleagues, classmates and neighbours, perhaps for the first time. For me, any positive impact from this movement is underpinned by education and discussion, by reflection and unlearning. Honest discussion is a must, along with educating ourselves. In ignoring honest comments or discussions, or by deleting posts in panic you are literally stopping the movement in its tracks.
It is not the job of Black people to educate us. If a Black person chooses to speak up, often in spite of her fears, in spite of her traumatic experiences, we need to listen and learn, in gratitude for the emotional labour she has invested. You don’t get to delete her voice because it’s made you uncomfortable, has put you out or it’s made your brand look bad. If anything, you’ve been given a platform to learn following your own outreach, but instead of learning you’ve traumatised again. And as an aside, we certainly don’t get to critique Black people or any POC on what they’ve said or how they’ve said it when they share their experiences of racism. How they choose to tell you is their choice and you don’t get to tell them how it should be done. It’s called tone-policing. You can google it.
Introspection and reflection are both vital. If you, like me, are not Black we are merely jumping on a bandwagon if we don’t also act. Reflection has to be part of this action. A few questions to start... What are you doing to support Black communities or your Black employees, partners, suppliers? How much of your time, money and energy are you willing to invest in support of Black Lives Matter? Where does your discomfort come from? Who makes up your circle of influence in and out of work? What do I notice about all of this? What am I going to do about it?
We can’t be afraid of making mistakes or being wrong. This is what I’m most disappointed about here I think. I know that companies make mistakes, just like I have many times and just like so many others. In doing the work needed to be anti-racist, we all have to accept and be prepared that we’ll continue to make mistakes. That’s how we learn, right? We know this. The books say it. The TED Talks say it. We say it to our children. If we’re not willing to respond to these mistakes, to apologise, to listen, to plan and to make change then things won’t ever get better.
Keep learning
There is much, much more to learn and more to reflect upon for all of us. These are my thoughts that I’m choosing to share now. I believe it to be the right thing to do and that’s why I’m doing it. These thoughts are built upon what I’ve experienced and from what I’ve personally learned from others.
My resources for learning often come from the work of others. These include Aja Barber, Rachel Cargle, Anny Ma, Hayley Bennett, Cephas Williams, Salma El Wardany, Munroe Bergdorf, Sereena Abbassi and Akama Davies. You may want to follow them and others who offer lots of resources and information.
To Leaders - I implore you to think about the values of your organisation and whether or not you are being true to them, as well as what you can genuinely do in the form of action, to support #BlackLivesMatter. It is not a trend. If you’re not standing up against racism, then you are part of the problem.
I’m sharing this personal and powerful video from Abi Adamson, posted on LinkedIn last week, if you would like to hear more from someone other than me. Please watch if you haven’t already.
To Dennis - If I’m wrong and I’ve completely missed the mark and you are doing lots in true support, then again, it would be great to hear more about it. My intention isn’t to shame; I hope that this brings about positive change for the people there and within the place I used to love. I and I'm sure many others, want it to be better.
NB. At the time of hitting publish [Monday 8th June], neither I or my former colleague have seen or heard any official response from Dennis Publishing. In addition, I am not aware of any internal response or dialogue contrary to the sentiment of this article - albeit, I wholly accept that I do not have the whole story.
About me
My name is Elaine dela Cruz and I am the Co-founder of Project 23. We help organisations create inclusive cultures and our mission is to make workplaces fairer, happier and more productive.
If you would like to share any feedback with me then please do either here or to elaine@project23works.com.