I am recording this episode in light of George Floyd's murder and the ensuing much-needed and long overdue rise of conversations about racism.
I acknowledge my failure and I recognise that in my lack of action to be anti-racist, and my ignorance, I've been complicit. I am sorry.
I believe that if we want to build our platforms, and in doing so be leaders, we don’t get to choose to sit out when it doesn’t suit us. We can’t have it both ways.
And by staying silent, whether it's because we are worried about saying the wrong thing, believe it has nothing to do with us or don’t want to offend people who don’t agree, we are propping up the systematic injustice that prevails.
In the words of Desmond Tutu - "if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you are choosing the side of the oppressor".
I know I have a lifetime of learning ahead and that this learning is urgent.
Here are some people and resources that are already teaching me a lot:
Business educator Rachel Rodgers' Instagram Live - later shared as an IGTV (click here for the link) about creating safe spaces online for Black people and true allyship.
This Instagram post (click here for the link) written by anti-racism educator Monique Melton about an alternative approach to sharing a black square on our social media - i.e. sharing the voices of Black people.
10 Steps To Non-Optical Allyship (click here to read) by writer Mireille Cassandra Harper, shared with permission on Vogue.
This article from ABC News Australia "Australia had its own George Floyd moment, only it passed without international outrage" (click here for the link)
This blog post: Being Actively Anti-Racist by The Equality Institute (click here for the link). Within this blog post are lists of books, podcasts, activists, petitions and organisations that I'll be reading, listening to, signing, donating to and supporting.
I commit to making my business safe for all people and to practicing true allyship; to doing the work, listening to and amplifying the voices of Black people, donating, calling out inaction and injustice, and educating myself to make this a reality.
I welcome conversation and correction.
With humility, Emily
