0
0
I recently sat down and took inventory of my areas of influence: Where can I take concrete action, no matter how small, not just to promote diversity but to actively make spaces diverse? Which platforms could I use, in my own way, to Speak Up in the name of racial equity? Where can I create opportunity? How can I ensure that no one is being excluded, intentionally or unintentionally, and that opportunities are reaching everyone?
I’m sharing this list because lots of people I know–white Americans just now realizing how deep systemic racism runs–are wondering where, in their daily lives, they can make a real difference. Doing this exercise made me realize that there are areas where I could be doing something I hadn’t thought of before.
BOARD-LEVEL INFLUENCE
As President of the Frederick Chapter of Maryland Writers’ Association, I already have been intentionally ensuring that our programming be diverse, and will continue to do so. I also sit on the long-range planning committee. Starting later this month, we will be addressing representation, diversity, and support of all communities. The committee is chaired by a Black woman, so I don’t need to be thinking about inclusion on the committee! I already speak up in this space when necessary, and won’t hesitate to do so again in the future.
CHAIR, SILENT AUCTION COMMITTEE, MIDDLE SCHOOL THEATRE ARTS DEPT
I had not thought about it before now, but I have the ability to make sure that we are consciously reaching out to BIPOC businesses during silent auction season. I can approach BIPOC businesses about donating products/services so they get the exposure and future business; and I can add those businesses to the signup genius that we use to suggest gift cards and products that parents can buy and donate. Now that I’ve taken a minute to give it conscious thought, I have this tangible way to reach out to the local BIPOC business community.
SCHOLARSHIP JUDGE
I serve as a scholarship judge within a non-profit organization. I already add impression points based on areas of study that I believe will have a positive impact on society, or based on diversity that shines through in an essay. I have no control over mechanics scores–people either get the spelling, punctuation, form, etc., correct or not. Impression is where I can give a boost. Our essays go through multiple scoring rounds, so no one judge has complete control over any single candidate’s score, but I can make sure an essay stays in the running even when the grammar score is low.
Since I have experience in judging scholarships, I arranged to host a free fall scholarship essay workshop at our local library, in my capacity as President of the Frederick Chapter of MWA. While doing this exercise, though, I realized that the library where I’m hosting the workshop is not where various groups are most underrepresented in our county. I now realize I should reach out and offer a second workshop to another library, perhaps the one within the city of Frederick (or even outside of my MWA Frederick area). (I will reach out when the library system resumes normal operations and programming (COVID-19).)
BLOG
I have this blog. It’s not a wide-audience blog, but when you put something out on the web, it stays out there. And so, I can publicly add my voice in support of Black Lives Matter. I can participate in the pursuit of racial equity. I can write posts about speaking up, to encourage others to do so. I can amplify the voices of others.
So that’s what I’ll be doing here.
GIRL SCOUTS
As one of my daughter’s troop leaders, I can continue to promote equality. I’ll start to actively seek out, for our troop members, volunteer opportunities that support marginalized communities. I’ve never seen inequality surface in the troop itself–we just need to keep instilling the value of equality.
As a member of the service team, I can make sure we continue to actively consider inclusion. This position is new to me. I’ll have to research what demographics we have in our region and whether we are reaching everyone.
AUTHORSHIP
In the past, I’ve donated books to a local homeless shelter. In thinking about my areas of influence, though, I’m going to reach out to do free readings in lower-funded schools and take free books for the kids. (I also realized that I can record an adult reading of The Time Flash Had the Best Day Ever for youtube, explaining how not realizing the same situation is affecting someone differently lines up with systemic racism: no frame of reference to even realize something was off, then realizing, then hoping for better days for everyone–not just for oneself. I’ll do that soon.) I have given copies of that book, which is half wordless, to immigrants with children–I’ll more actively look at where I could reach out to ESL/ELL communities with readings.
SOCIAL MEDIA
I’m already using social media to promote inclusion and support marginalized voices. I’LL DO IT LOUDER NOW.
WRITER
I was writing for a local newspaper, the Urbana Town Courier, until it suspended operations. I tried to highlight marginalized voices when given the chance. I wish the paper were still operating so I could be covering local BLM events. I need to figure out what kind of Letter to the Editor I could write about racial equity and send it to the Frederick News-Post. I just haven’t thought of a topic.
ESL INSTRUCTOR
Aside from obviously having an impact on the immigrant community, one thing I did in one of my classrooms, was teach students what they’d hear on the streets. I was supposed to teach the grammar from the text so they could pass exams, but my evening students usually weren’t on student visas learning English like most day students–for some, their employers were paying for them to learn English so that they could communicate at work.
For example, once I was teaching He/Him, I/Me, etc. We were learning “He and I went to the store” and one student noticed that the examples of what’s incorrect grammar included “Me and him went to the store.” The student was like waaaait a minute, Americans say this all the time! I would explain standard English they needed to know for the test as well as spoken English that people would actually use around them. While the goal of my employer was to have students pass tests and work their way through the courses, my goal was to have students thrive in the community.
(In that example, there was no particular decision I made, except that I went into it wanting people to thrive, not wanting people to pass tests–my metric was not test results but thriving.)
PAST HIRING POWER
I once owned a small business. I’ll tell you: I’m not cut out for competing against government contracting businesses; I’m not cutthroat. I do not suggest the following as a good business decision–just as an example of how to find creative ways to uplift.
I was interviewing candidates for office support: an admin position that would include receptionist duties, bookkeeping, etc. It was down to two women: one white woman who appeared to have all of the qualifications and experience required, and a young Black woman who was not at all qualified but whom I liked, and whose story was amazing to me. She’d had a baby in high school. She’d saved up $10,000 to start her own beauty salon. She tried but failed at that and now she had to get a job. She had an amazing attitude and I could see she had work ethic; I was so impressed that she had saved up that money and tried to start a business, that I couldn’t get her out of my head.
I couldn’t feasibly hire her to do what the job required. I decided to split it into two part-time positions (still offering health insurance), with her as a receptionist and the other woman doing other admin support. I then sent the young woman to training classes so that she could build her education and experience. Eventually, I lost a contract and had to lay her off. I’ve never had someone show so much grace in the face of being let go.
Anyway, it wasn’t the best business decision for me (it cost me in overhead, training, and carrying health insurance on two people instead of one), but I felt it was the best thing to do at the time and I have never regretted it. I was happy to see, years later, that she DID get to start her own salon.
In that position, I also, instead of spending marketing money on advertisements, spent it on scholarship contests that were promoted for free. So, my advertising budget was actually providing scholarship money to students studying Arabic. I’ve always tried to find ways to intersect what’s practical with what will provide opportunity. I do the same in all of my positions: how can I make this benefit more than one person/group/organization/cause?
Anyway, those are some of the ways that I’ve been able to provide opportunities in the past, what I’m doing now, and some things I’ve realized, through this exercise, that I can do in the future. What areas of influence do you have? Is there anything you can be doing to make sure your spaces aren’t all white?
