We Can, We Will, We Must.

Hundreds of emails probably pop up when you search for “unprecedented” in your inbox. And sure, the global COVID-19 pandemic was (and continues to be) unprecedented. We haven’t contributed to the corona-coaster noise because we don’t want to join the clutter about these “strange and uncertain times”.

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers? There are hundreds of years of precedent for that.

This incident (and many others) are consequences of the racist and prejudiced systems that marginalize and repress people because of their skin colour. 

While our newsletter is always a team effort, this seemed like a time when a comment from our partnership team is appropriate: 

“I grew up with absolutely every door open to me and then I walked through them with ease because of the privilege my whiteness provides. I'm gay, and while my parents were annoyed that the girl who was living in their basement as my room-mate was actually my girlfriend, my coming out was close to painless. 

I've never felt unsafe. I've never been denied anything I wanted or needed. I've floated through the world with ease and while I've perhaps been a compassionate thinker, I've never been a doer. This inaction makes me complicit in racial inequality and I am committed to doing better. I will be listening, learning, growing, and actively supporting from now on.” - Jen

“My coming out was a little bit more difficult than Jen's, but as a white woman, I've still had a far easier road than people of colour. When I walk in the world, my only moments of discomfort come from the unpleasant looks I'll get sometimes while wearing a suit on the way to a speaking engagement. I get looks but not words because I'm white. I know I benefit from this privilege.

While I've spoken up about a lack of diversity before, I haven't taken as much concrete action as I should have. Diversity is more than making sure that there is equal gender representation on a speaking stage. I too will be listening, learning, growing, and actively supporting from now on.” - Dana

Silence is not an option. Inaction is not an option. 

All of us need to learn more and do more. Not just today or for the next few weeks, but for always. This list will grow, but here is what we are starting with right now:

1. Ongoing monthly donation to the Centre for Race and Culture
The work of CFRAC is grounded in the issues, concerns, and strengths in the community as they seek to achieve their vision of creating an inclusive society free of racism.

2. Ongoing monthly donation to the Grassroots Law Project 
Every dollar donated to the Grassroots Law Project goes toward helping get justice for families and radically reforming the American legal system.

3. Ongoing training for our team
It’s one thing to write “we’re an equal opportunity employer” on About pages and job postings, and another thing entirely to actually commit to learning about racial inequality and helping change happen. We’re starting with these, but need to add more.

• Tori Glass states that “white people need a job in fixing the disparities that they disproportionately benefit from. But you can’t start a job without training. That’s why I decided to create White Homework.” We are going to learn from the homework lessons she has developed.
   
• Many teams want to engage in anti-racism, but don’t know where to start. Monique Melton developed an Anti-Racism crash course that teaches what it is, where to start, and common mistakes to avoid.
   
• Naheyawin is an agency here in Edmonton that offers sustainable, practical, Indigenous-based solutions for the improvement of diversity and inclusion in businesses, organizations and institutions through interactive workshop sessions, equity audits, and public engagement design and facilitation. Our team is going to participate in this awareness course.

4. Required reading and team discussions
It feels a bit light hearted to call this a book club, but that’s what this is for our team. And hopefully soon we can do this together in our office and be fuelled by double pepperoni pizza and cactus cuts!

We’re starting with the first book on the list which we will discuss via Zoom on July 16th. After that first discussion, we will decide on an appropriate and achievable reading and discussion schedule for us to keep up with.

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
• Roadmap for Revolutionaries by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson
• The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole

We aren’t stopping at the end of this list, this is just our starting point.

5. Continued commitment to thoroughly vetting potential clients and partners
Sometimes we simply don’t align with an organization because of conflicting timing or a mismatch of needs and skills. Other times, after doing a deeper dive into a leadership team’s makeup, value statements, and history/reputation, we choose to walk away because our values do not align. We will never make concessions in this regard.

6. Amplify more BIPOC voices
In 2020, we’ve tweeted four times. Twice about our own blog posts and twice about weird stuff in our homes that we discovered when we first started working from home at the start of the pandemic. Not exactly earth shattering stuff. 

Historically, we’ve taken social media a bit slower during the summer months because there are usually less of us around as we all meander in and out of the office for vacations. There’s often less content to share as well, but this summer (and from now on) we aim to deliver content that helps make change in the world in addition to helping you make positive changes to your digital marketing.
 

Learn

In addition to delivering a very powerful statement this week, Ben & Jerry's has been working on important content for years. Here is a post titled 7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism is Real from 2016.

White leaders: here’s what you should do now.

Become a better ally by reading the titles on this great list of anti-racist literature. 

Listen to ‘1619,’ a Podcast on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling.

On the local front, Bashir Mohamed has created an Edmonton-specific Anti-Black Racism Tool Kit for Edmontonians to better understand systemic Anti-Black racism and policing issues.

At 3:45pm EST this Saturday, Anjuan Simmons will be giving a free talk on lending privilege to underrepresented groups in tech.

Support

In the words of Linda Hoang; “if you are able to donate, your donation does not need to be a big amount to make a difference. It's about doing what you can—and that might look a bit different for everyone, but the point is, at least you should try.” 

Help keep Black historical sites and museums alive, so that they can continue educating and sharing their stories.

Elevate Black businesses whenever (and wherever) you can. 

Read, listen, learn, and donate.