5 Things / how far we've come

This time last year, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, many Americans began to understand the depth of racial inequities and many organizations released statements and made commitments towards racial justice. 

The news this week was full of stories holding companies accountable for those racial equity commitments. The short version is that there are a lot of unfulfilled commitments and the real work must be to address structural inequities


Yeah, it's really, really slow and there are lots of unfulfilled commitments, and there should be outrage. But we never really thought this was going to be quick, did we? We're still moving forward.

Right?

2020 was the year that conversations about race happened at work more than ever before. As a DEI firm, we began to work with more organizations who were willing to have these conversations. In our focus groups with employees across industries, there's no mistaking that Black folks reported a lower sense of belonging. There's some serious distrust. We're still a long way from racial justice, and every single one of us has a role to play in changing that story.

So yes, there's a long way to go, but we should still celebrate how far we've come
. Here are some really big wins from the past year:

These stories matter because they're mostly about creating more Black equity. They're about providing more money and opportunity to Black-owned businesses. They're about ways to ultimately reduce the racial wealth gap. That's what matters.

A year ago, I began to better understand how I benefited from my whiteness. I wrote an essay called "It's Not My Fault" that seemed to resonate with folks. It might click with you.

Image by: Medium

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