Well-intentioned colleague: ‘Hi Aghogho, Hope you’re well?’

Me: *a short pause* ‘Hey, actually no…not well considering the racial injustice in the world’

Accurate depictions of my emotions over the past two weeks would certainly include words like, ‘traumatized’, ‘triggered’ and ‘distressed’. An unexpectedly, overwhelming rapid roller-coaster through the Kübler-Ross Model of Grief.

You see, as a black person, you grow accustomed to being seen as ‘less than’ in a world that centres white people. You learn to repress the feelings of sadness, despair and anger derived from the injustice and inequality in the world.

And then a black man’s murder is televised and the awareness that this could have been your brother, your father, your uncle is a grim, harsh reminder of your position in society. Suddenly harrowing emotions of pain and anguish which you are unprepared for resurfaces and you are reminded that you are forced to participate in a life-long fight you never chose, simply because you were born black.

For black people, the sad truth is the system was never built for us. Following our freedom from overt slavery, we were told to go forth as free individuals and expected to perform at the same level as our white counterparts yet covertly enslaved through obstacles in forms of hiring discrimination, police brutality, racial profiling and education to name a few.

These covert forms of racism tendencies are often refuted and this can be attributed to Cognitive Dissonance — a term coined by Leon Festinger. The issue here is that people prefer to lean into the privilege of perceiving the World as ‘fair and just’ primarily due to a lived experience thus rejecting volumes of evidence pointing to the contrary as this contradicts a cherished image of one’s virtue and morality.

Unfortunately, racism is prevalent in most people. This is not meant as a controversial statement nor an attack but more as a call for reflection in what ways have you used your privileges to proactively tackle racism.

The pyramid below depicts the more agreed form of racism compared to the regular covert form experienced by black people on a regular basis.

This got me thinking about where we need to shift the dial. The two key areas that stood out to me were the school curriculum and workplace.

Conversations with my white peers and counterparts reveal that black history is neglected in the British curriculum completely ignoring the history of a large group of the British population after over 400 years of fighting for equal rights. This, for me, puts the systemic ignorance of people into perspective.

My call to action for parents reading this is to pay closer attention to the diversity of cultural understanding of your children and to take greater accountability and the necessary action in talking to your children about race. This is a crucial step in raising expressively anti-racist children.

My next area of reflection was the workplace and how it accounts for 90,000 hours or one-third of an average person’s lifetime. Since the majority of our lives is absorbed by work — equality here is necessary.

My personal experience as a black woman at work is a tendency to take a step back and to not be too vocal for fear of perpetuating the ‘angry black woman’ myth. Notice I stated myth as this trope is a stereotype created by white supremacy to further marginalize black women. Many black people are constrained into repressing their authentic selves in order to fit into predefined societal standards. This needs to change.

Below, I have outlined 3 key ways in which organisations can adequately support their black employees.

1. Normalize race conversations

As highlighted above, the past few days for most black people have been mentally and physically agonizing. Having to show up in meetings pretending like everything is fine is in essence inhumane.

Luckily, I work within a team that actively lives our values, which I encourage organisations to emulate.

‘We strive to be the change we want to see in the world. Talk is cheap, for us actually doing wins every time.’

In response to the black lives matter movement, the AIE London team is currently driving a few key initiatives around racial diversity and inclusion, both sponsored by senior mgmt. Two key areas include; plans for an ideation session with our BAME network and senior mgmt. centred around ‘how to amplify black voices in a professional setting’. The ambition of being able to scale largely involving voices from activists and external partners to drive real value. In addition to committing to crowdfund for a cause chosen by the black members of the team,

Sadly, the support I’ve received is not reflective of most of my black peers. For some, work operates as normal when for us, normal is the very thing we yearn to be free from.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that we are interconnected as a human race. Therefore the burden of a black man killed should not just be a ‘black person’s problem’. On countless occasions over the past few days, I have observed the awkward silence evident during discussion surrounding the afflictions on black people. More critical thinking is required on why this is the case. The topic of human rights should not be a political conversation but a human one.

When did my basic human civil rights become political?

Please understand that if you feel uncomfortable speaking about racism, imagine what it is like to be black living in a systematically racist society where you are discriminated against simply for existing. Silence makes you complicit in the injustice of black people. White and non-black allies are important as we live in a world where these voices are deemed more palatable.

2. Microaggressions Awareness

microaggression

/mʌɪkrəʊəˈɡrɛʃ(ə)n/

noun

a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority.

A few examples of my personal experience of microaggressions at work include; touching my hair with zero consent, remarks such as ‘you sound so articulate’ or ‘you don’t sound black’. See here for additional examples of microaggressions phrases and actions to be consciously aware of.

The Power of racial microaggressions lies in their invisibility to the perpetrator — Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D

Education is a necessary step for dismantling microaggressions experienced by employees. On the rare occasion that a black person has the courage to vocalise a microaggression, believe them. Listen and make a mental note not to repeat going forwards. A major part of this will be finding out about what you don’t know, internalising what you’ve learned and having open, frank conversations to unravel your false internalised beliefs.

3. Representation Matters

Discussions concerning the importance of black people in senior managerial positions are not new, so why does the issue persist? As a black person, you are informed you need to work ‘twice as hard’ further highlighting a racial privilege not afforded to black people. Organisations tend to rely on referral schemes and, with the workforce of predominantly white descent, this does little to advance the race gap at work. There is a dire need to reevaluate the unconscious bias that overshadows black people afforded senior leadership positions.

According to official ethnicity facts and figures from The UK Annual Population Survey 2018, the report shows that the black ethnic group has the lowest percentage of workers in managerial positions at 5%.

Having individuals in seniority roles inspires you to find a voice. Speaking from personal experience, I recognize my privilege of having a Nigerian-British male and a Chinese-Canadian female in directorial positions, as both managers and mentors. As a Nigerian-Welsh female, I can attest to the confidence boost provided by my representative role models, making the dream of advancing my career in the tech field an attainable reach.

Collaborating with Black employee networks such as BYP Network is a great way to access top black talent. Additionally, partnering up with charities such as CodeYourFuture, a charity who trains refugees and other underprivileged individuals as developers, is a major step in bridging the race and inequality divide.

We have the opportunity to transform the narrative. 2020 is a year of awakening and the COVID-19 pandemic has afforded time to pause, listen and learn. Please remember change is only possible through taking action in understanding your contribution to the problem.

This is a marathon and not a sprint.

Finally, let’s take a journey to a Utopian workplace

Imagine…a workplace where diversity and inclusion were not just words used to fill an active inclusion quota but enabled with a clearly articulated mission statement and vision with actions evident through non-discriminatory policies on race, gender, sexuality and disability. Individuals represented and freely empowered to perform as their authentic selves and the workplace truly champions this through the availability of resources to aid support.

What if I told you this workplace could exist should the right actions be taken to create this utopia together…

Special thanks to:

Priscilla Li: Your kindness, humility and leadership is unparalleled. I am inspired by your natural dexterity in making everyone around you feel special. Thank you for believing in me and being an inspirational role model through action. People like you are a rarity and it is a huge privilege to work within your team.

Dapo Adekola: I am continually inspired by your work ethic, drive and meticulousness. Thank you for empowering me early on in my career to find my voice. Till this day, I refer back to a philosophical question you posed early on during our mentoring chats: ‘If a tree falls in the forest but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’. During moments when doubts creep in, I am reminded that my voice is important as a black woman, to be unafraid to speak about my work and to never dim my light to make others comfortable.

Actionable ways to help:

Education

Why I am no longer talking to White People about Race — Reni Eddo-Lodge

Me and White Supremacy — Layla F Saad

Natives — Akala

White Fragility — Robin DiAngelo

Petitions

History of imperialism and colonialism

Update GSCE Reading Lists

Mandatory Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting

Donate

The Black Curriculum

Black Lives Matter

BYP Network

Stephen Lawrence trust

Black Minds Matter

A call for action on centring black voices in the workplace was originally published in CodeYourFuture on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.