Michele: 

Hello, everybody, thank you so much for joining us. This is Michele Heyward. And KC Atha, we are here again talking about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging today. And we are in the very beginning of Black History Month 2021. And we’re going to revisit one definition we talked about in 2020. And really talk about the progression of some people in 2021 and beyond. And what does that look like? So we’re talking abolitionists or ally? Which one are you? Because you may think it is over high, you may think it is over, meaning. The presidential elections over things are back, somewhat normal, even though we’re in the midst of a pandemic, I want to challenge you on that. I really am. Because systemic racism has not been dismantled. So there is still much more work to do. And so let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about ally, because we’ve talked about it before. And let’s revisit that KC and and talk about the definition of ally.

KC: 

All right. So in the past, we’ve talked about ally as an acronym. So we said, you have to have awareness, you have to listen, you have to learn and then you have to say yes to action. So that’s just a real quick recap of what ally a Ll y stands for and how we’ve talked about it in the past. So when Michelle texted me and said, I got this great idea for abolitionist or ally for LinkedIn live, I got excited. But then I also got a little confused, because I was like, Hmm, I could see myself identifying as both. And is this either or thinking, What’s the nuance here, but I was intrigued. So we’re coming to you with this conversation and just anchoring in Yes, we talked about ally ship before. And now we’re going to kind of get into some more nuances around what what is an ally? And what is the spectrum of ally ship? And how does it morph or evolve? Or what are the approaches?

Michele: 

Exactly. So I’m gonna read something just just so you can really reflect on where you are, as a non black person, and ally ship. And just focus really specifically on the 28 days in February for Black History Month, at some point over the next 25 days. someone in your family and our social social circle circle, will say one of the following things. I think Black History Month is reverse racism. Why isn’t there a white History Month, this month only create more division. All months matter. If you find yourself in one of these conversations, it is your job to look at them in the eyes. Take a deep breath and respond as an ally should now what your response should be, is up to you. But it should be in response to how it is not reverse rate racism. How white history US history is white history. Because if they looked at Black History, none of that is learned in US history in none of the US education system. public school systems especially. And how does it create division? Seriously, cuz you’re learning real history? And really question and start trying to educate and have a conversation around it. If you are truly an ally, if you remain quiet, you’re not you’re reverting back to your 2019 self, which we we already know. So we’re not surprised. We will be surprised by more people who respond. So. So that’s what we’re looking for. When we talk about ally. Now, KC, and I disagree on what an abolitionist was, and I want to reflect on just a perspective of slavery. And this is how I before I get there, I want you to talk about how did you define abolitionists?

KC:

Okay, so when this text message came through, I was like, Huh, I can see both being important because I see them sort of differently. I see ally ship as sort of like we live in an oppressive system, how are we going to be allies and survive this and work forward towards a day where we are in liberation and upholding a liberation in an equitable world. So to me that’s ally ship. It’s like, we in it and we’re in it together. of abolitionists is looking at this In saying, how do we blow this up so that we don’t even need to be allies? Because we’re already in liberation, and we’re upholding liberation and equity. So to me, abolitionists are more about, like, what systems and status quo are we blowing up? And what are we putting in place of that that works for all of us? And how do we uphold it? So to me, I was very, like structural and then in the liberation space, and that’s what abolitionists in my mind was focused on. An ally ship was just sort of like, and this is our reality, and how do we how do we lock arms?

Michele: 

And, and so I said to her, let’s go back to slavery. If you are a white plantation owner, and you say, I am, I don’t I don’t shackle my slaves. I treat them as humans, because they are my property. Okay, are you an ally. However, an abolitionist will say, enslaving black people is wrong. I have created methodologies, and processes, known as an underground railroad to help them be free to hide them on my property so they can get their freedom papers and escape to the north. And abolitionists risked their life, they risk their property, they risk their status in their community. And when you think about abolitionists, to ally, right, you may treat somebody Well, you may speak up for them. But how much risk are you putting of yourself to that person, so I’m going to share, share a document in the chat, I want all of you to take a look at it, because it really shows the trans position or path, you can travel on a rate what it calls a racism scale. So going from white Savior, on the far left to what you would say is an abolitionist to the far right. So if you go to this website on Weebly is stacked on top of each other, even though it’s supposed to be linear, it’s really stacked on top of each other. But what you really want to notice is really the differences between at the bottom section in the right, where what the differences are between an ally, and abolitionists? And is the risk you’re willing to take the amount of risk you’re willing to take? And are you that person? Are you willing? And how much are you willing to risk? Because it definitely puts a different perspective on your willingness to help sustain the current system of racism as well as your willingness to dismantle systemic racism. And so you really need to understand who you are as a person, and what you are and are not willing to do. And I get this often I’ve heard this before for white women, well, I don’t have power. You do. And I say this in a way. Emmett Till was murdered because a white woman said he did something what whistled at her, which he did not he was 14 years old. That is power. And so you have to understand to leverage the influence the power that you have, no matter what it is, if you’re an ally, then at the same time, how much of that of yourself of your social status of your wealth of your personal currency and even your in life, are you willing to sacrifice to dismantle racism. And so this is not a decision you’re going to make today. But this is a decision that you need to be making over the next few days, the next few months, if you are seriously going to be a part of dismantling racism. And it is gradual and absolute steps you’re going to take. It is going to be a complete thought process, you will be stressed the hell out. But guess what, there’ll be days and there’ll be times that you will say, you know what, I can do this, I will do this, I have no other choice. And you have to decide. At some point in time, you’re going to get to that pivotal point on whether you’re going to return to the same place of 2019 or you’re going to go through that 2020 and keep moving forward into what it is So as we’ve always said, when it comes to dismantling what is that narrow place, you’re going to be as the abolition is that you’re going to rest. Is it going to be healthcare? Is it going to be education? Is it going to be politics and how people are blocking votes? Right? Right, they’re throwing removing people from ballots. They’re, they’re making sure they don’t have a way to plug in voting, voting booths,
no extension cords, they short the number of machines voting machines, they reduce the number of vote, polling places, they close down state licensing or government issued facilities. They’re making they it’s mandated that you have a government issued ID to vote. So really look and understand where you’re going to work either as an ally, or an abolitionist, in dismantling racism. Or maybe you won’t, maybe you will go back to the world you lived in in 2019, where you didn’t know the United States of America was racist, and you will go back to the one of the other Americas, but for some of us, the change has come, the movement is now and we will continue to push forward. And so I encourage you to understand the risk he will take is much greater as abolitionists. And you may be fine with going back to the person you were at 2019. Or you may be okay with being an ally, or you are working towards being an abolitionist. But that is a personal decision you have to make. So KC, your thoughts

KC: 

on I love all the things you said I’m gonna plus one, two, picking your lane. I have chosen my lane to be working in organizations. So I, I do think I’m an activist that works towards change. And what that looks like for me is change and liberation and giving rise to equity in organizations. And so when I talk to organizations, I have a very similar conversation to what Michelle just highlighted, which is risk assessment. I talked to them about three levels, you got your life, are you willing to give your life up, make meaning in an organization? Are you willing to spend your money and upset if you’re, I work with a lot of nonprofits. So are you willing to upset the system to your grantors, your sub grantees, etc. and say we’re going to now move into a more equitable way of showing up in our work. And maybe, depending on that situation, you may lose funding, you may lose contracts, you may lose partnerships. Why? Because you’re gonna you’re intentionally deciding to show up and move in a different way. So that his livelihood at the organizational level, and the personal level, are you willing to put your life on the line? Okay, so that’s the parallel, then the second thing that I talked about, okay? Maybe not in all lanes, you’re willing to give up your life. But maybe you’re going to give up your livelihood? What does that look like in our personal life, that means resigning, that means writing a letter that where you may get fired for this, that means putting yourself out there and sharing your story, even though you may not get hired at the next place? because now you’re going to be construed as a troublemaker, even though you were just speaking truth to power. Hello. So there’s all sorts of things where it’s like, Am I willing to disrupt the system in this organization and lose my position because I’m in middle management, and I have more power than the people who directly report to me, so I’m going to put myself on the line. And maybe I’m going to lose my job, or I’m not going to get that promotion or now, you know, I’m going to make the executive director uncomfortable. You know, so we don’t know, but that’s your livelihood. And then the least extreme is just discomfort, saying yes to discomfort. I’m willing to be uncomfortable at this dinner table, because I’m going to speak up for justice and equity, and liberation, or I’m willing to be uncomfortable in this meeting. Because I’m going to say the thing that needs to be said for my colleague or for myself or for the bigger picture of justice or inequity or working against depression. So those are the three levels that sort of coincide with this amazing link that Michelle shared here, which I’m going to say thank you so much, Michelle, this is awesome. So I love to think about this spectrum. I love to think about which lane Am I in? And which spheres of influence Am I a part of, and that’s how I map and assess how I’m going to show up on this spectrum of ally ship to abolitionist.

Michele: 

I want to add I don’t I can’t even take credit for having found this. I’m tagging my recruiter, one of my employees. She was like and I was telling her about the topic. She was like, I have the perfect Graphic for this, she’s like, I saw it on Facebook, she’s, I will send it to you, she literally went to face after our meeting this morning, downloaded it from Facebook uploaded it to, to to our Slack channel. And I went and found the link for it. So because it’s really, really important to understand where you are, where the people in your life are, as well, and I know we talked about we talked about leaving places, and oftentimes people think going out and having your own business will help solve this, to a certain degree, yes, I had a discussion with someone who is looking to get investment in their company. And the investors had an issue with their political stance. So understand entrepreneurship, being a business owner would not necessarily remove you because the system still there. Right, the system is still there, you’re still fighting it, whether you’re an employee, or a small business owner or entrepreneur, founder, you will still get it, whether it’s from customers, investors, and employees there other people that are still are not going to love or like or even tolerate the change you’re trying to make. So that’s why I say you really are going to take some really hard, deep look at really, if you’re going to go from ally, if that’s really where you are. To abolitionists, it is not an easy decision. But I can tell you from even from the civil rights movement, when Freedom Riders came to the south, not all of them went home. But the change they were fighting for, then eventually it happened. Has it moved past where it should be in the last 50 plus years? No. But they knew the risk of coming to the south, as I sit here in South Carolina, and what could happen to them? Are you willing to take that risk? And so think about it. And so everybody was talking about Bernie, at the inauguration, it is a picture of him and a black woman sitting in front of a police car in the road. Are you think about what you would never have known who Bernie Sanders was had that police car kept driving board, because remember this, this is back in the movement, this is back in the 50s and 60s, crushed because he was sitting on the ground, grill straight and ahead, you would never have known who he was, is that the risks you’re willing to take. So I use slavery, but civil rights movements still had average people that were putting their absolute lives on the line. So we’re going to end that for here today, I noticed a very heavy, heavy topic. But it’s truly important to understand where an ally is. And there’s still more work to do. If you go to that far spectrum to the right as abolitionists, because we think is history, guess what? We live history. We live history every single moment. What will they say about you? in the future? Right. So All right, everybody. KC, Final Thoughts?

KC: 

No,I mean, what can I add to that? Nothing, just plus one agree. And I just challenge everyone to self assess, choose a lane and do the work and when it feels hard. Don’t give up because it is hard. And we need you in this arena with us.

Michele: 

Absolutely, absolutely. So we’re not saying being an ally is wrong. And ally sakes action by the abolitionists is sacrifice. So All right, everybody, we will be back. I have a special guest probably next week, Thursday, I’m scheduling something. So stay tuned. If you’re a part of the community, our positive power community, you have probably gotten an email about our upcoming virtual summit. I will be back to talk about that on Tuesday. Because it is really important that you register for this one, it’s a bit it’s different than some of the others because we’re talking about the power of you. The power that you have as a black woman, the power you have as a Latina, the power you have in institution, this woman and leveraging that power. Okay. So it is a completely different take. We always talk about how others have privilege and power we do too. And we will don’t give that up and really harnessing that even in the power of you and harnessing it all together. Right? Women power All right everybody. You’re very welcome. I’m glad you could join us today and we try to have these talks but also we try to give you actions I’m I’m the engineer in cases like me. We can talk theory we can talk definitions, we talk but we literally like to give you actionable steps. So review that go deep and sell if you have a therapist to talk about with your therapist and know what you need to be mentally and physically able to be an an ally and abolitionist in your in your community. All right, everybody. Have be black history bought this in it. I see that but I love it. I love it. That’s why I love you. Bye, everybody.
Bye.