Will You Take The
Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge?

I recently attended a virtual event organized by my good friend, Rachel Rodgers: Reimagining Small Business was presented as a town hall to listen, learn and commit to building equitable, anti-racist organizations. There were thousands of small business owners in attendance and we were all asked to sign The Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge, committing ourselves to equity, diversity and inclusion in both our personal and professional lives.
 

 

Rachel, an Intellectual Property attorney and Executive Coach was joined by Ericka Hines, DEI consultant and expert on racial equity, Sonya Renee Taylor, award-winning poet, activist and author, Susan Hyatt, Master Certified Life Coach, Robert Hartwell, CEO of The Broadway Collective and Nathan Barry, author, speaker and CEO of ConvertKit.
 

During the Town Hall, Ericka shared a framework developed by organizational development consultant, Barbara J. Love, called The Liberatory Consciousness Framework that serves as a reminder of how we can be more just and equitable both personally and professionally. There are four elements involved in developing a liberatory consciousness:

Awareness
We acknowledge that injustice and inequality are taking place. We give up the numbness and dullness that we have been lulled into our entire lives. Awareness occurs when we start noticing and pointing out things that are unjust and unfair and we begin to look at how it relates to us.

Analysis
We begin to educate ourselves further so we can identify the Why of what is happening. We start to hypothesize what we can do about it and where we can be the most impactful. We also develop more literacy around certain terms like structural racism, anti-blackness and white supremacy.

Action
We figure out our personal and professional role and how we can commit to the fight of systems of oppression. We look at what actions we can take and what resources we have to commit – whether they are emotional, financial, political, time, spheres of influence etc.

Accountability/Ally-ship
Allying is a verb. We do not get to designate ourselves as allies – when we do, we are placing all of the focus on ourselves (also referred to as centering.) We want to be in solidarity with groups we are trying to help, and in order to do that, we must ask, “What do you need from me? How can I be helpful to you? What can I do that will help your efforts?” Help them – and you take a back seat. This is not accountability to yourself, it’s accountability to the advancement of humanity.

 

At the end of the two-hour town hall, we were all asked to sign The Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge and commit to equity, diversity and inclusion in our personal and professional lives. The five tenants of the pledge include:

1. Name white supremacy and the impact of racism on both our personal and professional lives.
2. Engage in anti-racist education for you and your team.
3. Commit to open-conflict and allow discomfort.
4. Invest a portion of your monthly company budget to the Black community.
5. Express your sincere, long-term commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization.

 

 

SheBrand Inc. is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We are an organization committed to social justice – including women’s rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, disability rights, immigrant rights and environmental justice. We believe Black Lives Matter. We believe in unity and will continue to educate ourselves and examine the policies, leaders, institutions and systems that guide and affect us.

Being anti-racist in your business means helping to close the gaps in your sector that exist for black and brown folks. It means continuing to educate yourself, saying hard things, making choices that align with your values, allying with others when you see them being shut out of opportunities and taking a stand when you need to.

You can find our ever-expanding list of Anti-Racism resources here.