Home Truths 2

Thank you all for your company here on Linkedin this year. The team is taking a break during the festive period, and we will be back in full force on 6 January.

Diversity is a commonly used term, yet it can fall short of addressing racism. But why? And how can we move beyond diversity? This FREE guidance provides some answers - part of our Race Equity Series in collaboration with Voice4Change England. Download and share widely!  

Mandeep Rupra was one of the speakers at the Race Equity Series. In this Q&A, she talks about her work and her views on anti-racist action in civil society.

Home Truths 2 engages stakeholders from across civil society, including senior leaders, staff and those working within and alongside civil society organisations in a targeted practical programme of activity. Home Truths 2 offers practical resources and guidance to mainstream civil society in general. Through the Race Equity Series, the work includes exploring approaches to calculating and remedying ethnic pay disparities and integrating race equity into the core mission and through the Further Faster programme, bringing senior leaders together to drive forward their anti-racist and race equity practice. https://lnkd.in/ekPdjitu Voice4Change England

An excellent book recommendation from Pari and Martha!

We asked Lena B.: How can we ensure that Black and Minoritised Ethnic people are central to transformation on anti-racism and race equity in civil society but not left exposed and bearing the load? "Be intentional: this work cannot be done without Black and POC, so remember the adage – ‘nothing about us without us’. Understand that Black and POC staff will not have all the answers to everything, so what are you doing to create the environment for Black and POC staff to be supported in leading this work? What resources are you providing? What spaces? What opportunities for learning, for trialing things and failing and learning and retrying? What mental health and wellbeing support are you providing? Remember that extraction is not ok, and continually asking for examples of incidents of racism can be harmful. Asking people to relive their trauma of microaggressions, or overt racist incidents over and over is not ok. You are dealing with people, so there needs to be care for those people. There are many examples on the internet, in case studies and reports that already exist, start with what already exists. Ensure safe surroundings for Black and POC staff to be involved and be empowered in any process of creating solutions to address racism. Recognise that some Black and POC staff will want to lead on this work, and others may not, and each is ok. Be led by them at every step, and be ready to support. Leaders must be prepared to lead from the back at times and to make space for and amplify Black and POC staff who lead this work."

What is different about Home Truths 2 to other anti-racist initiatives in the charity sector? A shift towards EDI awareness, and more specifically, anti-racism work in the sector, has led to learning and reflection by many organisations. There has also been progress made in committing to change. However, some of this change is happening slowly or consists of commitments that haven’t yet translated into action. Home Truths 2 seeks to address this by adding depth and a platform to advance race equity work, with a focus on encouraging organisations and leaders through constructive and supportive challenge, while centring the experiences of racialised minorities in the sector, including leading some of this change.

We asked zoe kabir: How can we ensure that Black and Minoritised Ethnic people are central to transformation on anti-racism and race equity in civil society but not left exposed and bearing the load? "I think this involves a few key steps. I believe in the importance of shared leadership and decision-making. It’s essential that Black and Minoritised Ethnic individuals are not just included but are truly empowered to shape policies and strategies. However, this empowerment should come with a balanced distribution of responsibility, ensuring that they are not left to carry the weight of these efforts alone. Everyone needs to be committed to this work, not just those directly affected by racism. Each sector of society has its part to play, but in terms of setting out a vision for the society we want that is central government. We need to have clear policies and checks and balances in place which enable and drive an anti racist agenda fixed on delivering equity to all. That leads me on to allyship, as I feel that allyship and accountability are crucial. Allies, especially those in government, positions of influence and leadership, need to step up and take on some of the burden of anti-racism work. They should be actively supporting and amplifying the voices of Black and Minoritised Ethnic people, and create spaces of innovation and transformation to drive changes to the wider systems such as education, financial, government, business, health etc. We need to focus on long-term structural changes rather than short-term initiatives. Ensure that anti-racism and race equity efforts are embedded in the core mission, values, and operations of civil society organisations, rather than being treated as side projects!!" Thanks, Zoe!

Racism in the workplace is real and harmful for those that experience it. Our research suggests that the majority of Black and Minoritised Ethnic people working in mainstream civil society have either experienced or witnessed racism in the past five years.    What’s more, is that reporting racism can make things worse. It can lead to defensive responses and institutions can make those reporting racism, rather than the racism itself, the problem.   But how do we turn this around – so that organisations come to view reporting racism as integral to becoming anti-racist? And what might a humane and life-affirming racism reporting regime look like?   Explore these questions and more in the next episode of our Race Equity Series. Sign up today for a practical, guilt-free discussion for all those curious about anti-racism in civil society. Voice4Change England https://lnkd.in/eCGcTHBP

The recording of the session is available on our website: https://lnkd.in/e5V84pW4