0:00

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 [MUSIC] 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:27,000 Hello there. This is Ayesha. I am your host for Black Girl from Eugene and welcome, welcome to our little space. 3 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:35,000 I am going to try to make this succinct. My goal is to create podcasts that are about 30 minutes or less. 4 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:48,000 And if you've been listening to me, 30 minutes or less is like no lift at all. I can talk and talk and talk and talk to give my insight about many things for hours and hours and hours. 5 00:00:48,000 --> 00:01:06,000 So this is my challenge. First and foremost, as usual, I would love to welcome and thanks and give gratitude towards all of the Patreon supporters that I have and who are paying $5 $10 a month, $25 a month to support my production of this podcast. 6 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:17,000 So please, please, please continue to do so. You really do make this happen and anyone who would like to support the podcast at $5 $10 to $25. 7 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:32,000 Please see the connection in the link in show notes. It is through Patreon. Black Girl from Eugene_1/patreon.com. But like I said, the link is in the show notes. 8 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:42,000 All right, so let's get to it. Now, this is a conversation that I have been having quite a bit and I, you know, there's so much to it. 9 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:55,000 And I, you know, it's really about diversity and listening to across the country, having this discourse of DEI being, you know, this horrible, horrible thing and like, what does it really do and how do we really do this? 10 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:07,000 The truth of it is that the definition has been centered really on just black issues and LGBTQ issues. 11 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:14,000 And the truth of the matter is that it's such a narrow vision of what DEI really is about. 12 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:35,000 Now, if you are not a white man who is cisgendered, who is heteronormative, who is, you know, wealthy or married, although you're not in that category, then diversity, equity and inclusion would be who view. 13 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:55,000 It would benefit anything that you are trying to do. There literally is nothing that is in these United States and I would even gesture globally that suggests that there is diversity of thought, diversity of, of presentate representation. 14 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:09,000 And I thought in perspective, you know, cultural diversity has a lot to do with that ethnic diversity, religious diversity, gender diversity, sexuality diversity. 15 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Now, I don't know if that's necessary for your work that shouldn't have a question about that anywhere, but there shouldn't be excluding that anywhere at all. 16 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:27,000 You know, no one is paid at the same rate as white cisgendered men, no one. 17 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,000 So that is something to be considered, you know, inclusion. 18 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:45,000 The idea that we have fallen from grace outside of what white man tell us is right is literally what's being fought right now. 19 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:52,000 And then we have a question out of the idea that white men who have money have the answers. 20 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Now, here we are with Donald Trump coming trying to fight back for office, which is absurd. But look at all of the grace. Look at all of the avoidance. 21 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:19,000 All of the just, you know, hey, excuses of why this man exists with the integrity that he has and could have this much influence due to the money that he said that he had, not even technically having. 22 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:44,000 Now, seeing that Donald Trump doesn't have the money that he says that he has yet that is not slow his importance. It did not slow his grandeur to wanting to appealing to 48% of this country that as a white man in all of his low, low integrity reaches to the most, most of the people who are not being heard and they go, oh, yeah, that's me. 23 00:04:44,000 --> 00:05:12,000 We're talking about someone who if you are Christian and what's that again, religious diversity, but if that's going to be what we're saying is the centerpiece of all morality in this country, which is exactly what's happening, tying, you know, tying church and state together, which is a norm now coming from the G.O.P. with their excuses and their reasons for their hatred and bigotry tied right back to their Christianity. 24 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:41,000 And then their own behavior not being held to that standard. So we're getting tired of that. So in DEI, understand that that what is happening in those three letters is ensuring that anyone who is not cisgendered and male and white are being considered, being heard and being attended to so that they can work in their, in their desired fields without feeling the, the, the. 25 00:05:41,000 --> 00:06:00,000 The impact and squeeze a systemic inequalities, right, we are trying to address those inequalities, those inequities, that's it. And so when people just go, oh, DEI and they immediately think black people want my job, even the folks who are, who are, you know, and I'm 26 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:17,000 and I'm a recording anti racist don't understand that diversity does not mean more black people necessarily, right. And I also want to remind you all, please remember that diversity is not the answer, the all be it, ball be it answer. 27 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:37,000 I want you to understand what I'm saying. So let me make that more clear, because you have people who look different than you working at your workplace does not mean that you actually have those people represented culturally, ethnically policy wise, you have people within your ranks who now look different. 28 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:55,000 And now if those people cannot be heard seen or qualified as changing, right, or as addressing the systemic issues within the workplace that are inequitable, they're, it does, it's not negotiable, it's systemic, we know it's inequitable, right. 29 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:14,000 We know people are not being paid the same based on their ability to do the job. And so often, right, often we say, oh, look, there's a brown person is a black person, this place looks good. And and I'm going to say eight and a half times out of 10, that black person or that brown person either 30 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:39,000 understands how to work in a high proximity to whiteness, which means they keep their head down, they keep their voice low, or they are very well very comfortable with working next to white folks and they just do what they're being asked to do same thing, right, same thing they may not have their head down, they may not have their voice low, but they sound just like the white cisgendered man in the position and they will not 31 00:07:39,000 --> 00:08:08,000 be very from that on top of it, you can have black and brown people who are in those positions who are absolutely gatekeeping those positions, meaning that they believe that they have earned the right to be there. And so when they get there, they try to take as much from their proximity to whiteness and all the trauma that they've had to endure to get to that position and not allow anyone else to compete with them based on their race because they understand that what white folks want is a brown face. 32 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:37,000 So they could be people who aren't even qualified that could get in that position, all of that, all of that is trauma, right, you can also have people who come in who are there as a token, they're the one black person there that have no power, they have no say in policy, they have no funding to support their position, they basically are there to hold that spot as the one black person or 33 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:54,000 maybe two black people, I would even go to three black people that don't have any power in changing the way that the work is done or the way that the work is represented or the way the communities and where it's the work reaches, they have no power over that. 34 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:22,000 So you have to quite understand that you know this is so complex and it is so it's so necessary to know more than the talking points right we have to understand practices we have to understand processes because just like the Texas legislature, you know, what the hell happened, they're in Texas, a little boy was suspended from school because his locks his locks were long. 35 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:44,000 Now he kept them very well done he went to the you know to the salon and he he had they were very neat, very beautiful, long, healthy locks and he would even wear them up as a gesture of like okay so that you don't want my hair long that's fine I can I can wear it up even Texas has passed the crown act right which is law. 36 00:09:44,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Law literal law that allows black people's hair to grow out of their head naturally and not be discriminated against when they're being hired for a job or when they're going to school or and this is federal law right so the issue with this is and the problem is that they found a loop to get through the the crown acts that they could steal punish this boy and then he eventually got kicked out right. 37 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:38,000 They had they found a loop and said yeah we have the crown act but we're going to go ahead and do this other thing that kind of not covered in the crown act so those intentional practices that ensure the anti blackness is whole even through diversity even through equity measures even through inclusive measures anti blackness is pervasive it actually targets through those regular normalize practices of racism directly to the black community. 38 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:44,000 To itself and by itself so that is what's interesting when you can play D. E. I. 39 00:10:44,000 --> 00:11:07,000 To black and that that idea is that most laws are centered on stopping black people from participating fully and from engaging fully or from being having access that's completely open or having barriers completely remove it focuses on that but that's not the only people who are affected by these laws or by these practices so what I'm trying to say is as I'm doing my work and I'm. 40 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:36,000 You all I think most of you know that I do public speaking quite a bit an executive coach so I talk about this all the time with organizations that are trying to convert from policies and practices that are traditionally and really just systemically racist they're trying to convert into something that is more inclusive most of them understand what a push back they're going to get when they do this but they don't actually understand. 41 00:11:36,000 --> 00:12:05,000 I can actually understand how deep everything needs to change in order to be successful at it so that part is what I'm addressing is it the simple idea of that everything that you do that you believe is anti racist there is not one action everything is interconnected because it's systemic the systemic piece of racism is what is most difficult for people to understand it is in everything that we do. 42 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Design to maintain white supremacy for cisgendered white men so I hope that resonates for you that if you see one piece of it you kind of have to follow the rabbit trail I think that's what they call it or follow the trail back and you'll find every single piece all way down to the hiring practice is racist right or is inequitable or is not inclusive in one way or the other. 43 00:12:34,000 --> 00:13:03,000 So when someone wants to say they're doing this work the question about how you're doing the work is always like the third question down people are most impressed with the fact that you can now say something that's not anti racist you've read the book you've got the words right the problem is you don't have the practice and for white folks out there who want to immediately assert that they are not racist we have to quite a lot of people. 44 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:32,000 We have to quite understand that it's at this point it's not about what you're saying it's about what you're doing okay so the the doing part is the insist insistence on having answers of how the process and policy plays out for who you work with and who is involved around you again it's not always about black and brown people if you start with black and brown people you will fix the problem in its entirety right. 45 00:13:32,000 --> 00:14:01,000 But what I'm saying for folks who have struggle with the idea of why d i is not just about black people I want you to quite understand look at it in a holistic manner and recognize in that space where the anti blackness is because that's pervasive in that whole process but d i in itself is inclusive of everyone who is not who is literally just not such a thing. 46 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:30,000 It's not just not just gender white male and it's not for cisgender white men who are heteronormative listening to my podcast it is not to exclude you it is to de center you right you're there's no there's nothing nothing in this world that requires you to be at the center of the solution or the center of any piece of how someone behaves shows up breath interacts. 47 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:59,000 With you at all your needs and your ability to be in everything and in the purpose and the drive for everything else after that is what is problematic and so without without everyone else's voices involved that lens to your supremacy and the supremacy is not something that's earned right this is not something that we can go back to and say this is why. 48 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:28,000 White cisgendered you know, heteronormative men should be leading or ruling or making decisions for literally anyone else right we actually cannot go back in history and find the reason why that group in particular has any other attribute that would make them better or more suited to do anything other than anyone else there's no evidence of that right. 49 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:57,000 I will say you know we can talk about war and that and even then it wasn't white cisgendered men who who perfected that piece either so you know we just have to get back to what's real and what's true for the community at large for a society at large for the global majority because that's what we're faced against right that we're faced with right now is truth and moral compass. 50 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:26,000 Moral compass moral integrity in that truth everyone knows what the reason is kind of right and no one really even wants to blame anybody we just want to fix it right we just want to get it to the point where people can stop on a lighting themselves because of the intense hatred that they're feeling by their co workers or by their boss or by people they go grocery shopping with right. 51 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:55,000 We want to just like slow that down you know nothing too crazy so that's my little spiel for today look back look down the processes look down what is seems to be normal and ask yourself how normal is it for everyone how normal is it for you if you were to unpack white supremacy from your identity and that goes for anybody that does not have a race attached to it. 52 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:20,000 Right there's more to the conversation but I'm trying to keep my promise and keeping it short of I will be back again next week please please subscribe to the podcast give it a five and that way we can boost it to the top so people can really start to understand and listen to what life is like and high proximity to whiteness the black woman in this world. 53 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:40,000 I love to share my knowledge with you all I love to share my lived experiences with you I love to share my professional experiences with you if anyone has questions or comments please leave them I would love to hear what you have to say if anyone would like to book me for public speaking please reach out and I'd be happy to set a meeting and talk to you about that. 54 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:53,000 All right enjoy yourself enjoy each other and if you can't do anything else in that day just don't mess it up for anybody else just give love and kindness and empathy for yourself and for everyone around you. 55 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,000 All right peace. 56 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:05,000 [Music]