#BlackLivesMatter: How WholeCo Media is Becoming Anti-Racist

I, as both a human and business owner, stand with and for Black & Indigenous lives.

Digital Entrepreneurship is particularly inundated with white women like me, and not only do I have my skin tone, sexuality, physical appearance, and education-level working silently in my favor, I have my known family history, generational wealth, and a myriad of other factors available to me in building my entrepreneurial success.

I recognize that I have immense privilege, and it is my belief that people in power have the responsibility to ensure others have power too. This does not look like equality, this doesn’t look like equity, this looks like justice. And justice for Black lives in America (and POC lives everywhere, including Indigenous lives in both Australia and the US—my two homes) often looks like giving more than I would give to a white person.

It is also my responsibility as a woman with privilege to continually educate myself, to show up and take action regardless of any fear around “making a mistake,” and to immediately apologize the moment I become aware that I have hurt, denied, marginalized, or otherwise been racist toward any Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color.

If you are a Black or Indigenous person, you already know this is my responsibility. If you are a white person, I am more writing this for you, in the hopes that you might find areas to resonate with and action steps to take alongside me in this fight for justice.

I am not here to center myself in the narrative, I’m here to simply make a public commitment regarding my anti-racism work.

1. I have reviewed past actions in my life, and am actively reaching out to any Person of Color who I have harmed through ignorance and apologizing for my actions and/or words.
2. I submit myself to feedback and being “called out” from/by Black and Indigenous People of Color, and commit to preemptively working through my white guilt and white fragility to be prepared for these moments (for I know there will be many as I imperfectly undertake this journey to anti-racism). I simultaneously recognize it is not your responsibility to call me out, and thus #3 below.
3. I am committed to continuing in perpetuity my anti-racism education and unlearning my inherent biases. I will do this through reading, taking courses, actively participating in discussions, and paying Black educators and service providers.
4. I will actively seek out Black and Indigenous People of Color in all hiring decisions, understanding that “diversity” isn’t the metric of success, but truly creating safe and open spaces for people of all backgrounds to succeed and be part of the evolution of WholeCo Media is the ultimate goal.
5. I will continue hosting conversations with my white friends and family about the anti-racism work I am doing and what I am learning from that, inviting them to become anti-racist with me.
6. I will purposefully move my money toward Black and Indigenous-owned businesses and now include “BIPOC-owned” as a measure of “ethicality” just as I previously have with work standards, materials used, waste production, etc. in making other purchases.
7. Before taking any public engagements or participating in any promotional activities, I will first inquire about the Diversity and Inclusion practices of the opportunity (i.e. at a Conference, who is speaking? who is getting paid the most money? etc.). If their practices do not err on the side of true justice, I will not become involved with that promotional opportunity.

I recognize that I have so much to learn and that I will continue making mistakes and needing to face course corrections, but I am not here to “prove” my allyship and thus attempt to perform perfectly, I am here to grow and serve to the best of my ability. I am here to do everything in my power to advocate and open up a seat at the table for Black and Indigenous People of Color in the world that is digital entrepreneurship, as well as my individual world that I engage in on a day-to-day basis.

If you are a white person, I urge you to also dive into your privilege and create tangible and sustainable practices for building justice into your life and business. We have societal power, let’s use it well.