Dear White Sisters: Please do not go back to Sleep
What an interesting time to be alive. From the perspective of someone practicing in this space, I am feeling the pain. My heart is breaking and aching for my exhausted Black brothers and sisters. On a positive note, to see this global response taking hold, to see silent players actually naming something ( and you can believe that even if it’s only performative allyship, if you’ve made a statement in recent days, there will be voices that will hold your feet to the fire to make sure your walk lines up with your talk). Anti-Racist booklists are popping up everywhere and the one good piece of news I see is that White people are paying for Black and racialized expertise at an unprecedented rate as they wake up from their White supremacy slumber.
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Ice Breakers: Telling Canadian Stories
A few nights ago, I was browsing through documentaries on the NFB website, and I came across a Canadian documentary short called Ice Breakers (2019), by Sandamini Rankaduwa. Rankaduwa is a Maritime Sri Lankan-Canadian writer (Rankaduwa was a 2018 BuzzFeed Emerging Writers Fellow), comedian, and film maker.
Ice Breakers brings to light the buried history and contributions of a Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada. I, like many other Canadians, most likely, had no idea about this piece of Canadian history. Rankaduwa does a great job of weaving the rise of Cole Harbour hockey player Josh Crooks,a young, Black Canadian currently playing for the Halifax Macs, into the narration of the history of the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes.
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Creating a Sense of Certainty in Uncertain Times
We’ve never been here before.
This is a sentence that keeps running through my mind. As a global collective, we’ve. never. been. here. before. It’s a strange experience that I can call my sister in Switzerland and know that we’re both home with our kids, because schools are closed for the same reason. Social distancing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
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Personal Reflections for 2020
Like many of you, I’ve been reflecting on my life over the last decade. The beauty of the turning of a year is that it grounds me in gratitude for what has passed, even the parts that hurt or were not so pretty, because I learned even more in those moments. The last decade has taught me so much!
Here are a few of the transformative life experiences I’ve had…
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Building your Inclusion Toolbox: Radical Candor
Giving thoughtful, authentic, and meaningful feedback is an investment that leadership and management can and must make in all of their staff. In Radical Candor, author Kim Scott offers insightful narratives based on experiences at highly-performing companies like Google and AdSense, as well as concrete examples on how to best action the learning, with Part II completely dedicated to Tools and Techniques.
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Creating a Culture of Allyship at Work
Allyship is something each and every single one of us can, and need, to practice. Not only at work, but especially at work. We all own a particular set of powers and privileges that temper our ability to influence people, groups, and outcomes – how are we using our power and privilege for good?
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The journey to be a good Ally
This idea, this question of “How can I be a good ally, to myself, and to others?” is one that has been shaping my work and my priorities over the last twenty years. Choosing to step into my own practice now is a decision that has been a long time coming and I am excited beyond belief about this next chapter in my life.
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