Visible Hands: Visible Hands for Black Lives Matter
In the spirit of Visible Hands, we have been researching how to promote racial justice and allyship through civic and workplace actions.
The past few weeks made us feel a range of emotions--from feeling infuriated to saddened to, at times, hopeless. In the spirit of Visible Hands, we have been researching how to promote racial justice and allyship through civic and workplace actions. We have shared some of these articles and resources on our social media in real time (don't forget to follow us in the links at the bottom of the newsletter). We know our newsletter is usually only once a week on Thursdays, but we felt like this information is important to share with our community in a timely manner.
What now?
As a consumer:
The 15% Pledge is calling on major retailers to pledge 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Sign their petition here.
You might have seen posts about books to read to learn more about the history of racism in the US and how to combat it. If you are buying a book, we encourage you to check out these Black-owned bookstores. And here is a free reader's guide to Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility.
As an employee:
We recommend this article from last week: Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not.
How White Managers Can Respond to Anti-Black Violence: “Yale SOM’s Michael Kraus, a social psychologist whose research focuses on inequality, offers a series of concrete steps that leaders can take to combat racism in their own organizations—and contribute to the societal fight against injustice. Remaining silent, he says, communicates support for the status quo.”
Do Black Lives Matter enough for you to hire them for leadership positions? “If these folks believe that Black Lives Matter, then why don't they employ black lives in leadership positions at their organizations to start dismantling the economic imbalance between white men and virtually everyone else in this country?” We encourage you to read about the myth of meritocracy as well.
Edith Cooper, former head of Human Capital Management for Goldman Sachs, wrote this post while at the company regarding talking about race at work. Goldman is certainly not a poster child for diversity, equity, or inclusion, but Edith poses her response to the question of "how do the recent events affecting us as people, in turn, affect our interactions at work?"
There’s a lot of frustration at Facebook over the company’s handling of civil rights issues. Facebook employees participated in a virtual walkout. And business partners and advertisers are pulling out from the platform. If your work involves collaborating with Facebook, consider doing the same. More information here.
As an investor:
Check out what BLCK VC is doing today to push venture capital funds to discuss, donate, and diversify. Also read this Twitter thread from a Wharton professor on how the VC industry can step up to support underrepresented groups, instead of perpetually funding their existing networks. And as much grief as we give SoftBank, we are encouraged to see them quickly pull together a $100 million fund to invest in companies led by people of color; more notably, they have also begun to rethink their fee structure in support of equality: “SoftBank will not take a traditional management fee…Half of its gains will be reinvested into subsequent Growth Opportunity Funds. The company will also donate a portion of its gains to organizations that create opportunities for people of color.”
Freedom to Thrive has been pushing for prison divestment. If you are not aware of the role of private prisons in the current mass incarceration crisis, we encourage you to check out this ACLU report and 13th on Netflix.
Need another reason to think private equity is complicit in society’s problems? The business of tear gas: “Two of the largest U.S. producers of tear gas are owned by private equity firms, but those firms have no interest in discussing their ownership.”
As a citizen:
There are several national advocacy organizations, including Color of Change, National Bail Fund Network, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, the Center for Popular Democracy, and Campaign Zero, that are pushing for racial justice and fighting against police brutality. We encourage you to check out their petitions, donate if you can, and also look for local ways to get involved. A trove of additional resources on where else to donate, who to contact, what petitions to sign, and much more here. And potential donation matches here and here and here.
Letters for Black Lives offers a template on how to talk about these issues with your family (including in different languages). They are also looking for help with translating their latest letter.
And of course, register to vote, call your local officials, and continue making your voice heard.
We acknowledge that we are by no means experts on racial justice and are very open to hearing your thoughts -- we are here to listen, learn, and support. The resources above in blog form here.
Stay connected with us through Instagram, Medium, Twitter, and, of course, email (visiblehandsmedia@gmail.com)! See you tomorrow.
