We write weekly on the issues that are top of mind for us as we do the work of driving equity, shifting culture and co-creating inclusion with our clients. To receive these posts via email, join our free weekly email series, Self-coaching for DEI advocates and leaders.
As I write this, Malaika and LaVoya from the CCI team are convening just a few blocks from my house to host our first ever DEI brunch!
Me? I’m down with covid, fortunately a mild case, but in consultation with my PCP, I’m following the original rather than current guidance and quarantining for five days.
And I feel… disappointed, yes of course, but also, surprisingly, I FEEL AMAZING!!!
Read MoreWe’ve been having a great discussion with one of our client groups about organizational, national and global turmoil, and what to do when we are sick and tired… and sick and tired of being sick and tired.
The idea of being obstinate in the face of overwhelming challenges and a bleak outlook came up.
And so we brainstormed ideas for “obstinate” healing and joy.
Read MoreThere is so much magic in creating a space for people to speak and be heard. It’s not always pretty. It’s often uncomfortable. But I find such relief and healing in truth telling… in a world where we are socialized to do anything but.
Read MoreThe messy middle is… messy.
And it’s uncomfortable.
We’re generally not used to letting things sit unresolved. We are socialized to fix things. We are rewarded for fixing things. But sometimes, rushing in to fix things doesn’t actually fix things. Sometimes it is when we are in urgency or scarcity that we cause the most harm.
Read MoreI'm still in a space where I am thinking a lot about grief and trauma, and not just thinking about it but feeling it myself at a variety of different levels
Maybe the grief of the pandemic is making all the other grief feel closer to the surface and easier to access, but I'm seeing so many layers to my own grief and to the grief of others. In many ways, the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion is the work of holding space for the hurt and harm of white supremacy and other systems of oppression while also figuring out how to create space for healing, recovery, and growth.
Read MoreOne of the things that often happens when you open up the space for difficult conversations about racism and other form of systemic oppression that might be underlying the challenges and harm experienced by the most impacted in a community or organization is that it gets messy. It feels uncomfortable. It is often intensely painful.
Read MoreOne of the things I've been thinking about is how we can create space to show up in our full humanity.
Sometimes what this means is being able to take off our hat as whatever role we are playing - professional or personal - and allow more of ourselves and our humanness in.
In other words, letting ourselves, and each other, just BE can actually be quite revolutionary.
Read MoreBeing able to heal others, heals me.
At the same time, it is so much harder to do for myself and for my children what I can do for others. To get my own truth back. To help myself be heard. To help my kids be heard.
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