It feels a little trite to write but we are all diverse. In fact, if someone is speaking on diversity as something outside of themselves, it feels to me almost rooted in white supremacy. Like, "Oh, let us work on making this place more diverse because it has been so homogeneous and really we did not mind that until that gatekeeping got canceled." And to be fair, many of us perhaps did not realize we were gatekeeping until we have been made aware.
Since many of our cultures have racism, sexism, ableism and well, all the -isms basically baked into the bedrock of our current human experiences, it may seem almost impossible to actually create a diverse world that totally removes the power-over dynamic that any -ism seeks to create. This is where I love to not only theorize on solutions but also actualize them into activated conversations that affect social change.
The Sledgehammer
I have often been called the sledgehammer in most of my collaborative circles because theoretical, armchair conversations on changing the status quo bore me to pieces. It is action that makes a difference. In my many collaborations in conversations with thought leaders, industry disruptors and business activists globally these past several years, I have gathered that the world is ready for a new way of considering the diversity of our shared human existence. In a nutshell we are all very different but also very same. While our differences make our outlooks unique and thereby valuable, we all bleed red.
The Crossing Guard Dream
In drafting the business plan for the launch of Business 4 Good, I remembered a dream I had about 5 years ago where I was walking down a busy city street, somewhere like NYC, Chicago or LA. As I was attempting to cross the street, a woman of color in her mid to late 40s told me in no uncertain terms: "STOP WALKING!" And she said it again 2 to 3 times at even louder decibels to be sure that me and all people attempting to cross the street were acutely aware that we better stop or be met with extreme harm from passing cars.
And then moments later, that same crossing guard was assisted by another guardian of the street, also a woman of color, similarly aged and escorting other pedestrians to quickly: "WALK! GO ON! HURRY UP AND CROSS THE STREET," making sure that the safety of all crossing was her chief priority.
What if women of color hold the power innately to move us forward into a better and safer world? This is likely why these women have been historically marginalized in ways far deeper than other groups, because that power is a direct threat to the status quo of the white patriarchal order.
Diversity as Action, Not Optics
If women of color were more embraced for their innate power and if the buzzword of diversity actually became an action item and not a forced inclusion theory to "get numbers up" or make the optics of a business appear to support Black, Brown and Indigenous women, then we would absolutely see a new world that is, in fact, both a better place for all and with opportunities for each and every human being to live to their fullest potential.
What We Are Building
What we are building through Business 4 Good is more than just channels where we connect with women globally. We are looking directly at ways that we can pull back the curtain on how we have historically done business and flip the script on how we are sharing our tools and resources. Our approach is directly aimed at equipping more women with access to information around money, sex and politics because when women have more knowledge, this equates to more power. And when women are more supported, the entire village thrives. When women rise, humanity rises.
Our differences can create the great equalizer needed so desperately in our world today. As women in business, we have an inherent ability to see many facets of a big picture. We can stitch together a network of community through our generations of women leaning into one another for support in any facet of being human.
A good cry or long embrace is not showing weakness, it is showing connection. That diversity of emotional experience can truly change an otherwise numb human existence into a fully feeling and inclusive human moment.
Notably, all big, global tech to date has been built by one particular sector of humanity: white men. Simply based on their experiences alone, that tech has not been built in consideration of the diverse voices of all humans. What we are building through #Tequity is a way to utilize all the incredible resources that modern technology offers in a way that authentically honors diversity instead of segregating it out of the equation.
Will you join us? Come help us change the world.
Love,
Rose
