Feb 25, 2022
Today Susan and Rohini are getting personal.
What can we do to TAKE UP MORE SPACE? 💫💫💫
Here we are with the second of a two part-episode (Refer episode 33 if you missed part 1), in which we're talking about how to build the inclusion muscle and what are the things that go into the making of an inclusion habit.
In the first part, we looked at it from the perspective of privileged, or the person who wants to be an ally. And today, we want to look at it from the perspective of the marginalized - whether by race, gender, physical ability, or sexual orientation.
There's two sides to moving
forward.
These sides are
not equal by FAR.
There is however a role that marginalized communities can play in furthering (not just starting, but furthering) the education of those with privilege.
1. Consider the token opportunity
“I have to say don't reject the token opportunity.Even as little as six months ago I was approached to be a part of a diversity panel. And as part of the activities there was a mother-daughter segment doing a cook-off. And people on that committee wanted me to bake an Indian brownie. And I'm like, No, I don't know what an Indian brownie is. My brownie looks just like your brownie. It probably looks better than your brownie because I know how to bake and suddenly I was just feeling like a mascot. Looking at it from today I think to myself: That's silly! That was me getting triggered by something and I could have totally shown up and made my regular brownie and made a joke about it. Instead, I denied myself a little bit of visibility, and a fun connection with my child.” - Susan Diaz
2. Accept help
Being able to accept help, and then maybe even taking it a step further, and learning how to get good at asking for help. Don’t see these things in any way as a reflection of your ability. We live in a culture of collaboration; we can easily access the minds and the resources we need so reach out and ask for help.
“It might mean starting to be a
little bit more specific with the help you ask for versus just,
‘I'm drowning. Help me.’ Take those baby steps, do what feels
comfortable.” - Rohini Mukherji
3. Learn to wear the right amount of armor to ‘battle’
“Choosing the size of armor that you need for each battle is important. So if you're going into a situation where you're trying to advocate for yourself, and you need an extra day to do something that has cultural significance, that is a very different proposition than advocating for yourself where you've been systematically discriminated against for three years, and your advancement within a company has been stifled because of your different lived experience. Those are very different battles. And it's important to choose the armor that you go in equipped with to each battle. It is also about your own peace of mind and your own mental health, and sort of choosing and saving your resources for when you need them.
To dive way into those 3 actions we can each take, listen to the episode.