POC/BIPOC Led

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Assumptions and even good intent are no substitute for listening and believing the experiences of People of Color.  People of Color experience situations every day that no book, article or movie could ever truly replicate.  

Equity work is driven by the voices and insight of People of Color, who should always feel heard and empowered to offer insights in this work. For white allies, make sure that you don’t put the burden of labor on staff of color or heed only one voice. 

*Be enterprising 

When people of color are interested in expressing themselves on issues of racial equity, be sure to incorporate their feedback and thank them for their labor.  

*Invite voices, don’t demand them

When it comes to input from BIPOC about their experience at the company, be sure to always offer space and power but never to demand they participate. Think of it as an open mic. This is a space where people with white privilege fundamentally see racism as their responsibility to put in labor towards dismantling. And there’s a microphone available should BIPOC be interested and guiding and weighing in on the strategy that most impacts them

*POC are diverse

One of the ways that racism can show up is the mindset that all people of color have the same experience. People of Color (POC) is a movement-building term meant to unite the identities, strengths and struggles of many different communities of color. It was never meant to homogenize the experience of different races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. It’s important to listen to People of Color without taking one voice as the authority of all communities of color – that would be tokenism.  

*Prioritize the voices of Black and Indigenous Peoples 

BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color) is a movement building term meant to express the way that race was structured in America with the foundation of colonization and slavery. It’s important to look at the ways in which Anti-Black racism is showing up specifically as well as the ways in which Indigenous communities are being treated as invisible or in the past. You can work with an equity practitioner to help with these strategies and assessments.