The time is always right to do what’s right
I don’t know a lot about racial issues and I don’t feel that I have a particular right to comment on the current situation. Shouting loudly about injustice sounds hollow from someone who has never really known it. Yes I am a woman. Yes I have experienced inequality. But have I ever ‘truly’ suffered because of the traits I inherited at birth? No. The quote I have seen a lot in recent days rings so true…”I understand that I don’t understand.”
But, like many people who believe in making the world a better place, I’ve been jolted to consciousness. I want to learn. Not for my own gain, but so I can change what I do, to help prevent the situation from perpetuating. It’s not enough to applaud those fighting for justice from the comfort of our British suburban existence, or post a black square to our instagram feed and then go back to normal tomorrow. It isn’t remotely appropriate to say ‘this isn’t my battle.’ Even if we haven’t ever been racist, we need to admit that if we haven’t been actively anti-racist we haven’t done enough.
The things which we all have are a pair of ears, a voice and a sphere of influence. Whether it be through social media, the values which we teach our children, the conversations we have with our friends, the products we design, the team we hire, or, critically, the voices we listen to. We all have the ability to challenge and change through our actions, thoughts and words.
We will receive criticism from those who have been fighting this battle for what, for them, is forever. “Where have you been?” “Will you stay?” “Are you for real?” That is fair. They are right. We need to do it anyway, indeed especially, because of that.
We have a voice at thelittleloop, which we are able to use for good. Perhaps we haven’t done enough of that. This week, we’ve revisited the values we engender (see footnote for more on using values to guide your actions), and the way in which we surface them, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make our voice one of inclusivity, tolerance, and challenge. And to make our breed of sustainability one which is inclusive and accessible to all.
Our team is multiracial. Our social feed is relatively balanced and representative (although we could do more). We’ve created multi-racial inspirational hero characters (we deeply believe that every child needs to recognise themselves in the heroes they look up to). And that’s without an explicit drive to be racially inclusive. I’m proud to say it’s more within our DNA than that. BUT we still have such a long way to go to actively challenge the lack of diversity, particularly within the sustainability arena. Did you know that many people of colour feel excluded from the sustainability agenda because it is seen as the reserve of the privileged few? We’ve not done anywhere near enough to address that.
If we are going to overturn the inbuilt bias of white privilege (and we must) we need to be more active in our challenge...as a business, as a sustainability community, and as humans. As thelittleloop we need to think about the brands we bring on, the prices we offer, the language we use, the profile of the parents we speak with. As a sustainability community we need BAME speakers at events, and writers in our magazines and fora - balanced and due attention given to diverse sustainability role models. It’s our responsibility to seek them out, not theirs to come to us - see this excellent article. We need to make sustainability something which is relevant to people who don’t necessarily have access to green spaces, gardens, support networks, or money to invest in more sustainable alternatives. Who have bigger problems than what plastic-free deodorant to choose.
And as humans? Well…let’s start by recognising that we don’t know the half of it. That we need to do our best to understand, even if we never will. And then, let’s challenge both racism AND white privilege whenever we can. Talk to our children, but even better demonstrate to them through the books they read, the TV shows they watch, the toys they play with, the people we hang out with, the places we go, the way we talk, the racist comments from grandpa that we CHOOSE to challenge not ignore, that we live in a world where skin colour is not something which should distinguish us other than to mark us out as strong, beautiful individuals, with unique stories which make us who we are today.
And, while muting the conversation to amplify the voices of those who need to be heard is valid, don’t be tempted to stay quiet. One blacked out post isn’t going to cut it. It’s too easy to go silent…and it simply doesn’t say enough. Of course we need to listen, but we need to act too.
FOOTNOTE - Values driven behaviour
Having a set of clear values which you can return to again and again is a great way to ensure that you choose to do the right thing. At thelittleloop, whenever we are considering how we should do something and what we should do, we ask “is this course of action true to our values?'“. They keep us honest. They prevent us straying too far toward profit, ego, or growth as motivators. They stop us forgetting about the voices which are all too often overlooked or ignored.
You can do your own values exercise, either at home or in your business:
Map out all of the things which matter to you on post it notes. “I want to….” or “I want to be…” These should be the things which you feel are at the heart of your family, your business, your mission in life.
Group them with similar post-its. Some themes should begin to emerge. Those themes will become your values.
Extract the values and, as a group, vote on 3-5 which you feel most strongly about. Validate them…do they ring true for us? Do we feel these uniquely represent us? Will they continue to inspire us? Can we follow them (and how)? Can we remember them?
Rewrite them as value statements which incorporate some of the original statements you produced. Here’s one of ours:
Integrity. We are honest, open, ethical, and fair. Parents and brands trust us to adhere to our word and live by our values. In turn our model engenders accountability in our partner brands.