Black Lives Matter.

It has taken me longer than I hoped to write this post…

But I’m not going to make excuses for myself. I am going to figuratively put pen to paper now and get it done.

My story so far

As a white woman, it would be easy to feel like there is no point in me being part of this conversation. But I believe that is exactly why I should be involved in this conversation. Writing a blog post may be a small thing, but you have to take the first step and sometimes this can lead you somewhere you least expect.

My goal is to inspire motivated leaders to achieve more than they ever dreamt possible. And I want to do this in a way that promotes diversity and makes changes in the world. I am very passionate about women in business and promoting equality between men and women. And I have experienced first hand the lack of equality in this space. It’s one thing to notice that leadership positions in FTSE500 companies are dominated by men, but it goes a step further to look at the lack of representation the black community has on top of this.

When I have been to business conferences or on entrepreneurship programmes in the past I have been surrounded by a sea of white people, and often a lot of men. I just don’t think this is acceptable.

I am aware that by being white I am subject to privilege, but I have only really understood this recently (call me naive). I grew up in a small town in Essex, England and I was at school with maybe one person who was black. I remember the first time I saw someone wearing a turban and I didn’t understand what it was for. Even going to university I was at a privileged and predominantly white school and there was a clear divide between the ‘British’ and ‘International’ students. I feel I missed an opportunity here to spend time with, and learn from, people of different backgrounds to me. But I was young, busy partying and I didn’t really fully understand the problem (and I am not claiming that I do even now!).

Seeking some level of understanding

Since taking a lot of time to reflect, I have reached out to the black and mixed race colleagues and friends that I know to understand their point of view on the BLM movement to find a way that I could make a difference somehow.

What I have learnt and continually hear is that casual racism is something that is rife. That these people have had to get used to it and simply have learnt to accept it. 

One of my elderly clients who is from Sri Lanka has told me stories of the horrible names she got called when she moved to the country. She would get on the bus and be shouted at with all sorts of racist comments and I just cannot even comprehend how much hurt she went through, not only trying to settle into a new country, but effectively being bullied on a daily basis because of the colour of her skin.

One of my closest friends is from Indian heritage and when she was pregnant (before being married) and living in Switzerland, she was often made to feel extremely uncomfortable being in her community. The first example was a long time ago, but this example is in the 21st century and I find that so unacceptable and disappointing! 

These people have grown to develop a thick skin. They have had to. They are not used to being entitled and as a result they have had to adapt. Everyone acts in the best way they know possible in any given situation. And therefore if you are a black woman, you have had to get used to receiving certain comments.

I am extremely grateful to have had some beautiful friendships and romantic relationships with people from different ethnic backgrounds to me. What I have found is that I have learnt so much from these different cultures and perspectives. I have had  some of the most interesting conversations of my life and this has widened my horizons. 

Reflection on Black Lives Matter

The 2020 Black Lives Matter movement has really helped me to consider what I can do to help progress our society. I believe that changes have to come from the ground up, and it really is the little things we do on a day to day basis that make a difference. It’s no good waiting for a politician in power to make a change to a policy that will overnight change attitudes. The world does not work that way.

As an individual I believe I can be conscious of my behaviour and my language and I believe we can all do this. I can call out people when they are casually racists and I have done this multiple times. I am committed to continuing to do this and I am not afraid to make someone feel bad for saying something inappropriate. This goes for any kind of discrimination or casual ‘funny’ comments that are really coming from a lack of education and old fashioned behaviours.

As a business owner I believe I can promote diversity in my business. This is through who I employ and also how I portray my company through marketing. Ensuring every single person gets an equal opportunity to succeed in business, regardless of their skin colour is so important. I see companies like H&M making a good step in the right direction through their use of models and in their advertising and I support these changes to promote inclusion.

However the truth is that we have to over index on this kind of behaviour to make a difference. We need to make extra effort to even get half way there. And this can be hard at times and feel like progress is slow.

The truth is that people relate to others that are like themselves. Whilst we have many white (middle class) males in positions of power, they will continue to promote and grow people of a similar background to themselves, because they can relate to them more easily. We need people who are going to step outside of the norm and actively look to encourage people who are different to them, with absolutely no discrimination.

I am open and keen to hear ideas and guidance of what things we can do to make the changes we need to see in this world for our future generations.

My vision for our future

My vision is to hold a leadership conference, which is fully diverse and inspires people from all different backgrounds because we can all relate to someone’s story. 

My vision is to bring up my family in a world where they are surrounded by people of different cultures so they learn so much, but have absolutely not a care in the world about someone’s skin colour. 

My vision is for the leaders of our world to be made up of different cultures and backgrounds, working together to a common goal of peace, love and happiness.

This may sound aspirational but I am determined to do my bit to get there…

Jennie, With Love xx