Earlier this week, I decided to take a stand against the racism in my workplace. I have never had much faith in this company and that has not changed, but I felt I could no longer merely watch as my less privileged colleagues of color were subjected to various forms of inequity. (In other words, I am not particularly concerned about the company’s future, except insofar as it becomes a safe place for employees of color.) At this point, I have no idea if my efforts will amount to any meaningful change, since the factors required to enact change are largely out of my control – I have no institutional power at this workplace – but I hope this will be a start.

This post is the first in a series of blog posts to chronicle my experiences, mostly for my own records, but if any fellow POC are reading this and have undertaken similar efforts, feel free to @ me on twitter because I would love to hear your insights.

I have never taken the lead in an anti-racist movement at work, though I participated in one at my previous workplace. My plan in this situation is to combine what I learned from mentors and friends, personal experience, and studying the work of activists on my own time. Along the way, I hope to convince the company to bring in professionals who can do a much more effective job at implementing and enforcing necessary changes.

Below is a working (read: very rough) outline of my plan.

• Connect with POC colleagues and determine who wants to participate
• Establish rules for confidentiality and communication
• Identify and reach out to potential white allies, but hold off on inviting them to any group discussions until all participating POC have ok’d
• Create a common list of concerns requiring immediate action
• Create a common list of acceptable solutions to our concerns
  • Identify solutions which can be immediately presented to the company (i.e. solutions the company is not likely to flat-out refuse)
  • Identify solutions which can be presented later (i.e. solutions which might be more acceptable to the company after some progress has been made)
• Meet with company representatives to communicate our list of concerns and solutions (initial meeting to be POC only, white allies to be brought in later)
• Set a date/timeline for the next meeting (to show them we are committed) and wait for the company’s response (likely to take some time at this workplace)
  • Use written communication to check in w/ company representatives if response is slow in coming or they appear to be trying to brush it off
• Continue group dialogue about common concerns and acceptable solutions à identify ongoing, urgent, and/or new issues
• Upon receiving company’s response, discuss as a group our next steps

I fully expect this list to evolve, particularly as I connect with more colleagues and, hopefully, receive their input about how to move forward. Since we have not had our first meeting with the company yet, it is hard to say what the future holds, but I plan to do my best and I hope to see the same from any colleagues who choose to join me.