Turning the Fire Inward, Part 2 for DEI Professionals | S2, Ep 10
DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is a relatively new field facing many challenges. This week, in Season 2, Ep 10 of the podcast, I discuss the critical role of DEI in the workplace and why it’s so important to direct our collective fire as professionals toward the disruption and the dismantling of white supremacy. I explore the external forces at play, from political pressure to structural challenges and retrenchment. I also discuss how we use each other's work, particularly that of Tema Okun, whose ground-breaking work names white supremacy culture. At this moment, we can either turn that fire in on ourselves as a field, or we can direct our passion for racial justice toward white supremacy and disrupt it in all of its forms. This week's episode is an encouragement to those who do DEI-related work, regardless of title. Our work is important, and it matters.
Topics discussed in this episode:
1- Today’s topic: encouragement to those who do DEI-related work, regardless of title. [0:00:49]
2- The moment that’s happening in our field and our two options for responding. [0:01:22]
3- Unpacking the pressure that we're under right now in this historical moment. [0:02:00]
4- Retrenchment, structural challenges, and layoffs inside organizations. [0:03:42]
5- How the work of others like that of Tema Okun on white supremacy culture is misused. [0:05:05]
6- Why we need to direct our collective fire toward white supremacy. [0:08:05]
7- Recent critiques of DEI and the question of whether or not tearing down the field will move us closer to disrupting white supremacy. [0:09:57]
8- The role DEI plays inside institutions. [0:11:48]
9- A practical thing that you can do to turn the fire toward the disruption and the dismantling of white supremacy. [0:13:13]
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Turn the Fire Inward, Part 1 - For Progressives | S2, Ep 8 [0:02:33]
- White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, Carol Alexander. [0:03:07]
- Demand for Chief Diversity Officers Is High. So Is Turn Over [0:03:52]
- White Supremacy Culture - (divorcing) White Supremacy Culture: Coming Home to Who We Really Are [0:05:12]
- Tema Okun on her Mythical Paper on White Supremacy (podcast) [0:06:20]
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
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