It’s been almost eight months since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, setting off a tense summer of protests and a national reckoning over race, privilege, and unequal treatment, both inside and outside the law. Things long simmering just below the surface seemed to boil over and as a country we mourned, reflected deeply, engaged in tough conversations, and vowed to make changes to how we approach race and what it means to achieve true justice.
Recent events in Washington, DC only brought the need to address these issues into sharper focus. It was a tragic day in terms of the lives lost, the attempted undoing of our democratic republic, and the reminder that there’s a subset of Americans who believe their lives are inherently more valuable than others’.
I hope the shift in our nation’s leadership going forward will help us come together, address some of the inequalities we protested over the summer, and push mass movements of hate into the past. But these things won’t happen overnight. There isn’t a switch that can be flipped in the White House to make them so. It will take work, and it will take all of us. But what does that “work” look like?
Personally, I don’t have a massive platform. I don’t have the ear of any congresspeople. I don’t have a Super PAC. I’m not a grassroots political leader. And I’m not in charge of a major media outlet. But I do run a small but mighty creative agency—which means there are things I, and we as a team, can do to chip in.
Representation is just one component of a more equitable society, but it’s an important one. It’s also something many of us in decision-making positions at companies big and small are able to control.
We’ve always championed diversity at Catalyst, and have made a point to prioritize inclusivity in the events and experiences we put together for ourselves and clients. But there’s also room to learn, grow, and be better. The experiences of the summer certainly made us take inventory of ways we can contribute to a society free of structural limitations, where everyone has a seat at the table.
Which is why I was so thrown off during a major digital event I attended several months ago for a platform our company uses everyday. On panel after panel, breakout session after breakout session, the speakers were overwhelmingly white, and overwhelmingly male.
Noticing this made me think about whether any real change has taken place as a result of our collective focus on equality. Despite what I was seeing, I think the answer is yes.
The mere fact that I feel compelled to write a post like this and share it with our audience is a form of proof. Even though a lack of diverse representation in such a setting is something I would have certainly noticed and judged in the past, I might not have felt comfortable using my platform to discuss it, and I might not have looked so deeply inward at myself and my own company as a result.
Am I personally continuing to do the work? Are we, as a creative agency, lifting up marginalized voices in the client collaborations that we do? These are questions that are impossible to answer. In both contexts, the moment we answer “yes,” is the moment we grow complacent. And that’s not something I’ll allow of myself, nor will the members of the CatalystCreativ team tolerate of themselves.
In 2021, we’ll be working with HBCU professors to develop curricula around the Seventh Level, to help graduating students enter the workforce and immediately excel in whatever path they pursue. We’re also helping a major brand produce a digital event centered around championing diversity and inclusion—and will share more on this once we’re able to do so.
We’re proud to play a small part in these endeavors, but we don’t want to stop there or feel like our work is done because of it. Similarly, this post isn’t meant to put anybody else on blast. (I didn’t name the event for that reason!) It’s more about building accountability for ourselves. Community is everything to us—and community is about togetherness and inclusivity. If we slip up, we want to know about it. We don’t want to only talk a big game, we want to walk the walk.
Our team is off today—MLK Jr. Day—to reflect, remember, and look ahead to a brighter future. We hope you’ll join us in doing so, because a better world is possible, but it won’t happen on its own.
