How To Do Better

How To Do Better

Kindness.
Clarity. 
Compassion.

True belonging and inclusion cannot wait. Marginalized folks cannot wait for people to ‘see the light’ or no longer have ‘hate in their hearts’ for their quality of life to improve. This is why HTDB uses a multi-pronged approach, targeting antiblackness and other ‘-isms.’

First, the HTDB community is deeply grounded in humanity. Kindness, clarity, and compassion are our praxis. Raised in a predominantly Black home in a predominantly white area, I’ve spent most of my life being the only (or one of the few) Black people in the room. Due to the particularities of my upbringing, biculturality is my native tongue, and inclusion is my natural habitat—lessons I’ve been teaching others.

To that end, my work as a Cultural Fluency Mentor is done one-on-one, creating a non-judgmental space. I help people surface and work through their confusing, frightening, and problematic feelings about race.

While most BIPOC have a lot of experience talking about race, both inter- and intracommunity, unfortunately, those with the most power to change racism’s toxic legacy often know the least about it. The majority of white people don’t like to talk about race, don’t like to think about race, and don’t know anything about it; they've not learned from each other and are woefully underprepared to have these conversations with people who live in racialized bodies.

One positive aspect is that white-bodied folks can learn from mentors like myself. However, a person’s antiracism journey is very much a personal one. Learning how to do better in ways BIPOC folks can experience doesn’t require it. For that, people just need to know how to respect boundaries in ways that humanize us.

I’m a skilled racial dialogue facilitator who has designed a program for creating organic, inclusive communities and organizational cultures—that have a passion for promoting diversity and inclusion. I call it, 'The New Civility.'