Out of the blue

I thought I'd take a look this week at some work that's been ongoing amongst a group of charity chief executives who came together in March 2020 to tackle racism both within themselves and within their organisations. ACEVO have published a report on their progress here:

How can white charity leaders tackle racism?

A narrated version of this blog is available at the bottom of the page Sharing learning from a reflective practice approach to tackle pervasive whiteness and increase anti-racist action in charitie…

ACEVO

There's a lot to take away from it and I'd really recommend taking some time out from your day to read it all carefully - but, of course, as the authors, Akiko Hart and Rosie Tressler, make plain, reading a blog is no substitute for doing proper work yourself.

One of the stand out sentences for me was this one:

"What we did experience was witnessing a number of us CEOs honestly confront the guilt, the misunderstandings and defensiveness that might have been a barrier to their next steps."

Guilt, misunderstandings and defensiveness are the biggest barriers we need to overcome if we're to get anywhere so it's good to see this acknowledged. I also thought that the blog asks some important questions about the CEO role itself and whether it could be played in a different way to enact change: job shares, deputies, shared responsibilities.

It's important to read the ACEVO article in tandem with Jon Cornejo and Lena Bheeroo's response to it for Charity So White: Why White Charity Leaders Need to Talk About Race. They make the point that:

"In order to get to an anti-racist future, everyone in the charity sector must be able to reflect on their own role in upholding racist systems of oppression, and we need white people to deal with their own discomfort if we are to achieve any real change."

And it's vital that white CEOs step up to playing this role. If they're not working on dismantling white supremacy, then they're upholding it.

I've been really saddened by the way the inclusion of Laurel Hubbard in New Zealand's Tokyo Olympics weight lifting squad has been reported. This article discusses the real consequences this reporting has for all transgender people, particularly young trans women wanting to participate in school sports.

"Preliminary analysis of 111 articles on the day of Hubbard’s Olympic inclusion shows 33 (mostly from the UK) “deadnamed” her — meaning they deliberately used her pre-transition name. Referring to people as they choose to be known should be a basic principle of media ethics."

Why would you deliberately not use someone's actual name? Oh, I know why 👀

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

As we come to the end of Pride month, I enjoyed reading about Eve Adams, the Radical Lesbian Activist

This National Trust twitter thread celebrates all the places in their care connected with stories of those who challenged conventional ideas of sexuality.

The 1985 film, My Beautiful Laundrette, was filmed at various locations in Wandsworth and Lambeth. I'm pleased that this campaign has launched to mark it with a Rainbow plaque.

The 2021 Leading with Intent report was published with a particular focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Learning points 🎓

I was in a meeting the other day. It had already been scheduled to last for two hours without a break and was now over running. The Chair turned to Any Other Business. I was surely not the only one who was hoping and praying for Zero Other Business. But no, three people piped up with items which were just updates that could have been emailed round or linked to in the meeting chat. Anyone got any tips for a better/different way of handling AOB?

Day of the Week 📆

It was Mixed Heritage Day on 27 June.

What am I reading? 📚

I'm mid way through Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye, about a black schoolgirl praying for blue eyes like her white class mates 😢

What am I watching? 👀

Ade Adepitan's series featuring his travels in Africa is back on Iplayer at the moment. I was interested to see his interview with Bobi Wine who ran as a Presidential candidate in Uganda in the disputed elections of 2021. And I really want to visit Gabon one day to see the forest elephants before they're all gone.

BBC Two - Africa with Ade Adepitan, Series 1, Episode 2

Ade Adepitan travels from Gabon to Uganda, via the Democratic Republic of Congo.

BBC

What am I listening to? 👂

Joni Mitchell's album Blue turned 50 recently. It's one of those "greatest albums of all time" albums.

My favourite song – by James Taylor, Carole King, Graham Nash, David Crosby and more

Joy-giving things 😍

I loved this thread of different ways to begin stories from all around the world.

I think my favourite is the Esperanto one: "In a time already long past, when it was still of use to cast a spell…"

Have a lovely weekend

Lucy

PS And here's hoping it is still of use to cast a spell.

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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