📹 Yapping like a foul mouthed motherfucker
If diversity is to have different perspective in the same room, inclusion is giving them a seat at the table, equity is when everyone is able to accessibly and meaningfully participate in the discussion.
I learned to yap when I started serving in a youth leadership role.
I first discovered talking as a tactic to overcome people interrupting me - I was 19 years old, the only racialized young woman in a room of older white folks.
When the men - almost always men who attempts to interrupt me - Take a deep breath and YAP. I could just talk and talk until he would run out of patience and sit the fuck back down. That is my cue to wrap up by pointing out his rudeness and yield the floor to the person who interrupted me.
They almost always have this stunned reaction - as if wondering why I had the audacity to grant him the right to speak after me. Instead of minimizing my voice, the power dynamic flipped.
It was clear that spaces built from a colonial mindset will always gatekeep and consolidate power structures. Individual efforts won’t dent the exclusion baked into colonial system. I never sought to conform, but to break intergenerational habits.
H/T @ that white dude feeling offended that I want to break colonial white supremacist systems IYKYK 🫶🏼 Why should we play by a system inherently built for your prosperity atop of our exploitation?
I will interrupt the colonial individualistic mindset on leadership: to me - community leaders aren’t supposed to dictate the community’s developments and actions, but to uplift and care for their people.
In growing community with people sharing values of equity, consensus building, and solidarity. We lean on one other, empower and value each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Nowadays seldom anyone interrupts me - but yapping remains a powerful tactic in my toolbox. I learned to speak different languages: politick to politicians; media lines to journalists; analysis and recommendations to decision makers. The delivery may come in form of a backhanded compliment, sharp criticism, or simply demand them to do better.
Looking back at ten years in leadership positions, my strength is - I can yap - and my biggest personal development is to shut the fuck up.
Here are some examples of how you can help those around you to use their voice impactfully and effectively! 📢
✅✅ DAILY ACTIONABLES ✅✅
Call out people who engage in interruptions and redirect the conversation back to the original speaker! Echoing the marginalized voices that were dismissed and explicitly acknowledged their contributions!
[name] what was it that you were saying?
Could you let [name] finish their thought?
[name] made an excellent point, I agree with [xxx]
✅✅ MID-LONG TERM ACTIONABLES ✅✅
➡️ Sign up for a bystander intervention training program!
➡️ Implement hands-on/skills training, mentorship, and leadership program
➡️ Examine your “wheel of privilege”, reflect on preconceived stereotypes you may hold, reflect on how you can wield your strength and power for community!
Comments ()