Activists Rise Up!

I recently had an amazing opportunity to be in a room of Black women activists, leaders, and entrepreneurs to address how we can come together during these politically divisive times to fight the dismantling of our rights and wave our activist flags to signal our commitment to push on.

Any opportunity I have to meet and work with activists on the front lines fighting for social justice, I’m in! This is my second time meeting Tamika Mallory, a social justice leader, movement strategist, and now new author of “I Lived to Tell the Story.” Her book takes a deep dive into her journey as a Harlem-born girl, raised by the Blackest of Black power parents to becoming the activist and voice of our time. She is a force and example for us all to follow as we continue to fight for equity and equality in these challenging times. Why? Simply put, she’s not scared! And she has strong, wise mentors to back her up. Mentors who have stood firm to support and guide her as a young, Black, woman activist leader, pushing back on the opposition (which at times were those standing on the same battle lines with her) to preserve her place in this movement. Joining her in the room were mentors Cora Masters, Melanie Campbell, and Monica Ray. And if you don’t know who they are in Cora’s words “Google us!” 😂

Black, brown, and Indigenous people, LGTBQ, and women are at a crossroads in this country. We are waking up every day to one stride after the next being rolled back. Rights that took us centuries to obtain are being stripped in the name of so-called “equality for all.” Let that marinate for a moment. Equality, equity, and a fair chance have never been more out of reach for us than now. Black people only just acquired equal rights 60 years ago. Look at the vast disparity in Black homeownership, access to equitable education, and health opportunities. Those disparities are due to systemic barriers that kept us out for years and years and years. And today, we are losing rights that were rights afforded to us to address and close these gaps to ensure an equitable society for those left behind.

I hope you’re wondering what are some of the things you can do to lift your activist voice. Let’s start with the widespread boycotts of companies rolling back DEI policies to appease our political administration. Here are the companies actively rolling back their DEI policies and creating new agendas to remove diversity from their internal operations.

So, staying quiet and allowing this to happen, not a chance. This is the work that gets me out of bed every day and into the community to raise our activist voices. We will not sit back and allow our rights to be taken, our history to be erased or our future to be destroyed. Let’s do this work together. Let’s collab. 💪🏾