Taking Action to be Anti-Racist
Mary Waweru, an influential voice who educates professionals on anti-racism, DEI, inclusive communications, social impact, and colonialism, shares her insights into taking action to be anti-racist.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Mary is the CEO and founder of Crest Impact, where she guides organizations to build safe and inclusive cultures, practices, policies, and communications. She has facilitated diversity training workshops and designed and delivered anti-racism and DEI courses online, in-person, and internationally.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts. While you're there, subscribe and leave us a rating and review if you enjoy the episodes.
1) Journey to Anti-Racism Work
Mary, who currently lives in Finland, started her anti-oppression journey in her homeland of Kenya in 2015 when she was visiting for three months.
Mary explains that at the time, there were many issues with domestic violence and abuse against children.
“We decided, you know what, we have had enough. [...] And we decided to protest.” - Mary Waweru.
Nowadays, Mary protests online.
The whole time Mary was working as a project manager in Finland, she was also creating content on anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
At the end of 2022, Mary’s contract was not renewed. This was a big time for transition worldwide. Many people experienced layoffs or restructuring. It is easy to let yourself be pulled down by transitions that are out of your control.
Not in Mary’s case. She had already been building something she was passionate about behind the scenes.
In January of 2023, she decided to take all the educational content she had created around diversity, equity, and social impact, combined with the gender equality work she had done back in Kenya and set up a business - Crest Impact. Which focuses on building anti-racist and inclusive work cultures.
I think Mary touches on an important point.
Don't let your brand be defined by the logo that's on your business card, rather let your name define your brand. That way when things happen that are out of control, you can lean into this thing that you love so much and truly make it your own.
2) Highlighting the Value of Racial Equity
I asked Mary how we get individuals and leaders in organizations to see the value of cultural humility, racial equity, and social impact in the confines of a team or a corporate organization.
“The first thing we need to do is welcome people who are not represented into these spaces.” - Mary Waweru
Mary explains that if we are trying to make people understand something new to them, we need to use different methods and be as authentic as possible.
When Mary does her DEI training in organizations there are some important questions that people need to understand:
Why are we doing the DEI training?
Why are we even having this discussion?
How does it affect our society?
How does it affect our brands?
How does it affect how our organization partners with other organizations?
Mary explains that we need to educate companies that if they don’t care about this, this is what’s going to happen.
“So even though we are not talking about the business case for diversity, we are talking about every single way an organization is going to affect the people within the organization, the people externally, and all the people who want to partner with them if they don't take this seriously.” - Mary Waweru
Another point that Dorothy makes is that is it very common to get flustered. You may be feeling a lot inside, but remain calm on the outside.
“If she had said at that time, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, did I overstep, she would have compromised her position. But she stayed calm, she stuck with what she believed to be her value. And in the end, what did she get? A much higher raise than if she had said 110 or 105.” - Dorothy Mashburn
Dorothy explains that there are two things to take away from this story:
Go big
Don’t fear the no
3) Creating Safe Spaces for Conversation
I was watching TV recently where a comedian asked an individual of the global majority to educate her on something. This individual refused and said they should do the work and figure it out. While there's absolutely a time and place for that, we have lost the ability to have conversations wherein we can start at the basics without judgment.
How can leaders create safe spaces where there are individuals at all different levels of understanding on these difficult topics?
Mary explains that we need to normalize having these conversations and that they don’t need to be scary.
In a safe space with a facilitator and prompts, people start to open up.
“This is how you make them see that this is something normal. It's something that we'll discuss with a leader next to me or someone at home. So normalizing conversations and allowing people to make mistakes and to make guesses, and even to be unsure.” - Mary Waweru
I hope reading this takes a bit of weight off your shoulders. So many times in these conversations we come from the perspective of ‘I don’t want to make a mistake’, but there is so much power in normalizing having those conversations where you feel like you can truly be curious and explore.
Mary explains that for large organizations with many different people, it is not enough to think that everyone will learn by themselves.
“Why wouldn't you give them the skills to communicate with each other? They need to make each other feel safe. When they go out representing you as a brand, they need to make the people there feel safe. [...] This is why I think organizations need to do something, so people stop feeling so scared about things that are unknown to them.” - Mary Waweru
It’s important to have experts to help facilitate those conversations because you can't just assign it as a side project to the only woman on the team or the only person of color on the team.
4) Not Racist vs. Anti-Racist
Something I hear a lot from my friends in corporate workspaces is that “I’m not racist.” This is not the same thing as being anti-racist.
“How does your being not a racist benefit a society that is having issues based on race and racism? How does that help us? [...] It doesn’t. You need to be anti-racist. There needs to be action. There needs to be commitment. There needs to be education and learning. Because then if you're just not racist, you're selfish.” - Mary Waweru
It’s amazing that you’re not racist, but now you need to take the next step.
Something else I keep hearing from leaders is that DEI is dead.
“You think DEI is dead? How would you like it if all the benefits and the freedoms you now have were taken away from you?” - Mary Waweru
Mary gives the example of advanced paternal and maternal rights in Nordic countries. How would people feel if these rights were taken away?
“People don't understand equity unless you're talking about how equity is important to them.” - Mary Waweru
Mary emphasizes bringing the conversation back to them.
“We need to speak about equity, and how it affects them, and how it will feel if we took it away from them.” - Mary Waweru
We usually say decentre whiteness, which is true but in this case, centering the conversation back on them is so powerful.
You have so much privilege. Do you even recognize it? And once you recognize your privilege, then you have no excuse not to act.
5) Fighting Confirmation Bias
Mary shared something so valuable.
“How does an African woman feel after she'd been invited and provided a safe space to educate the world? Joyful, peaceful, hopeful.” - Mary Waweru
Mary explains that she gets so much hope and excitement with every new group she teaches.
“They are not accustomed to seeing a person like me, speaking to them and telling them, this is the problem, but here's the solution. They have never heard of solutions from people like me.” - Mary Waweru
They assume that a woman from East Africa is going to look destitute and tattered. Mary explains that this is what they know about African women and so she talks about confirmation bias in her sessions.
“You have me here. And so you have to work to understand and fight that and say, You know what? Yes, we've heard that Africans are intellectually inferior, which is racism, but then we are seeing this East African woman here. She's telling us this is the problem. This is the solution. And it makes sense. So we need to go with what we are seeing how this people represent themselves, not how colonialism represents them.” - Mary Waweru
This is why Mary feels hopeful in the conversations she is having. Because she is there and they are listening. They are asking questions and speaking to her.
6) Don’t Walk Away From Discomfort
I often hear keynote speakers say, “I am going to make you uncomfortable.”
Lean into that discomfort and write down what made you uncomfortable. Take the time to reflect on this and then take action.
“It should be uncomfortable, you are talking about human issues. We're not talking about a party. We're not talking about a hobby. We are speaking about human issues. We are speaking about changing systems that have been here for centuries.” - Mary Waweru
Mary explains that proximity to people of color is not enough.
“When you come into Asian countries or African countries, these are people who have been socialized to see you as better. And I'm not saying that everyone thinks that, but this is how we're socialized. Because I grew up there, the assumption is to see people coming from European countries as better.” - Mary Waweru
There is the cultural expectation that we are supposed to make them feel comfortable.
“How can you tell me you learned lessons in situations where people were simply being hospitable and making sure you were comfortable?” - Mary Waweru
To understand when people are making too many accommodations to make you feel comfortable, Mary gives three pieces of advice:
1. Remember your privileges
2. Learn to say no
“People are making accommodations for you and making you comfortable all the time, say no to yourself and say no to these people because you are making them understand that it's okay and it's not okay for them to continue this.” - Mary Waweru
3. Don’t exploit people
To hear the full conversation, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 67.
About The Hosts: Archita And Olivia
ARCHITA
Archita Sivakumar Fritz is the Host and Producer of the Embracing Only Podcast. Archita is a MedTech and Life Science Strategist. She is a LinkedIn Top Voice for her insights into product strategy and nonprofit management, and the creation of inclusive cultures that champion a 'speak up' philosophy.
Following a successful 19+ year corporate career she now helps C Suite across organizations as a Fractional Product Marketing Leader through her company Ready Set Bold.
She works with individuals with 10+ years of corporate experience to find new paths away from toxic or underappreciative environments, enabling both personal fulfillment and broader organizational impact.
→ Grab your FREE resource to build your career transition here: https://embracingonly.com/cubicle-escape-blueprint
→ If you want to work with Archita you can reach out to her here: www.readysetb.
→ Book her as a speaker, moderator, or coach for your next company event or workshop.
OLIVIA
Olivia Grant Cream is the host and producer of the Embracing Only podcast. Nothing makes her happier than providing a platform to women who are changing the world.
Olivia is a proud US Veteran and HR Leader who is passionate about changing the face of corporate America by helping underrepresented people reclaim their power and live the life of their dreams.
She is an advocate for transitioning military members seeking second careers in the corporate landscape.
Olivia is a proud Jamaican and enjoys mentoring, coaching, classic cars, and nature. The way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
→ You can work with Olivia here: www.oliviacre
→ Book her as a keynote speaker or moderator for your next ERG or company event.