Recently, I wrote a post about the "expandable pie."
You can read it here.
The gist was that people like me with compounding privilege (e.g., White, male, straight, cis, wealth, network, etc.) have many opportunities that people who have multiple marginalized identities don't.
But instead of recognizing this, we perpetuate the meritocracy myth that it's an even playing field.
And if it's an even-playing field, then we must protect what ours, be fiercely competitive, hoard resources and opportunities, hold people down to lift ourselves up, operate with a scarcity mindset.
Because the pie is finite. There are limited pieces of pie. I'm not going to starve so you can get fed!
Make sense, right?
Uh, no!
Part of my work is speaking on antiracism and related topics.
As a White person, I have a relevant voice in the space. And I will continue to offer my services.
And, I'm not always the best choice. Often, the best choice is a Black person. For many obvious reasons.
Madison Butler and Reese Byrne recently launched the Black Speakers Collection, a database of hundreds (thousands?) of qualified Black speakers.
Looking for a Black speaker? Hire (and pay!) one here.
The pie is expandable. Let's all eat.