{"id":57834,"date":"2022-02-01T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/?p=57834"},"modified":"2022-01-31T21:15:42","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T02:15:42","slug":"celebrate-black-history-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/blog\/celebrate-black-history-month\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month All Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone, I’m Royce \ud83d\udc4b<\/p>\n

I’m the Head of HRBP, Diversity Equity, and Inclusion at Drift. That means I focus on improving business performance through building equitable HR programs that attract, grow, and develop employees.<\/p>\n

Like many companies, our team has been doing a lot of preparation for Black History Month (BHM). What’s top of mind for me is ensuring the energy and attention used to curate BHM programs are carried forward in our actions to elevate the employee experience throughout the year.<\/p>\n

When I think about BHM, it always takes me back to elementary school. For me, it was a time to learn and celebrate the achievements of people that look like me and my family.<\/p>\n

It was also a time for me to shine. I eagerly looked forward to the opportunity to educate my classmates who were less familiar with history that included the achievements and lived experiences of Blacks in the U.S. and beyond.<\/p>\n

Because Black history is world history, too. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I am grateful now, as I was then, for the dinner conversations, expanded literature, and even board games (shout out to Rise ‘N Fly<\/a>!) with my family that emphasized the critical role Black Americans have and continue to play in our history \u2013 U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Black History Month in Corporate America<\/h2>\n

When I reflect on celebrating Black History Month in a corporate setting, the feeling is familiar to that of my youth, and I imagine I am not alone.<\/p>\n

There is a sense of pride in celebrating Black Excellence \u2014 despite the systemic hurdles we have faced and continue to face. At the same time, there is the burden of being the de facto team educator. In (home) offices across the country, Black employees are being pinged, \u201cany ideas on how we should celebrate BHM this year?\u201d<\/p>\n

I have certainly felt this burden in previous organizations. BHM and other heritage months can become an afterthought without a corporate commitment to DEI.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The challenge for corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs is balancing 1) how to celebrate BHM in a way that represents the spirit of the occasion, while also 2) providing context to our colleagues in a way that authentically represents the lived experiences of the Black and African diaspora in a global, often digital, corporate setting. And lastly, understanding how we can use these two experiences to further our mission of an inclusive and equitable workplace.<\/p>\n

Dig Deeper, Look Closer, Think Bigger<\/h2>\n

While there is no easy solution, let me offer this suggestion. Let\u2019s focus our energy on progressing the conversation from the narrow view of historical Black achievements to a broader call to action \u2014 improving the Black employee experience throughout the entire calendar year.<\/p>\n

To begin, I encourage each of you to take some inspiration from the U.K.\u2019s BHM mission statement, “Dig deeper, look closer, think bigger\u201d and carry the energy of Black History Month forward into practice.<\/p>\n

So what can we do?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Recognize that Black history is our collective history, and in many cases, it is recent history.<\/strong> For context, the bravery shown by Ruby Bridges<\/a> (age 67) and Katherine Johnson<\/a> (deceased Feb 2020) occurred during our parents\u2019 lifetime.<\/li>\n
  2. Observe the highs and lows of the Black experience and understand how history still shapes our experience today. <\/strong>There are those among us that experienced the trauma of both the murder of Emmett Till<\/a> in 1955 and George Floyd<\/a> in 2020. And others who lived through the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, are now watching the U.S. Senate debate<\/a> on voting rights.<\/li>\n
  3. Educate yourself. <\/strong>Take time out to learn more about Black history; from the extraordinary<\/a> legacy to the mundane<\/a> day-to-day life. Learn more about allyship<\/a> and continue this practice throughout the year.<\/li>\n
  4. Proactively find ways to acknowledge Black achievements, amplify Black voices, and\/or be an upstander when the opportunity presents itself. <\/strong>Review The Manager\u2019s Pledge<\/a> and hold yourself accountable to foster an inclusive environment for all, even if you aren\u2019t currently a people manager.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How Drift Is Celebrating Black History Month<\/h2>\n

    I\u2019ll end this piece by saying that I\u2019m proud of the steps we are taking at Drift with activities and events that are unapologetically Black and for the culture.<\/p>\n

    I am excited to learn from Dr. CalvinJohn Smiley<\/a>, a critical sociologist and criminologist whose work focuses on issues related to race, inequality, and social justice. Dr. Smiley will be leading a discussion with Drifters on February 16 and to listen to Nicole Obi<\/a> of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) on The American Dream Podcast hosted by Elias Torres<\/a> (the episode drops on February 15). On top of that, our Black at Drift ERG has some great internal programming planned for the month. Two things I\u2019m looking forward to are the daily Black history fact via email, and being introduced to new Black-owned restaurants to try. We\u2019re encouraging Drifters to order from Black-owned restaurants and post pictures of their meals. I already know I\u2019m getting Dovi shrimp from Zweli\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    At Drift, we carry our BHM energy throughout the year by running our Black-owned business onboarding programs<\/a> and staying true to our commitment to continually inspect, audit, and improve the experiences of our Black Drifters and all of those who are historically underrepresented in Tech; women, Latinx, first-generation, LGBTQ+, and many others.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019re doing great work, but there is always more that can be done \u26a1\ufe0f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hey everyone, I’m Royce \ud83d\udc4b I’m the Head of HRBP, Diversity Equity, and Inclusion at Drift. That means I focus on improving business performance through building equitable HR programs that attract, grow, and develop employees. Like many companies, our team has been doing a lot of preparation for Black History Month (BHM). What’s top of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":92438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[79,42],"tags":[125,262],"acf":{"evergreen_content":false,"hero_image":{"ID":92437,"id":92437,"title":"Drift-Black-History-Month-social","filename":"Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","filesize":211538,"url":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","alt":"","author":"109","description":"","caption":"","name":"wp-attachment-wp-attachment-drift-black-history-month-social","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":57834,"date":"2022-01-31 21:43:28","modified":"2022-01-31 21:51:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1440,"height":700,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","medium-width":1440,"medium-height":700,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":373,"large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","large-width":1440,"large-height":700,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1440,"1536x1536-height":700,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":700,"third_width_square":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-324x324.jpg","third_width_square-width":324,"third_width_square-height":324,"profile_24":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-24x24.jpg","profile_24-width":24,"profile_24-height":24,"profile_48":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-48x48.jpg","profile_48-width":48,"profile_48-height":48,"profile_96":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-96x96.jpg","profile_96-width":96,"profile_96-height":96,"profile_150":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-150x150.jpg","profile_150-width":150,"profile_150-height":150,"profile_300":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Drift-Black-History-Month-blog_hero-300x300.jpg","profile_300-width":300,"profile_300-height":300}},"inject_into_header":"","related_posts":[{"ID":78341,"post_author":"259","post_date":"2020-10-20 08:00:50","post_date_gmt":"2020-10-20 12:00:50","post_content":"Back in June, our CEO, David Cancel, sent an email<\/a> to the company.\r\n\r\nDavid said, \u201cit shouldn\u2019t be normal<\/strong> in 2020 America for Black men and women to fear that by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they could be an Ahmaud Arbery, a Breonna Taylor, or a George Floyd. It shouldn\u2019t be normal. We need to all work to create a new normal.\u201d<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSince our founding, but especially in light of recent events, we\u2019ve taken time as a company to commit to fostering and demanding a community of diversity, inclusion, and respect. We\u2019ve taken the time to educate ourselves about the history of racism. We donated to causes like the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Color of Change, and more. And we\u2019ve committed to having an open dialogue internally<\/a> and externally about how we can support the Black <\/a>community<\/a>.\r\n\r\nBut none of this was enough. We still wanted to figure out how we could use our unique position \u2013 as a tech platform that helps accelerate revenue \u2013 to make a meaningful difference for Black-owned businesses.\r\n\r\nAround the same time, COVID data was released showing that Black business owners were the hardest hit.\r\n\r\n\"NYTimes\r\n\r\nSo we got to work.\r\n\r\n\"Drift_Black-owned\r\n\r\nWe applied an engineering principle \u2013 known as a tracer bullet<\/a> \u2013 to our outreach. In other words, we started with one business to see what we could learn, and created a repeatable process.\r\n\r\nOur goal was to create a lean and low-friction Drift onboarding workflow that Black-owned businesses can use, at the level they need, to increase their sales leads.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s how it works in action:\r\n

    Meet William Murrell<\/h2>\r\n\"William\r\n\r\nWilliam Murrell started his career as one of the very few <\/a>Black engineers at IBM, and went on to own Boston\u2019s largest and only Black-owned computer store<\/a>. In order to connect people with more Black-owned businesses, William started www.blackboston.com<\/a>.\r\n\r\nMy family came across William\u2019s website about 15 years ago when we were new to the Boston area and were looking for activities on weekends, events, and community news. I later met William after reading about his experience in tech and business, and over the course of the last decade we\u2019ve been in touch, cross-referencing sites and information, getting his views on events and Black-owned businesses. I first heard of David Cancel from William several years ago, and when I joined Drift as a Director of Engineering last year, William reminded me that he was already using Drift on his website \u2013 which receives 30,000 visits per month.\r\n

    Learn more about how William built his company and why he believes community is essential to helping BIPOC businesses grow in this episode of The American Dream.<\/h4>\r\n