What to do and not to do for Black History Month

Black History month in the US starts in a week. But we know a lot of people in HR or marketing are still wondering what they should do. 

They are worried that doing something seems (or more accurately perhaps is!) performative.

But doing nothing just feels...wrong. 

At this time the calls start rolling in and don’t stop until the very end of the month, so we thought we’d share some advice…

Black History Month aims to promote and educate others about Black history and culture in and celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black people to the social, economic, and cultural development of the States.

There is an ongoing debate about what to do for Black History Month because while it is a powerful and necessary recognition of Black culture and a reminder of our painful history, it has become a tokenistic gesture as organisations try to pile a large portion (sometimes even majority) of their race-related activity into 28 days.

While many organisations have been running several initiatives, campaigns, and events every year for Black History Month, if your organisation hasn’t, rather than scramble to put something together,  it’s far better to not take performative action.

Here are five things you can do instead!

Don’t hold an event, sponsor one instead
People who are interested in Black history and/or anti-racism will be flooded by worthy, interesting things to do in this one month. Instead of adding another one to an already extensive and perhaps overwhelming list, find a worthy organisation - a not for profit or small business - that is holding an event. Amplify their event by promoting it on your well-trafficked channels. You could also ask your Black employees to nominate an event or organisation to sponsor. 

Plan and announce your commitments for the next year
The point of dedicating a month or a day to a group that does not get a fair share of resources is to focus attention on them. IT has been two years since the tragic death of George Floyd. Leaders said that they were listening and reflecting but we must now ask what did they hear - and what have they done? If not that much, now is the time to act on what you learned. 

Now it’s time to take action and demonstrate how you will use that information to create and promote an anti-racist culture at work.  Use this time to look at your strategies for Black inclusion, interrogate your policies for unintended bias and plan the actions to address them for the next year. Share with your team that this is the time to develop a plan to build the strategy and implementation plan. 

Do not ask your Black employees for extra labour, offer to support them instead
This could mean donating to a cause they support, hosting something they request or if they do want to do something themselves paying them a bonus for their efforts and giving them work release to get it done; making sure it reflects positively in their performance review. In short, reward people for the extra work they do to improve the culture of your organisation - it delivers tremendous value and should be treated as such. 

Build your networks and introduce your employees to them
This month is a fantastic opportunity to diversify your organisational networks and look to build partnerships with Black institutions, community networks, and Black-owned businesses. Although we suggest doing this before or after Black History Month as they will be very busy this month. Take this month to research the organisations you want to be in contact with and get in touch in March. Set up meetings to find out more about what they do and explore if there are any initiatives you can support them with. Also, take the opportunity to introduce your employees to these networks.

For example, if your organisation provides funding to small businesses or perhaps even markets to small businesses look at building connections with organisations like the NAACP who provide empowerment programmes for Black businesses and entrepreneurs.

Or if you work in the media industry why not build a partnership or amplify the work of the Black creators’ network?

You could look to Black professional networks and look to engage with them at an event like the BYP Network Leadership Conference for Black professionals across the UK & US.

If you are holding an event, pay people you invite to speak
If you’re inviting a Black expert to speak or contribute to an initiative you are creating, it is entirely contradictory to ask them to do this for free while telling your external and internal customers that you celebrate underrepresented groups and recognise that inequalities exist.

Ironically Black experts and leaders are constantly asked in February to work for free or in exchange for exposure which gives the message that their time or expertise is not valued. So seek to pay the experts that you reach out to.

Whatever you do,  do something that adds value to your Black employees and their lived experience at your business rather than engaging in performative activism.