Using Your Voice When the Words Aren’t Perfect
This post was published in July 2016.
Today I had originally planned to share the process behind creating a sustainable and zero-waste wedding.
But in light of everything going on in the U.S. right now, the idea of talking about ethically-made wedding dresses and locally-sourced food is not something I could stomach.
This place of paralysis is something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the past week.
How do we write, market, message and sell our businesses and brands when all of it seems so trivial to the very real issues that are unfolding around us?
Is it a betrayal to offer a sale, feature a product, post an Instagram, promote ourselves when so much of the world is grieving?
I’m not sure.
There are platforms like Design*Sponge that took a hiatus over the weekend from posting anything. D*S founder Grace Bonney shared a heartfelt letter explaining the decision for the two-day pause in content.
Other brands have continued with regularly scheduled programming but have also used their platforms to share posts of allegiance and words of support.
And then other companies have chosen to be silent, for whatever reason feels true to them.
Tragedy occurs all around the world, every day, and if we paused every time something bad happened, we would get nothing done at all.
But the past week has felt different. And I’ve felt different about what I wanted to say to you today.
As an American-born, white female, I not only have the privilege that came with the lottery of my birth, but I also have the privilege of being an entrepreneur with a modest platform to voice my opinions.
As fellow entrepreneurs, no matter what race or gender you are, you also have a platform in which to express your beliefs.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy to figure out what you want to say.
Last week my good friend and I were texting back and forth about how to address the murders in Minnesota, Baton Rouge and Dallas, as business owners.
The conversation went something like this:
“WTF is happening to our country?”
“I feel guilty doing other things and not saying something, but I don’t know what to say.”
“Isn’t it better to say nothing at all than to say something uninformed?”
“I feel like anything that comes out of my mouth sounds like I’m trying to be a better white person than the next.”
“Agreed. But then it’s like, get over how it makes you feel. This isn’t about you.”
And so it went…
I fully recognize how unfair it is that my friend and I are able to have (and leave) this conversation at all. For many Americans, this is the life they’re living. They can’t escape it.
For the past week, I’ve gone back and forth about what to write and what to say.
And yes, I considered saying nothing.
But what I came to realize is that it’s not so much about having the perfect words as it is about having a voice.
There are writers far more articulate than I, who are far more versed on these issues, and my instinct is to tell myself, “Leave it to them. They know more. They’ll say it better.”
But that’s not the point.
As entrepreneurs, we hold the expectation and the responsibility of being the changemakers, the freedom fighters, the revolutionaries.
If you have a public platform, then you are privileged in a way that so much of the world isn’t. And I want you to know that bringing your voice to this conversation, despite how awkward or scary it may be, matters.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
We can take action together towards fighting for justice and the fair treatment of our fellow humans — in a way that doesn’t sacrifice our brand, or go off message or lead customers astray.
Because when it comes to having a message, acceptance, tolerance and love are universal.
Additional resources:
This is the best piece I’ve found on the tangible action steps that can be taken to create change via The Huffington Post
Why do we stay silent when racism is all around us? By Nisha Moodley
Code Switch is a podcast that explores race and culture.
