Silence in the Time of Crisis
Why Posting a Black Square Is More Meaningful than You Might Think
The Crisis Series. 2020 has served as a breaking point for so many structures in health, justice, economy, and equality. I explore how individuals and companies can find lessons out of this year’s challenges to create a better world. Sign up for more here.
Last Tuesday, I woke up to my husband frowning into his phone. When he saw my eyes open, he turned to me and asked, “Should I post it?”
I knew immediately what he was talking about. The Black Square on Instagram. The one that signified allyship, or maybe fake allyship, the one that made space for black voices, or maybe clogged up the feed of important information about Black Lives Matter, the one that spawned posts and counter-posts, and in its wake left a confusion about what it means to take a stand.
“Post it,” I told him, even though I had decided not to post it. I had gone through my own ‘post it’ agonizing a few days earlier, as the protests unfurled and the anger built. I can’t recall the tipping point, but it became impossible for me to stay silent. I saw that tipping point on his face.
“I never post anything political,” he said. He stared glumly at the post he had ready to go, a black square with a “blackouttuesday” hashtag, one click away.
“That’s exactly why it matters that you post it,” I told him.
“I don’t know what else to say,” he said.
“You don’t really have to say anything.”
“It feels uncomfortable to post it.”
“Does it feel more comfortable to not say anything?”
“I’ll think about it,” he said and rolled out of bed to get ready for his day.
Thirty minutes later he emerged from the bathroom, hair slicked back, button down and swim trunks on in his daily quarantine look. He looked fresh, and he looked clear.
“I posted it,” he said.
One social post caused so much consternation in my household, and I’m sure many others. In a recent Zoom discussion with black marketing leaders held by AdWeek, Elisha Greenwell of Brand Citizens put it this way:
"The first time speaking up is the hardest; it gets easier to be bold. And the goal is to have everyone speak up, so there are no more 'first times.'"
Not acting on your value system can cause a sense of cognitive dissonance, “the unpleasant mental state that may result if someone really does have certain beliefs but thinks or acts in a way that contradicts them.” Or as Audre Lorde says in the essay that has been my guide in this time, “The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger.”
We’ve witnessed this struggle ripple across spaces that are personal and professional, through communities and companies. And I offer you here four reasons why posting the thing, which may look like the much maligned ‘performative allyship,’ might be more important than you think.
It’s an accountability partner.
The black square has opened the flood gates on two levels: itt’s made clear the individuals and companies who are silent, and it’s made clear the individuals and companies who are hopping on a bandwagon without taking action. Influencers posing at Black Lives Matter protests have faced backlash over their false allyship, losing followers and shamed on social media.
Companies are also being held accountable. Saying “Black Lives Matter” in an Instagram post doesn’t erase decades of not hiring or supporting people of color in the workplace, championing dominant white culture through advertising and media, or shoveling money into the coffers of politicians that actively oppose policy for equality.
On Instagram, the #pulluporshutup hashtag demands companies that post about Black Lives Matter to show their company’s racial makeup. Empty Square Action asks those same companies where they are donating. When companies fake it, they will be tasked with doing more.
It’s the gateway drug to action.
In our household, I’m in charge of charity. I worked in nonprofits early in my career and have always had a bent towards action. If there’s an issue, I donate. If you have a cause that’s meaningful to you, I’ll put down some cash. If you’re running a matching campaign, sign me up.
My husband usually leaves it up to me. But later that same afternoon, he popped out of his office to ask me, “Where should we donate?” Since he’s gotten over the hump of posting his black square, he’s been actively donating, sharing information, signing petitions. The first action is a catalyst.
The more companies engage with racial justice as well, the higher the bar is raised in terms of their response. The nature of marketing is to outdo the competition, so in an unwitting coup, each subsequent announcement from a brand requires more action. Ad Age is tracking company actions with headlines like “PayPal tops brand commitments with $530 million; Apple commits $100 million; YouTube commits $100 million.” May this influx of money create radical change, whether committed to nonprofits or to funding structural changes in industry verticals.
But donation is only the first step. Companies have been committing to reshaping their workforce, hiring more people of color, and committing 15% of shelf space to black-owned products.
It’s an expansion of the movement.
The less political a person or a company, the more important their voice is. When I post a political thing, it’s expected, but when my husband posts it, people take notice.
It’s also empowered him to have tough conversations in his communities. He observed that the surf community, notoriously local, stereotypically golden-boy, was posting surf pics and board reviews as if there weren’t protests marred by police violence a few miles away. And he began writing them notes, asking where they stood. A research study shows that, as a non-black person, he’s in a position of power to do so.
(P)articipants indicated they would feel more guilty and be more likely to apologize when confronted about a prejudiced response by a White person than a Black person (in the case of racism) and by a man than a woman (in the case of sexism)...When individuals argue in favor of their group’s interests, others are less likely to process their message; in contrast, individuals who argue against their group’s interest often surprise people and their messages receive greater processing. (Emphasis mine).
Unfortunately we are not our own best advocates; the breaking down of prejudice is stronger from someone in a position of power. As a diversity of people talk about Black Lives Matter, and witness in horror as the police force unabashedly attacks protesters, the message of police brutality and saving black lives has crescendoed. In less than two weeks the idea of defunding the police went from the front lines of protests to the front page of the New York Times. The first Wikipedia post for “Defund the Police” went up on June 4, only three days before Minneapolis committed to abolishing their police force as they know it.
It triggers self-reflection.
The process of allyship is one that requires a look at where you stand today, and how you’ve been part of a system.
I’m Dutch and Indonesian, a mishmash of colonial histories and complicity that has made me hyper-cognizant of deep, untold histories. Raised in the US, I’m mistaken for Latinx or South Asian or any number of other ethnicities, and am often subjected to the guessing game of where I’m actually from. My husband is Filipino and has been revisiting racism that he’s experienced. Both of us have been deconstructing how our skin colors and our histories play in a world in which whiteness dominates, often cruelly. I’m listening to the raw, painful stories of racism and breakdowns of a supremacist system in ways I never have before.
Crying with Anthony Mackie, the next Captain America, on the Tonight Show
And we’re not alone. Anti-racist books make up most of the best seller list. On all my social media platforms, black, white, Asian, indigeneous and Latinx voices grapple with race.
The corporate world is not immune. Companies claim they’re also soul-searching, like this statement from Adidas:
"The events of the past two weeks have caused all of us to reflect on what we can do to confront the cultural and systemic forces that sustain racism. We have had to look inward to ourselves as individuals and our organization and reflect on systems that disadvantage and silence black individuals and communities."
CEOs who’ve made racist remarks or have created toxic workplaces for employees of color are stepping down, and new voices are being invited into spaces of power.
Coming out of the soul searching comes more effective change. When we go beyond donating and begin to examine how we are complicit in a harmful system, we can create cultural change. We cannot address race from a space of neutrality. None of us are exempt from this world and its systems of injustice. It’s a matter of choosing how we respond to it.
A Spectrum of Action.
This model intends to help companies assess where they are and how they can move to the next step, from a sad silence that some companies still occupy, to a statement, to donating money, to committing to change, to taking action, and finally to transforming their internal culture and their category. Some would argue that companies must act before they can make a statement; I would say, sure, but quiet action does not help us keep them accountable, so that a year from now we can demand receipts.
Black Lives Matter is catalyzing a deeper cultural transformation, upending long histories of colonialism and racism, not just in the US but around the world. It starts with breaking the silence, and it will continue for as long as we persevere.