Our Call to Act: CCC and the Black Lives Matter Movement 

Dear CCC Members and Supporters,

As I read my friend’s email, it stopped me in my tracks. Carol, from the UK, was planning to visit me with her 14 year old son. In this message she asked me, “Is it safe, for James?” She was referring to the fact that her son is Black.

This was 2016, and she’d seen the news over the years about the racism in the US, stories about Black men and youth being harmed by the police as well as others who are prejudiced. 

My heart sank. But did I take action? No, I didn’t.

Now I am a pretty vocal person, but I usually avoid speaking about highly charged topics, for fear of causing offence. However, after the events of the past few weeks, I realize now that not speaking about this issue is far more harmful. This is a humanitarian crisis. And silence implicitly supports systemic racism.

So first, I want to reiterate that the CCC is, and must always be, a welcoming and caring place for everyone. 

Secondly, I want to say to our members and supporters who are people of color, you are important to, and valued by, the CCC community, and while I cannot truly know how you feel, I do want to listen, and I do want to take action to ensure that we provide you with whatever support we can.

Thirdly, I want us, as a group, to ask ourselves, what can we do?

Each of us has a voice. Each of us has a workplace, clients, LinkedIn connections and social media networks, friends and families. Individually, we each have some influence. If we all work together, we CAN have an impact, we CAN help to drive change. The CCC, like other organizations, can and should play a part in overcoming racism and prejudice.

Here are suggested actions that I’d ask each of us to consider:

• Read and learn so you can more deeply understand (see resources below)
• Add your ideas about how we can have an impact to this Linkedin post

Here are some resources that can help:

• BLOG POST: What Can I Do to Help? by Kofi Asante
• STATISTICS: 12 Charts show how racial disparities persist across wealth, health, education and beyond, USA Today
• RESOURCES / ORGS TO SUPPORT: Things to do to Support Black Lives & Protesters, Tayo Rockson
• VIDEO: Career Thought Leaders Video about understanding implicit bias, Michelle Carroll & Marie Zimenoff
• FREE TRAINING: Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for All, from Linkedin

Thank you,

Sabrina