Celebrating our differences and showing you (truly) care about inclusion
Celebrating the diverse talent in our industry is a great way of creating heroes; role models that other people can look up to. We invited Tim Hykes to write about his project “28 Days of Black Designers”, and share his perspectives on Inclusion.
dif·fer·ence: a point or way in which people or things are not the same; alter (a coat of arms) to distinguish members or branches of a family.
It’s two old grandmothers later, and you would think the black community would not feel like they are still shackled in chains. There has been a lot of upward mobility in society, but in most blacks eyes the context is still the same, but the story and settings are different.
This is shockingly accurate in the design industry.
In our industry we feel we are more progressive and forward-thinking than any other industries, but in most cases, we are pretty much the same. This is due to a series of factors: unconscious bias, monster egos, and the recurring unwillingness to step outside of the award-winning white box.
But if we want to destroy these one-sided views, it is important to raise awareness, celebrate, and develop well-balanced diverse teams.
One very important factor that helps us change our industry is awareness.
Awareness happens through communication and your willingness to listen and fully understand the problem, why the subject feels there is a problem, how you might be contributing to the problem and possible steps to solve it. This is done well through storytelling and social media. We listen, and we cry or laugh, and we share — and in more successful cases we click through to find out more or donate.
Raising awareness is crucial because it allows individuals with and without voices to join their passion together to solve problems and make necessary changes. It unites communities and workforces. It tears down barriers and walls. Most of all: it shows we are all human.
Furthermore, when your workforce is happy, you make more money as pointed in the study performed by Jacob Morgan in his story Why the Millions We Spend on Employee Engagement Buy Us So Little in this week’s Harvard Business Review.
Why I decided to do something about it
Last year the 2016 AIGA and Google Design Census revealed blacks make up 3% of the design industry. Out of more than 7,000 participants in the United States, we barely make up a few hundred. This is a problem, but it’s also the start of solutions. This also helps solidify our feelings. 3% black acknowledge that we are not crazy. It showed us there is a problem and we are not well represented. This is why in 2017 blacks can say they don’t know any other black designers. This single digit number along led me to develop the 28 Days of Black Designer project.
The 28 Days of Black Designers project is a design project that focuses on the stories and work of African American / Black designers.
The black community lack stories and accomplishments of black artists. This 28-day project allowed the awareness and celebration of black designers during Black History Month.
What I found truly unique is that there is a common theme to all of the stories. While some designers are more distinguished than others, they all believe seeing more designers of color would help our industry be more accommodating to underrepresented populations.
Our inherent human need to connect
Celebrating creates heroes and role models that other people can look up to. It marks someone as the individual to beat or a goal that’s attainable.
Contrary to popular belief, we are more than just simple beings who enjoy fried chicken, watermelon, and grape soda (although, the grape soda is true).
People of color are experiencing a disconnect from each other and the industry. In 2017 I received an email from a fellow black designer who stated he felt alone being a black designer.
In an over-connected world, we still feel we are not valued, we still feel alone, and we have to work harder just to prove we are equal. The surprising fact of that statement is it is true. This is why celebrating people of color is so vital. Celebrating creates heroes and role models that other people can look up to. It marks someone as the individual to beat or a goal that’s attainable. It shows us we are part of the field and not spectators. Personally, it let us know that the work we do matters.
When celebration becomes a shield
Let’s make this very clear: do not use celebration as a shield for bigger systemic issues within your organization. People of color can, simply by walking into the room, realize that they don’t belong. This is why organizations have problems hiring people of color and developing diverse teams.
You can’t paint the illusions of inclusion.
The black guy sitting in the corner tells me he doesn’t feel included in his work environment. We are social people by nature, and we love attention. Why would you choose to sit in the corner when you feel part of the team and as an equal in the environment? If you want to build a team where everyone feels included first you need to build trust and understanding within the individuals who look and think differently.
As a black man, most of the time my white counterparts disagree with me because they do not understand the foundation on which my ideas or opinions are built.
You need to give it a shot even if it sounds crazy. Let’s explore as a team if I’m right or wrong. This is based on the “don’t hire your friends” theory. When you hire people who think the same as you do, look like you do, and act similarly to how you act, you will never have someone to really and truly challenge your opinion and views. Secondly, you will annoy the hell out of your teammates. You do not value me nor my opinion. You always shoot them down and never think what I say and do is correct. You are trying to mold me into you. That’s a valid thought, but that will only stifle your organization’s ability to grow, and attain the next level of great ness.
Show your team that you care
If you want a successful diverse team, you have to foster and sometimes force collaboration. You have to mold brainstorming and creative outlets. Build trust and co-working friendships. In other words, you have to make everyone in the team feel good. Even if that means forcefully taking me out to lunch once a month and joke with me until I open up and share how I feel about the environment. My boss allows me to tell him my issues in secret and he executes what I’ve said to him. That’s powerful. He speaks up for me without soloing me out. That allows me to jump in to bring confirmation to the conversations. In other words, he makes me feel part of the organization by showing me he cares.
You can build your team the same way.
With white privilege, you can help prove that I’m not just complaining. You can add value to our stories by opening the award-winning box to reshaping other ideas. As a designer, I can use the tools available to paint the pictures of unconscious bias and monster egos and show how they lead to more of the same while never changing our industry. In all we all have to get in the ditch and start digging and when you as a leader grab the shovel first you open doors for me to follow in the same direction. We all want to feel connected, and we all want to feel apart of the team but you cannot assume what worked will before will work in the future. Diversity is hard work, and there are levels to solving diversity issues, and if you are doing it right, there will always be the next chapter in which you will have to develop a plan to tackle new problems.
We invited Tim Hykes to be part of this series after learning about his inspiring project 28 Days of Black Designers. Celebrating talented designers helps create role models that other people can look up to.
