Beyond DEI: Learning the lessons of Black History Month

Above: Coretta Scott King speaks to students from the U.S. Embassy School in New Delhi, India,1969. Scott King was an early proponent of including LGBT rights in Civil Rights protections. . to

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the world outside our windows is still in deep hibernation — the sap still many weeks from rising. February is a quiet month in the natural world, a time of rest and reflection. So it feels fitting that it also holds Black History Month, which provides a time to reflect on the many lessons we can all learn from the incredible achievements, scholarship, and societal shifts we have Black Americans to thank for. 

This year, we want to encourage companies everywhere to not just share a few inspirational quotes by recognizable Black historical figures, or tout their DEI efforts. Instead, we’re calling on companies and organizations of conscience to learn from Black History and assess where and how they can better incorporate those lessons into their internal and external operations, policies and practices, and social responsibility and ESG work. 

This month, we’re amplifying some of the incredible work and thinking of Black leaders in this space; here are three ways to systematize Black-led thinking in anti-burnout culture, DEI, and CSR programs. 

Rest and Building an Anti-Burnout Workplace Culture

The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “Black Resistance,” which is central to the “rest-as-resistance” philosophy of The Nap Ministry, founded by Tricia Hersey. Whether it’s encouraging boundaries or building in time to rest during the day, Hersey emphasizes the need to slow down. The Nap Ministry was an early and heavy influence on Next Big Thing’s own business model and operations. Hersey’s work inspired us to systematize rest — in the form of a four-day workweek, flexible schedules, a two-week office closure at the end of each year, encouraging healthy boundaries at work, and generous no-questions-asked PTO. Rest became a central tenet of our values structure. In doing so, we built an anti-burnout culture into the foundation of our company from its inception. Our vision is to work with our clients to create a climate- and community-positive world. That requires imagination and dedication, and both require rest. 

Designing DEI Programs that Work

As an author and Vice President of Learning and Innovation at the Winters Group, Brittany J. Harris (also known as Brittany Janay) designs learning experiences that shift perspective. In this episode of the Forum for Workplace Inclusion’s podcast, she discussed the toll that working in DEI can have on Black people, and notes that DEI only constitutes harm reduction, not harm erasure. She also offers a beautiful love letter to Black people feeling burnt out by their DEI work. 

Forbes contributor Dana Brownlee outlines some reasons Corporate DEI programs fail to garner any of their supposed outcomes, and offers a recipe for designing programs that work. To start, 81.3% of Chief Diversity Officers are white. 

Organizations are designing DEI ‘solutions’ and strategies without the perspectives and leadership of diverse people, notes diversity, inclusion, and equity trainer and consultant Setche Kwamu-Nana. It is common practice for white people to be the decision-makers, then sometimes later look for BIPOC people to execute those decisions.

Take the 15% Pledge

Aurora James, the founder of the Brooklyn boutique Brother Vellies, launched the 15% pledge in 2020, calling on all major retailers to buy at least 15% of their merchandise from Black-owned businesses. But any company can accept James’s challenge by ensuring that at least 15% of its vendors are Black-owned, and even by moving a percentage of their assets to Black-owned banks, which are critical to the survival and growth of Black-owned businesses. 

These are just a few options for taking the opportunity presented by Black History Month to operationalize some of its lessons. Before you share a meme-ified quote or post recommended reading in that Slack channel, look deeper to see if there are ways — large and small—that your workplace can better incorporate equity, justice, and communal care into its own culture.