Change from the Inside: the meaning of this moment

“O, let America be America again — The land that never has been yet — And yet must be — the land where every man is free.” — Langston Hughes

The following is from an address I made at my company’s regional monthly meeting as founder of the EPIC employee resource group on June 11, 2020.

EPIC stands for Empowered People, Inclusive Culture. We are ‘Empowered People’ in the sense that we as individuals are able to make a difference within the collective. And ‘Inclusive Culture’ is what we practice. And it’s a practice because we never perfect it. There is always more to be done, more to learn, so we always keep pushing.

We may get tagged as the ‘people of color’ group, but we intentionally didn’t include that in our name. We wanted to focus on being catalysts of cultural change that then opens the door for folks who can authentically claim those spaces.

What have we done to date?

Without a budget, we’ve used our resources on smaller things. We started the Cultural Intelligence Project in January with monthly posts that have highlighted Lunar New Year, Black History Month, Autism Awareness Day, and AAPI Heritage — all topics that come from the GPJ community. EPIC members have volunteered to share a little bit about themselves and be vulnerable in hopes of educating their colleagues.

The name EPIC also sounds very big. And that’s on purpose. These topics are big topics, but at GPJ we embrace scale. Since we formed, my goal for EPIC has been to figure out a way we can leverage the unique skillset and platform we have as an experiential agency to activate our values. And that starts with having honest conversations about what our values truly are.

How can we do that? EPIC recommends the following:

• Creating space for community and listening to what they have to say, so that leadership understands where we’re coming from
• Enabling connections up, down and across the organization, and through different parts of the employee experience journey (recruitment, retention, promotion, training)
• Empowering employees with the resources to learn and share, while creating an environment that supports vulnerability
• And lastly, by being intentional and accountable, we are ultimately going create an enriching practice of inclusivity throughout the entire organization

Now that you know who we are, it shouldn’t surprise you that we have a perspective on current events and it’s this: to the Black community at GPJ, to our Black colleagues, clients and beyond — we see you, we support you and we stand with you.

The death of George Floyd not only sparked global protests, but it also demands a reckoning with the institutional and systemic racism that disproportionately affects Black people in America and across the globe. We are not saying that only Black lives matter — we are saying that we need to be better allies to Black people. The same way we’ve been extra careful about washing our hands, wearing masks and staying six-feet away from each other because of this deadly pandemic. In this sense, racism is the deadly virus and we must remain vigilant. Remember ‘flatten the curve’? Now is the time for us to take the necessary steps to ensure that we do no additional harm by doing nothing at all.

We find ourselves within a historic, global movement for equal rights, together. If you’ve been afraid to ask questions in the past or have been scared to participate — you don’t have to be anymore. We all have the opportunity to learn. Leadership is here and supports us. This is the moment for us to reflect on how we can use our own privilege and platform to be anti-racist, as individuals and as an organization.

So what can you do to fight global racism? There’s a lot. And it all starts with learning more about it yourself. One way we can all learn is amplifying Black voices. Whether it’s by attending a protests, making recurring donations, writing your local representatives — make sure you do.

And together as an agency: we should be supportive, patient and kind to one another, especially as we fail and learn. It’s a lot, but I’ve seen what we can do and we are good at driving to solutions that work!

Get started by visiting the BLM Resources Page, reading books on race and white privilege and learning how to be a better ally to your Black co-workers.

gpj.com | George P. Johnson is the world’s leading experiential marketing agency. We unleash the power of creativity to deliver experiences that elevate brands and drive tangible results. We’re part of Project, an independent network in service of creativity. Project’s agencies include Argonaut, Darkhorse, George P. Johnson, G7 Entertainment Marketing, JUXT, Motive, Partners + Napier, Praytell, Raumtechnik, Shoptology, Spinifex Group, and Wondersauce. Project.com