10 Questions to Separate the Performer from the Accomplice
By Lena Kazer, Dana Variano, Ayannah Crawley, Elyse Dickson
In the past few months, Black advocates have dramatically increased public awareness of racist policies and systems of oppression, bringing Black rights into the forefront of mainstream news in the United States. With social media driving conversation and mobilization, the Black Lives Matter movement has called for an end to silence about racial inequity that many individuals, organizations, and corporations are not equipped to respond to with accountability in real time.
The result is endless communications blunders: acts of solidarity in the form of performative activism, reactive initiatives with no sign of long term commitment to fostering an anti-racist workplace, and Black employees being tokenized by their employers instead of being empowered and given equal opportunities as their non-Black counterparts, among other avoidable missteps. These blunders do great harm and work against systemic change, because they do nothing to build inclusion or a culture of equity, and put unnecessary emotional labor on our Black colleagues.
It takes more than a style guide or set of best practices to communicate and engage in an accountable way. These tips are intended to help guide your thinking as you decide how to engage in conversations about complex social issues like systemic racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Before we dig in, we want to note that to truly accomplish this, we must also engage in self-reflection, actively listen to the voices we aim to amplify, and do the work to unlearn harmful habits.
Because self-reflection is crucial to improving our communications, we asked RALLYers — what do we need to ask ourselves before posting to a blog, email list, or social media channels?
Here’s what we came up with:
1. Who does this serve?
Be honest with yourself — are you sharing this to empower others, to educate your network, to share resources? Or are you serving yourself and your image/brand?
2. Have you done your research?
Before posting information supporting a fund or a movement, make sure you validate your sources and ensure it aligns with your values and is also accountable to their community.
3. Is this hashtag appropriate?
On most social media platforms, hashtags are used for not just monitoring trends, but sharing important information and updates. In a time of crisis, a hashtag can be a lifeline. Before using one, check to make sure you’re participating in the right conversation, and avoid using trending hashtags to relate your content to a movement or issue to which it’s not related.
4. Who is featured in this post?
If you’re sharing a photo taken at a gathering of any kind, consider how posting the photo will affect those people. Are you putting them in danger? Invading their privacy? As a rule, never share images of large groups of people at protests with identifiable faces.
5. Who might this harm?
Are you sharing a graphic photo or video that can potentially traumatize someone in your community? Be sure to use “CW” for content warning or “TW” for trigger warning if posting or speaking about sensitive content.
6. Whose voice are you elevating?
Before you share a post, dig deeper into who created the content. Do they own the content? Are they qualified to speak about this issue? Are they credible in their community? Are you amplifying their voice because you have a connection to it and have learned from it, or to use it as social capital?
7. Do you have permission to share this post?
Before you repost any content, ask permission from the creator, and make sure you understand the conditions. Have they requested compensation for their work, and have you provided it? Have they asked followers to avoid sharing the posts if their networks are likely to direct hostility at the author? Sharing someone else’s work comes with responsibility, so be attentive to the requests of the authors you admire and hope to elevate. Always properly credit the creator in your caption, and repeat their requests for compensation and/or credit in your caption.
8. Are you calling someone out?
Could you call them in, instead? Rather than sharing your concern in a public forum that prompts escalating responses, could you message them personally to explain to them the impact of their statements or actions? What are you getting from calling them out publicly? Does it serve you or your purpose?
9. Are you willing to be accountable?
Great messaging is inherently provocative. When you make a statement and take a stance on an issue, others will inevitably disagree. Prepare yourself to respond to comments or questions thoughtfully, not impulsively. If you make a mistake, don’t erase it or archive it. Acknowledge it, explore it, and work through it with your community by owning your impact.
10. What role do you play?
Consider your role in the conversation — are you a leader in this space, or an ally, or a community member? Let that guide what voice you use, how much you step up/back, and what resources you share.
This list is, of course, not exhaustive. What questions do you ask yourself before sharing content?
The questions and tips we’ve shared are just the beginning. By actively listening and learning before we act, we can communicate in a way that is culturally competent, and centers authenticity. We can build awareness of blind spots that we may have otherwise ignored, and own the impact of our actions by intentionally starting — and continuing to nurture — difficult conversations with ourselves and our teams.
Thank you to our clients and partners who are on the frontlines supporting the communities most affected by systemic violence right now.
RALLY is an issue-driven communications firm | Certified force for good by B Corporation
Our team consists of experts in political, media, and digital strategy. Get inside our brain: click here to sign up for the official newsletter. Learn more at wearerally.com.
