PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE ….
“I can’t understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand.
People are people,
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully”
(Bonus point for you if you know this song :p)
WHY DO I CARE ABOUT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION?
Diversity and inclusivity have always been something massively important for me. Why? Because I am a woman, skinned coloured and with Arabic roots. Which makes me part of some minority.
I am not gay, or black skin-colored, or from a disadvantaged social background. I can’t talk about what I don’t know, and I can’t talk about what I didn’t live myself. What I can do is, learn about it and take some actions.
I want to fight for the minority because I know how it feels like to be part of one.
HOW DO I FEEL, BEING MYSELF PART OF A MINORITY?
Something I have noticed is, no matter from which minority you are a part of, we all have something in common: we all felt, at some point, a sense of not belonging somewhere, feeling out of place and feeling utterly shitty about it.
It is heartbreaking. I felt that way. I don’t want anyone to feel like this anymore.
It is ok to feel upset, to cry a little bit about it because this is a hard world. As long as you get up and don’t let it drown you, it is fine.
What people think of you doesn’t define what you can achieve or who you are. If someone doesn’t see the value you can bring just leave. You deserve better than this.
YOU ARE STRONG! YOU ARE UNIQUE! YOU ARE SMART! YOU ARE WORTH IT!
I want you to say this over and over again until you mean it, alright?
Just remember that you are not alone and that people are taking actions every single day for a better world.
It is not going to be an easy or fast process. If we all take some actions, even the smallest ones, we can make things change.
Diversity and inclusion are nothing if you don’t talk about it, and if you don’t take actions.
Step by step, we can get there.
By the way, you don’t need to come from a minority to be a valuable ally in the fight for inclusion and diversity! For instance, I am not an LGBTQ+, but when I got the chance to collaborate with organism who help the LGBTQ+ cause, I said yes straight away. Why? Because I knew that, by sharing something on my sociales media, my network will get access to it. If only one person on my network can understand better or get curious about LGBTQ+ because of this, this will be a big victory!
So tell me, how are YOU going to use YOUR POWER to make this world a better place?
Yes, even if you think you don’t have any power, you have (at least) one: the ability to control your mind and your life.
Are you a parent? Educate your kids to be open-minded.
Are you a CEO? Show your collaborators how open-minded you are.
Are you a human being? Be nice to people. (If you are not a human being and can read this, please DM me haha)
We all have privileges and power. Let’s use them wisely to make some good in this world.
At the end of the day, we truly all are in the same big boat.
“OK Sophia, great you want us to act, but are YOU doing something?”
To be transparent with you, I am not doing as much as I would like to do. As I said, I am starting step by step, and I hope to do more and more.
In my position, I can take action on my day-to-day work by making sure that I am as honest, open-minded, and as kind, as I can be. I want every single person to feel comfortable talking to me.
My only criteria to hire someone, other than having the required skills, is to be a nice person.
Because we are different, we can create great things. Because we all have such different backgrounds, we can grow together and learn from each other.
When at work, we can all make a difference. Be diverse, be inclusive. Talk about it.
Everything starts with a small step. Just take it.
And, Always remember “Be confident, Be you!”
Lots of love,
Sophia
