"All good action starts with right intention." -Sonya Renee Taylor
These past two weeks, I have been doing my best to listen, learn, reflect, and amplify. My gut instinct when I run into a problem is to solve it, quickly and effectively, whenever possible. I understand that ridding the world of white supremacy is an incredibly complex and rooted problem; one that cannot be solved quickly or easily overnight. I also recognize that I have a role to play and it is a role I have long taken for granted, shied away from, and abused. Holding myself back from rushing into unconsidered action to assuage my feelings of shame and guilt these past weeks has been an uncomfortable space for me, one that I will be working to push myself into much more frequently. The quote above, shared by Sonya Renee Taylor during the Reimagining Small Business Town Hall, reminded me that in order to take good action, I must truly understand and be invested with right intentions. If I rush into action without clear intentions, I am skipping the most important part. Empty actions will not do any good here.⠀
⠀
I will continue to listen and learn and reflect and amplify (and I ask that you keep me accountable to this forever). But I also feel ready and compelled to incorporate thoughtful and intentional action. Last night, I signed the Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge. My company, Joey for Roo, however small we stay or large we grow, will remain actively committed to anti-racism. Please take a look at the Pledge to learn more about this and I encourage you to consider how you can apply those principles to your business or personal life. ⠀
⠀
I am committed to "embed[ding] anti-racism into the DNA of [my] business" as Ericka Hines shared last night. I know that despite my best intentions, I'm going to mess up. In fact, I am requesting to be called out when I do. I promise here that I will learn from my mistakes and keep moving forward in this work.
I will be working on action steps in the coming weeks. Among these so far are clarifying and publishing Joey for Roo's core values, diversifying the images and people represented through this brand, and amplifying the experiences and stories of BIPOC who are mothers, parents, birth workers, mental health and healthcare professionals, and activists. Also: this business is to serve YOU. If there is something I can do to better support that mission, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.⠀
⠀
I am so grateful to Rachel Rodgers, Robert Hartwell, Ericka Hines, Sonya Renee Taylor, Susan Hyatt, and Nathan Barry for giving their time, voices, expertise, and experience to create such an informative and empowering event through the Reimagining Small Business Town Hall. I deeply regret how long it has taken me to prioritize anti-racism and I am here now, ready to do the work.