“Say More” with Tulaine Montgomery and Michelle Molitor
September 2, 2020Ultimately, what I think is going to fuel the sustainable transformation in society is kindness. It’s forgiveness and kindness towards others. How do we promote accountability with love? I believe that accountability with love is what will get us to the other side.
Episode 4 of Tulaine Montgomery’s Instagram live interview series—“Say More: Live Conversations with Tulaine”— featured Michelle Molitor, Founder and CEO of The Equity Lab, a nonprofit that seeks to disrupt racial and ethnic inequities by engaging organizations in issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The Equity Lab offers two core programs, The Nexus Fellowship and Seeding Disruption, as well as long-term engagements to empower partners to become agents of progress in their personal and professional spheres. Their goal is to create anti-racist citizenry that seek to eradicate oppressive systems and create a more humane society.
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Michelle opened up the conversation by sharing stories about her upbringing and career journey. As a Black woman of bi-racial heritage, Michelle voiced that growing up she struggled to find belonging in her immediate community. Often, she faced questioning of her ethnicity, and had to figure out how to navigate black and white social groups while holding identity in relation to both groups. “It wasn’t until I was much older that I began to see reflections of myself. I met a few other bi-racial kids, but few,” described Michelle. “I was always in this weird balance. My six words to describe myself were ‘not black enough, definitely not white.’ I was constantly being told explicitly ‘you’re not white enough to hang out with the white kids, you’re not black enough to fit in with these people.’ I figured out early in my upbringing how to navigate that effectively. The authenticity I bring to my work stems from the literal embodiment of their experiences in my own; it literally resonates in my body.”
As she grew older and entered the field of education to teach and lead, she experienced numerous challenges related to racism — however, most of the individuals at the core of these racially charged issues neglected to have critical conversations and acknowledge their actions. By disregarding those often difficult discussions, Michelle felt that those in power were silencing voices and lived experience. It was out of these personal and professional experiences, paired with deep reflection and a passion to help others, that The Equity Lab was born.
While in the workforce, I disproportionality saw problems that were squarely being attributed to race, and we weren’t talking about it. We weren’t addressing race.
In this moment, as the country experiences a renewed and growing call for racial justice and liberation, The Equity Lab’s work has become increasingly relevant and critical, and the demand for their services has skyrocketed. While this is exciting news for any growing organization, Michelle shared that she tries to be even more thoughtful about whom she engages as partners and clients. Many leaders want superficial levels of equity work — surface-level conversations and performance-based changes. This is not how we as a society are going to move forward.
A lot of organizations think the talking work is the work — but that's not it. You have to change how you are showing up in the world: your policies, where you are giving your money, who you are giving your attention to. The work of change requires you to change. Change is hard. Change is loss. Change requires for you to show up completely different than you have ever shown up before. We now have the opportunity to show up differently—more than we ever have.
In discussing this notion of performative activism, Michelle and Tulaine turned towards the idea of proximate impact. Those that are the closest to the nation’s biggest problems are uniquely positioned to solve them —an idea that is core to our recently launched #InclusiveImpact Digital Dialogue series. We need to invest in proximate individuals, listen to their stories and experiences, and rebuild as a country with their voices at the core of it all.
The problems are not the people. Hear me clearly. The problems are the systems that have created generational loss in communities, generational disinvestment in communities. That's what we have to get close to.
Michelle and Tulaine emphasized the idea that the anti-racist work we as a society must commit to isn’t easy — it takes time and a serious devotion of energy to seeing it through. “The reality of advancing equity and transforming systems is that it’s not always going to feel good,” noted Michelle. “If you love expanding, like the tearing of the muscle to get stronger, then this is the work for you. There will be pain involved. Struggle is part of it. It’s a productive struggle. But struggle is part of the work.”
In calling out racist acts, individuals must be explicit. Specificity ensures accountability, negates color-blindness, and pushes people to do the anti-racist work. “If we aren’t specific, we lose focus on what is necessary to create the changes that we need to see in society,” argued Michelle.
We must remind ourselves about the call to action: we must imagine and create the world that we want — an equitable, empathetic, united one. To echo Tulaine’s final question to Michelle, when we succeed and are victorious, how will the world be different?
If we are successful in making change to society, then all of us are allowed to be our full selves. All of us are allowed to be fully fulfilled in a way that we haven't felt before.
In closing, Tulaine left the audience with a profound piece of wisdom — wisdom grounded in the work that Michelle is doing each day. “Abundant love does exist despite the brokenness of our world.”
The conversation left the audience wanting both Michelle and Tulaine to “Say More.” Follow Tulaine’s Instagram at @tulainemarie for updates and announcements of future guests and show dates.