Talking About Racial Equity: A Conversation With Antionette Kerr

I’ve been working closely with Antionette Kerr for nearly four years and I can vouch for the fact that she does not refrain from speaking her truth.

If Antionette has something to say, she doesn’t hold back. That was true throughout the process of writing Modern Media Relations for Nonprofits, the book we co authored, and in the years since as we’ve collaborated on a number of projects large and small. 

During that time, Antionette hasn’t been afraid to open up about her experiences as a black woman and how those experiences have influenced every part of her life.

These conversations have helped influence how I think about my own experiences and how our company approaches its evolving work around equity.

This week, Antionette and I had a chance to catch up about how organizations can communicate effectively about race and equity in the wake of the murder of George Floyd – and why she was uncharacteristically quiet in the days that followed his tragic death.

Here are some excerpts from our conversation.

You wrote recently for Nonprofit Marketing Guide about the statements you’ve seen from nonprofits about race and equity. What have you been seeing?

At first, I was being quiet. Which for me, was a good thing, because it allowed me to observe things. I was being quiet because emotionally, when you’re in a state of trauma, you shut down. I just needed to process my feelings. So, all I could do was read some of the statements that organizations were putting out and say ‘That’s awful!’ or ‘That’s pretty good. That gives me a ray of hope.’

You could often tell right away which organizations were being honest and which were just saying that they were being allies to be politically correct.

I’ve also heard from a lot of people – whether they work in communications or fundraising – who have said that they wanted to make a statement, but they couldn’t because their executive director, or their board, or their organization didn’t want to get involved in this conversation.

How could you tell which organizations weren’t being genuine?

Some organizations are all-white or all-white facing and were putting out statements about equity without acknowledging where they are speaking from. I'm glad that they were making statements, but It’s kind of weird for you to make a statement and then claim to be an ally, but not acknowledge in some way that you’re not a diverse organization. To not acknowledge that is disrespectful and shows a lack of organizational self-awareness.

You can say you’re doing anti-racism or equity training. Or "we’re reflecting" or "we’re listening".

I think silence is a  good place for people to start, especially when people haven’t figured out what they want to say. 

But be reflective about it. Talk about how you’re listening. That just tells me a conversation really happened and you didn’t just grab some text and throw it on a page.

What are some good examples of how to do this?

Some people acknowledged that they were being silent because they thought it was more appropriate for them to listen and for other voices to be heard. That’s what [the consultant] Marc A. Pitman did. He acknowledged the problem and acknowledged his privilege. I’ve worked with Marc and I know that was honest and real. 

Then, I saw a Twitter post from Stephen [Shattuck of Bloomerang] and I was like, “Damn, he dropped the mic on the silence part.” Not only did he say that he’s going to be silent so that other voices can be raised, but I’m going to actively help other people raise their voices. I thought that was deep.

When you are honest and real, though, you run the risk of facing pushback. How do you handle that?

That’s a hard conversation and I have experienced it personally when I’ve written about racial issues in my hometown. I wrote a column that I thought was pretty moderate and I had a former police officer posting images of nooses and I had someone inbox me in my Facebook messages where they called me a thug. No matter how gently you put the conversation, you’re going to get some positive feedback and you’re going to get some negative feedback.

The good thing is that when you’re honest, and you’re genuine, most of your feedback is people responding to you in a positive way. But the negative feedback … I don’t deal with the nooses and thugs very well.

Well that’s not negative feedback, that’s hate.

Yes, that’s racism.

This isn’t a problem that can be solved with a statement. And it’s not going to go away. What do you think is next?

There are going to be other opportunities to keep talking about this. This conversation will be around. People have time to invest in doing meaningful work and making meaningful statements and where to invest in making a difference. At this point you don’t have to rush out a statement. Your work is not done, it’s just beginning.

Antionette Kerr is a nonprofit leader, media correspondent, author of Modern Media Relations for Nonprofits, and the C.E.O. of Bold & Bright Media.