If you think I shouldn’t be speaking up about the injustice I see in the world, I want to be very clear that I am not the right fit for you.
We aren’t a match, it’s not a good fit, and I’m definitely not right for you. That’s everything I advocate for in my business, you know how I feel about something not being right for you, so I honor your exit from my space if we’re not right for each other.
I have intentionally chosen to use my business platform to speak up for injustice when I see it for the past 8 years and will continue to do so.
I will continue speaking up in this moment as the unimaginable heartbreak continues.
I will continue speaking out in this moment as genocide continues to happen in my name as a Jewish person. You will never convince me that the safety of my people comes from dropping bombs on children.
I encourage you to speak out and up in whatever ways feel safe and meaningful to you.
When I speak up about Palestine, especially as a Jewish person, I’ve received responses to stay in my lane, like the following:
“Politics should not be part of outreach to your base who are interested in advancing their lives and careers. […] Very disappointed that you are using this platform to push a political agenda.”
(along with many other beautiful messages of solidarity and gratitude, thanking me for sharing this in the workplace where so many people feel alone in what they’re doing.)
I don’t believe in staying silent on injustice because we have deemed the workplace a realm where we don’t talk about those things. I want to speak up about injustice any chance that I get. When we’re told to stay in our lane, or that LinkedIn or the workplace isn’t a place to talk about politics or religion, the oppression continues in silence. And when we do speak up, we distance the people who committed to staying silent, but we genuinely connect with people who are affected by the injustice, also care about it, are feeling similarly lonely and isolated with their inability to overlook it.
It’s laughable to me that we shouldn’t talk about life in the context of work. Because guess what, everything that is happening to us in life, shows up in the workplace. And people who are experiencing injustice don’t get to ignore what’s happening in the real world.
We don’t turn those things off when we show up in a workplace. We don’t change the color of our skin. We don’t change our religion. We don’t change our family history and our lived experiences. We don't change our unimaginable grief. We don’t change how our hearts are breaking from injustice.
How are you supposed to show up and continue working as normal when people who look like you or are related to you are being murdered? How are you supposed to continue working as normal while you are devastated and heartbroken and sick to your stomach? White supremacy asks us to remain numb, to disconnect, to isolate, so we can show up and be good workers.
Let me make it clear, that in my business, with the platform that I have:
I will continue to say that Black Lives Matter.
I will continue to say that Islamophobia is unacceptable.
I will continue to say that violence against Asian Americans is unacceptable.
I will continue to say that anti-Semitism is unacceptable.
I will continue to stand up for Palestinians and their humanity.
I will continue to stand up for the trans community.
I will continue to raise money in my business to get people out of jail.
I will continue to raise money in my business for undocumented community members.
I will continue to raise money in my business to support more Black women in politics.
And this list goes on.
If you’ve been with me for a while, you will not be surprised by this.
And now if you’re joining me for the first time, you will not be surprised the next time I speak out.