Mistakes, successes and safe spaces - anti racism

Mistakes, successes and safe spaces- anti racism I'm ambivalent about Race Equality week which was last week. My ambivalence stems from the need to focus attention on one a week in a year to raise the profile to important anti racism work, as this doesn't communicate the ownership and awareness that we need to have to address equalities issues. Overall the intent of anti racism work is about positive change to make things fairer. You can find more information about Race Equality week here https://www.raceequalitymatters.com/race-equality-week/ Equalities issues need to be a continuing theme, and inherent throughout every day work. A key skill in my development of being a white accomplice is to acknowledge when I have got things wrong, and learnt from my mistakes, changed myself, and my thinking, and carried on. As I continue to grow as a white accomplice through the support of my colleagues -The Global Majority Collective students who reverse mentor me, and Dr Prospera Tedam who continues to be my critical friend, the more I realise that anti-racism work isn't about being an expert, it's about having a particular value set, and a particular set of characteristics. I have aspired to uphold the values of humility and integrity, and these are what have kept me upright and on track. The characteristics of honesty, confidence, flexibility, collaboration and openness, I have aspired to embody, especially when times have been hard. Making mistakes remains a key part of the journey, and any organisation that endeavors to support staff to create authentic anti-racism work needs to accept that navigating and learning from mistakes and developing staff confidence will need to be part of what will make the work successful. So, in recognising success comes an acknowledgement that credible anti-racism work will likely come at a cost to those who carry it out. Part of the good practice in anti- racism work is about developing safe spaces, whether that be for students or staff where authentic, restorative, forward focussed conversations can occur and the inherent trauma associated with racism and anti-racism can be sensitively and appropriately dealt with. If we do work on anti-racism well, we have the potential to lift each other to the greatest of heights - thank you to Global Majority Collective and Prospera Tedam for lifting me to continue to develop to be a white accomplice. You can find out more about the Global Majority Collective here https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hls/projects/anti-racist-university-experience/ Dr Prospera Tedam here https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Prospera-Tedam-2 And more about our team's work here https://www.brookes.ac.uk/about-brookes/news/2022/06/oxford-brookes-university-s-work-to-tackle-degree" www.brookes.ac.uk/Staff/Working-at-Brookes/Benefits/Staff-recognition/bpa/2022-winners-and-shortlist#inclusivity"