“Dada, you’re my best friend”

Hearing that from my 4-year-old daughter a couple months ago made my whole day. I still beam thinking about it right now.

What was so important about those 5 words was that it validated an important decision I made over 3 years ago.

When my daughter was only about 6 months old, I was really struggling trying to balance my work and life, so I called up a friend – who was a more experienced father – to get some advice. After I explained my situation – being exhausted and still not being able to be a fully present father and an effective business owner at the same time – he merely sighed and said, “yeah, being a modern dad is hard.”

Being a father came at me fast. I had done all the pre-reading and spoke with other parents, but nothing really prepares you for how drastically your life changes. Before she was born, my thought of how to be a present father was perfectly balancing both fatherhood and the way I was currently working (long, grueling hours), but I quickly learned that it was unsustainable. Put that on top of the fact that she was born near the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and I was not physically nor mentally prepared at all.

However, after that conversation over 3 years ago, I made a decision; I was going to put aside a business that I had poured so much of myself into, and instead, prioritize fatherhood over work. This meant unlearning a lot of the generational and patriarchal conditioning I received from my Chinese ancestors, and seeing a therapist more consistently in support of it. 

The most important thing for marketers and communicators to note from all of this is that I am not unique. This decision I made is not unique. A lot of dads today – including my friend – born in and around the Millennial/Gen X age are realizing that the societal expectations of fathers are nowhere near where they personally want to be as fathers.

So, how do brands appeal to what many are calling “the modern dad”?

Well, it all starts with understanding your audience. And since I can’t speak for anyone else, I’ll share some insights about myself:

• I only had about 5 years with my dad before he passed away, but my mom has shared a lot of stories, and apparently he was a stereotypical father in his generation; never changed a diaper, never cooked or cleaned, and was the main disciplinarian to his 4 kids. I loved him dearly and understand why he fathered the way he did, but I didn’t want to replicate him in that way
• I believe the pressures of being a parent today are immense – there’s so much information – much of it contradicting, and as someone once told me, it’s truly the “hardest job you’ll ever love”. I can say with certainty that parenting is harder for me than running any business and working at any job I’ve ever had
• And I really do love it; I can barely help myself from bringing her up in work conversations, and I’m really glad that this is no longer deemed an “unprofessional” thing to do.
• As a 2nd generation Asian Canadian father, there’s extra nuance too:
  • My father was like many other immigrant fathers – he didn’t show a ton of emotion beyond spurts of anger, and he wasn’t very transparent with his kids
  • He was not emotionally available and also didn’t really think about mental health for himself and his family
  • He was extremely frugal – my mom too. I remember one time she saw that we had bought a pack of 3 sippy cups, and she was confused why I spent money on more than one. “Just buy one and wash it whenever you need it!” she exclaimed.

Based on all these insights about myself, I have 7 thoughts on how brands can appeal to modern dads like myself:

1. Stop making attempts at humour about the stereotype of uninvolved, lazy, and/or incompetent fathers. Instead, acknowledge the change that’s happened and create products and communications that support it
2. Directly counter these aforementioned stereotypes in your content. Purposely showcase involved fathers that contradict the patriarchy in an attempt to normalize it in media and marketing. Tell counter-stereotypical stories about emotionally available fathers and ones who understand the importance of mental health.
3. Stop the narrative that the stress and emotional labour of a career is equal to the stress and emotional labour of raising children. It’s not the same. To me, a good comparison is planning an event versus planning your wedding – there are so many more layers to the latter.
4. Tell deeper, more culturally nuanced stories about more complex intersections like mine as a Millennial, Asian Canadian, modern dad – I’ve never seen this represented anywhere in advertising but I see it everywhere with my friends and family. How come there’s such a vast disconnect? Being a dad is a role so many people actively participate in; tell stories about and celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ dads, disabled dads, single dads, etc.
5. I already know that I will definitely involve my daughter (and any future children I have) in more family decisions than my parents ever did. This means creating communications that resonates with the family as a whole – not just parents.
6. Acknowledge that being a modern dad is hard. What makes it even harder is that there is unfortunately a lack of popular role models to look up to, which brings me to my last point…
7. Partner with and elevate influential voices that are already sharing content of what it means to be a modern day father. Find those that provide unique insight into their specific lived experience, because being a modern day Asian father is much different than a modern day trans father, or a modern day Black father, or a modern day autistic father. Elevate these voices and you’ll have the opportunity to earn the trust of these audiences as well.

One more thing about my daughter, she’s at the age where she’s like a sponge absorbing everything around her. And I worry because as she grows up and is exposed to more media, marketing and advertising, it’s likely going to affect her negatively, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks this. So, lastly, if brands want to appeal to dads like me, never ever forget your responsibility to humanity at the end of the day; it’s more important than selling anything a brand has to offer.

The post 7 Thoughts on How Brands Can Appeal to The “Modern Dad” On Father’s Day | From An Asian Canadian Millennial Father appeared first on AndHumanity.

“Does the long-term strategy of your brand integrate inclusion?”

The answer is almost always a resounding yes.

However, whenever I ask:

“Are your organization’s vision, mission, and values statements aligned and affiliated with your JEDI goals/statements?”

The same people that answer “yes” above, will answer this question “no”.

To me, this speaks volumes to a) how difficult it is to manage a brand, and b) how a brand cannot be separated from JEDI , yet it often is.

When inclusive marketing is at its very best, it’s when JEDI is integrated into the brand at its deepest levels. Otherwise, it’s often an uphill climb with no end in sight.

The post JEDI Needs to be Integrated into the Brand appeared first on AndHumanity.

A quick summary of the article; “Retired NFL star Michael Oher, whose supposed adoption out of grinding poverty by a wealthy, white family was immortalized in the 2009 movie ‘The Blind Side’, petitioned a Tennessee court Monday with allegations that a central element of the story was a lie concocted by the family to enrich itself at his expense.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; it’s time Storytelling as an industry gets a lot braver and we start supporting stories from the underrepresented.

And by support, I mean publicly advocating for ? and financially investing in them! ?

We need to aggressively lean into narratives that are told from underrepresented communities.

Nothing about us, without us!

Enough is enough.

The post White Saviour Stories Need to Stop Now appeared first on AndHumanity.

You see, my superhuman-single-mother who raised me was thrust into the role of “CEO” of our struggling family business when my dad passed, putting her in an uncomfortable role that she eventually embraced and conquered because she needed to feed her family.

She learned a hell of a lot being an Asian female business owner in the 80s and 90s.

One of the most important values she taught me was “quality over quantity”. Some popular Chinese proverbs that tacked onto my belief system additionally were “silence is gold, speech is silver”, and “he who keeps silent makes a fortune”. She knew how to be a successful woman in business in a white-dominated patriarchal society and taught me what she knew. So, I – of course – grew up a quiet kid.

Thus, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t give pause when I first heard the popular Western idiom: “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. It made a lot of sense but also didn’t make any sense at all.

It took me awhile, but I eventually learned the rationale behind the Western idiom, but to this day, it still conflicts with something deep inside my core.

So as much as using idioms may be ingrained into how you speak or write, it’s imperative that you eliminate the use of them and find better ways to describe what you mean in order to foster a true sense of belonging for the people you interact with. To be honest, I still have trouble with this myself, but the more I’ve explored avoiding idioms, the more I’ve learned about the art and beauty of truly describing things without a shortcut. I encourage you to try to do the same!

The post Why We Should Avoid Idioms | Inclusive Language and Communications appeared first on AndHumanity.

I wanted our work to be truly impactful, but I also didn’t want to be “too much” for our clients. This ongoing worry of feeling like I’m “too much” led me to hold back, which in turn initiated a feeling that what we were doing was “not enough”.

I talked to countless folks in the DEI industry who felt similarly to me, and many of them told me what I know now but I couldn’t truly absorb or understand it.

It only truly hit me when one day I learned that one small instance of my worry about being “too much” directly led to work that was overly compromised. That’s when I knew I had to stop.

Since then, I’ve learned that I and our team were never actually “too much”. It only felt that way because we were going up against centuries of reinforced systems of oppression and thought processes that conditioned me to think that being disruptive equated to being unnecessarily annoying.

So for those who need to hear it, believe me when I say, you’re not “too much” at all. In fact, you’re exactly what the world needs.

Keep going.

The post A Personal Message for changemakers who have been told they’re “too much” appeared first on AndHumanity.

Transcript:
You know, I’m seeing a heavy trend on over-reliance from marketers and communicators, over-reliance on Chief Diversity Officers and ERG groups and DEI marketing work in general. By over-reliance I mean of course you are looking for these individuals in these groups to inform your decision making, but not being able to move ahead and not feeling comfortable and not being able to implement because of this emotional burden or labor that you’ve put on Chief Diversity officers, the ERG groups, etcetera to be that final stamp of approval is kind of the wrong way to approach it. I’ve said this before, but marketers and communicators, it starts with you. And what that means is that you have to build your own intercultural competency beyond the General JEDI Foundations – justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, foundations, teachings, but also how it applies to your day-to-day so you can do your work because inclusive marketing communications is part of your job now and your work. So each person in each department and marketing communications is responsible for their own growth and needs to take accountability and needs that lens to be able to do the work without relying on others for that final output. And that comes with building up your own knowledge and your own intercultural competency to do that. Now there are times this may seem daunting where you know you’re afraid of making a misstep and we always do say consult with those from underrepresented communities and co-create with them but what that also means is building up your own intercultural competency so your relationship with these folks are meaningful relationships and not transactional relationships where you’re looking for a stamp of approval etcetera, but rather you are co-creating and you are adding something to the table as a marketer and a communicator yourself. So building up your intercultural competency is extremely important. I’ve put a link to a post of people that you could follow to help expand your circle of influence and build your intercultural competency. But also you can work with organizations like ourselves, at AndHumanity, where we focus on building intercultural competencies specifically for marketers and communicators through department audits, coaching, training, etcetera.

As mentioned in the video, I’ve shared a link to a previous post I put together that will help with this: https://andhumanity.co/insights/heres-one-of-simplest-first-steps-you-can-take-for-your-inclusive-marketing-and-communications-journey/

The post “Over-reliance” has become a problem for Inclusive Marketers and Communicators appeared first on AndHumanity.

You’ve been inspired. Someone or something somewhere tells you to start or ramp up your inclusive marketing/communications journey and you try to rally yourself and/or your team on this. You have great internal team discussions on the need to dedicate more time to this journey. You/your team maybe invest in some training, do some more reading on the subject, maybe engage with an external firm. Your organization invests in a public action plan to continue on this growth and overall, which furthers you to start investing even more time on becoming an inclusive marketer/communicator, because it truly matters to you, and it’s important for yourself and your own growth.

Then, after some time, certain realities in how you’re used to working set in. Constraints from the organization you’re a part of are looming its head. Your own job description, your own capacity, systemic realities in your organization – they are all very real and they are all becoming barriers.

You know that doing things inclusively – and continuing to learn and grow in this space – takes more time than what you used to do, but you haven’t been given more time at your job. Your job title, and your compensation has stayed the same. Your colleagues, your organization, and how they work has barely changed. Things are not moving fast enough, and you’re left feeling like you’re carrying a burden. You start to get fatigued, frustrated, and overwhelmed. You’ve been doing it off the side of your desk for months, maybe even longer, but why? If everyone is telling you that this work is so important, why does it feel like you’re not given any time or resources to do it? Why does it feel like you’re being punished for wanting to advocate for inclusion?

If this at all sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I’ve spoken to countless allies that get stuck here and often give up, because it’s the hardest part. So I’ll tell you this; if you still have the energy – and I really hope you do – the answer is simple, but implementing it is super hard.

The answer is this: demand more. Demand more time, demand more resources, demand more education, demand more than “it’s always how we’ve done things”, demand prioritizing equity over comfort, and demand as much commitment internally from your organization that they are vocalizing externally.

And lastly – most importantly – do not apologize for demanding the time needed to do things right. You deserve it. Your Chief Diversity officer deserves it. Your ERGs deserve it. Every marginalized person in your organization deserves it.

Please, please don’t give up.

The post An Open Letter to Allies in Marketing and Communications appeared first on AndHumanity.

In light of Asian Heritage Month, I’m going to share a personal story of growing up in a predominantly white school.

I remember crying to my sister as we laid in our bunk beds. I had just confessed to throwing away my lunch because my classmates were making fun of how bad my lunch – steamed dumplings – smelled after they sat in my thermos in for the morning. To this day, the face of one classmate – I’ll call him Ben – crinkling his nose in disgust as I opened my thermos still fills me with anger. And I can still viscerally feel the humiliation from the ensuing laughter that echoed throughout the rest of the classroom as I slinked away to eat in the corner of the room alone.

I remember finally having the courage to ask my mom – a single mom with limited time for my trivial requests – for sandwiches, Dunkaroos, Fruit roll-ups and everything all the other kids got to eat. I told her great tales about how my white classmates would get McDonald’s freshly delivered to them, so me asking for a sandwich and some snacks was not a big deal.

I envied everything about Ben. Not only the lunches he had, but the confidence he had to speak publicly in class, the way he could make people laugh, the freedom he got to go off-school grounds during recess, the allowance he got, the way he looked, the way others looked at him. I wanted so badly to live his life, and I blamed my mom and the colour of my skin for holding me back.

With this internalized attitude, I tried everything in my power to be like Ben and hope that my actions would overcome the colour of my skin. Thus, I was often told I was “too white” at home, but even worse for me at the time, I was also told I was still “too Chinese” at school.

I concluded that I didn’t really belong anywhere.

People who know me now and my work at AndHumanity may think I’ve conquered this internalized racism that seeped into my bloodstream at such a young age, but they’d be wrong.

I am in a constant battle to not only appreciate my culture and its rich history, but also appreciate my personal story and who my identity is. I am ashamed at how poorly I used to think of myself, but also ashamed that I haven’t gotten over it yet. How can something so seemingly trivial be such a big core memory for me?

I look at my 3-year old daughter now and she has become my new mission. I need the work I do to matter. I want our industry to commit to telling so many deep, culturally nuanced stories of diverse backgrounds that it becomes commonplace. I want her to bring her lunch to school without feeling shame. If I can help do this for her, then I’m okay with what I’ve done with my life, even if I’m not fully settled myself internally.

Though it happens less and less now, I still catch myself wishing I was Ben. And if I ever meet him again, I’d probably let him know he helped give my life a greater purpose. But as I write this, I know – deep down – he won’t remember me at all.

The post Food, Identity, and My Internalized Racism appeared first on AndHumanity.

Anyone that’s been in a relationship can relate to this phrase often expressed between partners. But as you may know, by the time it’s said, the damage is usually already done. 

This is an example of “intent” vs. “impact”, where the intention isn’t to hurt or cause any harm, but the impact does exactly that. Of course, this can happen in both personal and professional settings, a perfect example of the latter is encompassed in the comments section of this recent LinkedIn post that went viral:

To give some context to this; on June 15th, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that the protections provided by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are also extended to gay, lesbian and transgender people, thereby making it illegal for workplaces to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexuality or gender identity.

A majority of the comments are congratulatory, positive, and supportive (as one might expect), but there is a small pocket of extremely vile comments that shame Durrell for his post, like this:

A comment like this has both negative intentions and negative impact, however – more to the point – there were also a small pocket of comments like these:

The commonalities between these commenters is each of them are claiming that because his sexuality doesn’t bother or matter to them and others, it didn’t need to be mentioned at all. And you can argue that their intent is not malicious as they’re merely claiming they “don’t care” and thus don’t judge him based on his sexuality, however the impact of comments like these is quite the opposite. Firstly, they’re being dismissive; someone that is a part of a notoriously underrepresented and discriminated community is celebrating a feeling of liberation, and they’re saying that feeling is unimportant. Secondly, they’re minimizing a crucial point in history merely because it hasn’t directly affected them. Lastly, they’re changing the narrative to focus on topics they’re comfortable with rather than letting traditionally underrepresented stories be heard.

And although this all may seem obvious, brands fall into this same trap all the time, albeit in a more subtle fashion.

In fact, some of the most celebrated ads in the past have intent that isn’t harmful – and audiences even believe they are being inclusive – but in actuality they’re also doing the same things; dismissing, minimizing, and/or changing the narrative.

For example, HubSpot published an article called 7 Brands That Got Inclusive Marketing Right, and one of the advertisements highlighted is Coca Cola’s famous – and heavily praised – “Hilltop” commercial. However, as mentioned in our Brand Inclusion Framework article, this commercial isn’t inclusive at all. It seems to have all the right intentions of being inclusive, but it is actually dismissing the truth of our diversity and celebrating universal experiences rather than celebrating differences.

The commercial consists of a camera panning across faces of young people in all shapes, colors and ethnicities, as they sing from a hilltop in Manziana, Italy, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” The creator of the ad wanted Coke to be perceived as “a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes.” It may seem like the right approach – focusing on equality – but actually, in today’s world, it’s not enough to speak to universal experiences, because underrepresented stories need to be told in order to achieve Equity as illustrated in the image below.

A more detailed explanation from our previous blog post:

“Probably one of the most famous ads in the word is Coca Cola’s Hilltop commercial. The original ad was made in 1971 done by Bill Backer from McCann Erickson. The song in the commercial became a hit record in the US and UK. It has continued to receive accolades up until 2005 as one of the 100 Greatest TV Ads. However, in the lens of D&I work, this is only the beginning of embracing inclusion.  While it’s great that there is general acceptance and welcoming to everyone, it doesn’t recognize and acknowledge the unique differences that each individual holds. Rather, it minimizes our differences by only focusing on our similarities. This is an example of an advertisement that may be reinforcing the idea of equality over equity. By reinforcing these beliefs, we continue to treat all groups with one approach which doesn’t address everyone’s needs. These ads, while safe, are not fully inclusive in their approach.” 

This commercial falls on the “Brand Minimization” point of the curve as illustrated below:

Another example of brands falling into this trap is another lauded commercial by TV 2 in 2017.

As defined by Brandingmag:

“…the three-minute film plays on the traditional ‘us versus them’ narrative and highlights the implicit bias of cultural stereotypes in a wide range of people.

Set on a soundstage, the ad begins with groups of people silently filling in as a voiceover explains, “It’s easy to put people in boxes. There’s us and there’s them, the high earners and those just getting by. Those we trust and those we try to avoid. There are those we share something with and those we don’t share anything with.” One by one, these groups walk in together and stand shoulder to shoulder with their chosen clique.

The people are asked a number of questions “some which might be a bit personal” and asked to step forward if they have ever “felt lonely,” “are stepparents,” or perhaps “were the class clown.” Some questions are relatively straightforward, some are hard-hitting, and some coax out a collective roar of laughter.

Suddenly, the groups start to merge and mix together. People smile in surprise to find common ground with people they’ve never dreamed they would. The barriers that have built up — class, appearance, and beliefs — all come tumbling down.

That classic “us versus them” narrative is turned on its head and we are asked to look beyond what’s on the surface to find common ground. In a time where we can all be guilty of judging too quickly and putting people in boxes, this heartwarming film serves as a reminder that we are all part of one enormous and wonderfully diverse community.

Though it is the differences that define us and set us apart from one another, perhaps it’s time we shift our focus and instead think about how our similarities bind us together.”

Again, while the intention is pure – wanting to celebrate the similarities between all of us – it is another example of dismissing the true – and potential celebration – of our diversity. In simpler terms, we have spent decades talking about our shared values and experiences through a male-dominant, white, cisgendered lens to the point that mainstream media is super comfortable with the narrative that “we’re more alike than we think”. However, it’s long overdue that we flip the switch to focus on and embrace our differences. Being inclusive means showing and – if possible – celebrating accurate, cultural nuances of different communities which make target communities feel like they’re being accurately represented on screen. And you simply cannot do this with the “we’re more alike than we think” narrative.

A final explanation of this is perfectly illustrated by this image below:

1. Inequality in marketing is only communicating through a male-dominated, white, cisgendered lens.
2. Equality in marketing is a big trap, where we treat all communities with a unified approach. It is the one brands tend to fall into like the two commercial examples above.
3. Equity in marketing is when we purposely highlight the notoriously marginalized, disenfranchised and underrepresented, giving them enough opportunities on an elevated platform so that their representation equates to the actual percentage breakdown they represent in the population.
4. And lastly, Justice is an entire systemic overhaul, where the underrepresented no longer need to be elevated above the rest.

Lastly, I want to leave you with an advertisement that falls on the “Brand Adaptation” point on the curve. By no means does Starbucks make the right moves at every turn, however, with their “Every Name’s a Story” commercial, they elevated a notoriously disenfranchised and underrepresented community and told an accurate story that resonated, all the while supporting Mermaids, a charity for trans and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families. It’s truly an ad for all brands to aspire to.

For other ads that fall on all points in the Brand Inclusion Framework as well as additional related resources, please join our Creatives for Inclusion Facebook Group and check out this link.

The post The Traps That Brands Still Fall Into With Inclusive Marketing appeared first on AndHumanity.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thinking, “that doesn’t look right…”. 

I was around 8 years old and had excitedly slipped on the Superman costume that my mom – after excessive begging – finally bought for me for Halloween. But after rushing to the mirror, it took me about 2 seconds to realize that I actually looked nothing like Superman. It wasn’t just the lack of muscle (come on, I was 8) but I remember concentrating on my face, my eyes, my hair – everything looked different. I was almost in shock. And believe it or not, that was the first time I truly realized that I wasn’t white. It took a couple more seconds, but I shook it off, and I told myself that although it’s not ideal, I still love Superman, so this is good enough.

However, that “good enough” feeling didn’t last beyond that Halloween. From then on, my mom always believed that I was obsessed with ninjas because I was always a ninja for Halloween, but the truth is, I didn’t get tired of Superman, or Batman, or all the superheroes I watched on TV, I was merely disappointed that I could never live up to what I saw. Ninjas, on the other hand, often looked like me – it was the comfortable choice.

Fast forward to today; this past year has been challenging for the world, and life-changing for many, myself included. I recently added the title of “father” as a way to describe myself, and pair that with the COVID pandemic and the death of George Floyd, it’s truly given me pause and made me reflect on my past, as well as the future we’re creating for our children.

A bit on my past; in my early 20s, I spent the better part of a decade volunteering as a journalist at Schema Magazine, where I found like-minded folk that, among other things, wanted to see more of – as well as a change in how – POC were portrayed on screen and on stage. It’s founder, Alden Habacon, a highly respected Diversity and Inclusion Expert and one of our trusted advisors at AndHumanity, taught us about concepts like interculturalism and intersectionality, but more importantly, instilled in us the belief that people that looked like us belonged in the spotlight. And it was during my early years working at Schema Magazine that I chased that belief; I started a sketch comedy group called “Asians Bleed Red” (it had an all Asian cast), all the while directing and producing several short films that were created by and starred Asians. I was doing everything I could to reconcile my childhood disappointment, in hopes that audiences would realize that people that look like me belong on screen and on stage.

“I was doing everything I could to reconcile my childhood disappointment, in hopes that audiences would realize that people that look like me belong on screen and on stage.”

However, it’s sad to say, but at this very moment, “Asians Bleed Red” no longer exists, and I haven’t directed or produced a short film in over a decade. What happened? Well, the arts at that level didn’t pay well (or anything at all), so I pivoted toward a profession that could combine my passion for the arts, whilst also paying the bills – I started a marketing agency with my sister. 

I’ve run My Loud Speaker Marketing (MLS) with my sister, Tammy, now for over a decade. We’ve had our ups and downs like any company, but I can easily say that growing MLS is my proudest career achievement to date. However, while I feel we’ve always done things the right way at MLS: empowering our team, caring about our clients, treating stakeholders with respect, we haven’t truly crossed that threshold where we can confidently say we’ve made the world a better place.

I’m truly hoping that changes with AndHumanity. 

“I’ve learned that there are many, many, practical reasons to invest in inclusive marketing, but the most important reason is that it’s the right thing to do.”

AndHumanity, to me, merges everything I was pursuing in my early 20s with everything I learned growing My Loud Speaker. It’s as though everything important in my life is funneling into this one entity. Since about a year ago when we started this AndHumanity journey, I’ve learned that there are many, many, practical reasons to invest in inclusive marketing, but the most important reason is that we should. The thing is, as marketers, we have this magical opportunity at our fingertips; as a profession, we are often tasked to make things out of nothing – a blank canvas to write, illustrate, photograph, and just create. But with this magical opportunity, comes responsibility. Millions and millions of people see the content our industry creates, and we have to – as a whole – use this magical opportunity to shift perceptions for the better. We have to portray the world as we actually see in front of us – beyond the surface – with all the nuances, flaws, and true depth that we as humans have. Doing this will give more opportunities to the disenfranchised to share their complex intersectional identities, which in turn will create more empathy for other humans who don’t look, act, or react as they do. And on a more personal level, it will give children of all backgrounds someone to look up to that actually looks like them.

Ultimately, what we create as marketers can change perceptions for the better, it can change actions for the better, and it can change the world for the better. And frankly, aiming for anything less is just not good enough.

The post The Story of When I Realized I Wasn’t White | My Journey to AndHumanity appeared first on AndHumanity.