The death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a police officer in 2020 sparked a nationwide movement toward addressing inequities faced by marginalized groups. Companies responded by hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders to educate and reshape their organizations. Only a few years later, however, diversity and inclusion efforts seem to be faltering, with fewer diversity officers being hired and many being laid off. As Christie Lindor, a diversity strategist and CEO of Tessi Consulting, told ABC News: “In 2020 a lot of organizations […] reacted to social events taking place without really having a clear understanding of what DEI is and how it should be enabled in business.” Even well-intentioned companies have found it challenging to navigate the complex and thorny issues surrounding racial inequity in the workplace.
In her debut book, FROM ALLY TO ACCOMPLICE: How to Lead as a Fierce Antiracist, DEI coach Seena Hodges, founder and CEO of The Woke Coach, offers business leaders guidance on effectively transforming their organizations into inclusive spaces. As the title suggests, the heart of Hodges’s thesis is the distinction between allies and accomplices. Allies, as she notes, often operate from the sidelines, offering support yet remaining safely ensconced within their privilege. Accomplices, on the other hand, are characterized by their willingness to share in the risk and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those oppressed by systemic inequities. It is this shift—from the well-meaning ally to the proactively-engaged accomplice—that Hodges argues is crucial in the fight against racial injustice.
FROM ALLY TO ACCOMPLICE is organized into two parts: the first provides a kind of “Antiracism 101” primer, exploring the definitions and origins of race, racism (including the frequently-confused distinctions between racism and racial prejudice), white supremacy culture, and white privilege. In the book’s second half, Hodges offers best practices for antiracist leadership and implementing a “race-first lens” to better comprehend the effects of racial inequality in the workplace. Hodges acknowledges that this is difficult, often discouraging work.
Much of this second half is devoted to helping readers not simply understand the issues (the “Head Work”) but identify personal connections and motivations for accompliceship (the “Heart Work”). Hodges points out that “white people often opt in to the fight against racism only when their lived experience is impacted by race”—when a person of color enters their family, for example. Finding this internal motivation, according to Hodges, is critical to staying engaged with the work and making DEI efforts more than simply a checklist of tasks. Overall, the book comes away as an engaging, accessible manual for change—a must-read for business leaders committed to the cause of racial equality and anyone seeking a greater understanding of DEI issues.
Seena Hodges’s FROM ALLY TO ACCOMPLICE: How to Lead as a Fierce Antiracist offers an invaluable opportunity for growth and serves as a meaningful contribution to the cause of justice.
~Edward Sung for IndieReader
