My mission in life is to create a more empowered and inclusive world, one where we can all belong. And while part of making this happen includes interrupting forms of oppression through my work as a DEI expert, the personal empowerment work I do is just as important.

Why do I think this?

Because both social justice work and personal empowerment work are about making the world a better and more welcoming, accepting, and loving place for everyone who has been the target of hurtful and hateful life experiences. And when we as individuals feel strong, grounded, and empowered, we have the energy and resilience we need to help empower others.

In this #ShineWithRitu video, I share how personal empowerment is deeply connected to social justice as well as one of my favorite quotes from one of my heroes that I hope inspires you too!

Watch now!

For more videos on how to be more socially conscious and stand in your power, check out these playlists:

– Be Socially Conscious

– Stand In Your Power

The post How Social Justice is Connected to Personal Empowerment appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Growing up, I knew that we were different from the other families in my neighborhood. As Sikhs (that’s the name of my faith — it’s pronounced Si-ckh and not Seek), we stood out because my father wore a bright red turban to cover his unshorn hair and my mother would sometimes wear a scarf to cover hers.

From constantly being stared at to being asked strange questions (e.g. Do you wash your hair with milk?) to often hearing overtly racist remarks, sometimes it was really hard to withstand the experience of being made to feel so different.

As an adult, being on receiving end of this type of behavior has lessened, however I’ve noticed the biases related to coming from a faith that wears religious head coverings continue on — beliefs like people thinking that Sikhs are oppressed, fanatical, and conservative. And as I share this about people from my faith, I know that the same biased, ignorant beliefs are held about people who are Muslim and Jewish.

In this video, I set the record straight by explaining (a) that wearing religious head coverings is a choice and (b) why it takes tremendous resilience, courage, and strength to do this in a society that judges us for it. Let’s reframe our thinking going forward!

Watch now!

The post What’s it Like to Come from a Culture that Wears Religious Head Coverings? appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Sometimes life can feel really hard. And by sometimes, I mean a lot of the time!

There’s conflict and war all around the world, oppressive laws are being passed that seriously harm LGBTQ+ communities (and especially trans people), the global pandemic continues to make life very difficult for so many, and so much more.

And then there are the personal challenges, which there can be no shortage of (for me, at least), which can leave you feeling so stressed, sad, and deflated.

Even though I’m an optimist  — one of my key anchors is the message that “Life is both hard and beautiful” — I keep coming back to this message again and again to get me through hard times.

And in fact, this really tough period has taught me a lot about the concepts of happiness and joy. For one thing, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a permanent state of happiness (stay tuned for a video on this — I have lots to say here!). But I’ve also learned about a key ingredient to finding joy during tough times — and it’s not about toxic positivity!

In this video, I share my anchor for finding joy during difficult moments and what you can focus on to get you through tough times.

Watch now!

#ShineWithRitu #LiveAuthentically

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While it may seem that racially insensitive Halloween costumes aren’t that big a deal in comparison to, say, police brutality, it’s critical that we call out the full range of racial micro-aggressions and other manifestations of white supremacy. And this is why I wanted to address racist Halloween costumes, as it comes up every year without fail.

Whether it’s parents dressing their children in costumes based on outdated (i.e. racist) Disney characters or adults wearing costumes based on cultural stereotypes — like belly dancers or ninjas — it is a form of cultural appropriation and racism to dress up in other people’s cultural dress.

Cultural Appropriation on Halloween

Cultural appropriation occurs when an individual or group of individuals — typically from a dominant cultural group (for example, white people or heterosexual people) — adopt the customs, practices, ideas, or other elements of culture from another — typically disadvantaged or oppressed — group (for example, Indigenous peoples or members of the LGBTQ communities) in an insensitive, inappropriate, or unacknowledged manner.

To quote journalist Chelsea Candelerio, cultural appropriation occurs when “a person or group takes a group or a culture’s ideas, customs, or styles without acknowledgment or proper credit, sometimes even exploiting it for profit.” (Read her detailed article about cultural appropriation here.)

Cultural appropriation isn’t just limited to Halloween costumes — it shows up in myriad other ways, from “borrowing” or copying slang, fashion, and beauty ideas from historically oppressed groups, often without ever acknowledging the original influence, to what is happening in the wellness industry with yoga in particular.

So while a rapper or Pocahontas costume might feel fun, they’re actually highly problematic, and it’s important that white people in particular develop an equity lens in understanding why this is the case, rather than falling prey to white fragility.

So what can you do to ensure that you aren’t trivializing someone else’s culture or playing on the stereotypes of marginalized communities with your Halloween costume? First, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does this costume include culturally significant clothing, head coverings, jewellery, symbols or artifacts, tattoos and body markings, etc. from a culture that isn’t my own?
   
2. Does this costume involve painting your face black or brown (i.e. depictions of blackface)?
   
3. Could this costume be seen as insensitive or mocking towards marginalized groups? This includes people of color, Indigenous peoples, religious minorities, members of LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, and more.
   
4. Is this costume based on cultural stereotypes?

And finally, if you’re already preparing an argument about how your costume is about cultural appreciation and not cultural appropriation, I highly recommend that you come up with another idea.

Nobody’s culture is a costume. We need to do better this Halloween.

The post My Culture is Not a Costume — Interrupt Racism During Halloween appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Picture this: your child is telling you all about their day at school — what they learned, what they did with their friends, and more. Then all of a sudden your kid says something racist about one of their classmates.

You freeze up in shock and don’t know what to do. You’ve been trying your best to embody anti-racism in your parenting, and you’re surprised your kid made this comment. What do you do?!

In my inclusion work, parents often ask me for tips on what to do in these very situations. This topic comes up so often that I even did a webinar with one of the leading experts in this space, Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., which you can check out here. In my conversation with Dr. Moore, he noted that oftentimes we avoid talking to children about racism out of fear. But the very act of avoidance ends up reinforcing racial bias, racism, and more.

In order to disrupt racism and racial bias, we must call out racist remarks — especially when they’re made by family members, friends, and even our children.

So to help you better prepare for these instances going forward (and they may happen — kids are just tiny humans after all!), in this video, I share some practical tips on what you can do when your kid says something racist.

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To say that the last year has been challenging for those of us who care about social justice and anti-racism would be an understatement. Despite all of our efforts to drive change and be the revolution, this is a long-term battle — our fight to disrupt white supremacy will take much continued work.

As someone who is committed to interrupting racism and speaks about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for a living, I can tell you firsthand that while the work is extremely rewarding, it can also be emotionally taxing and, frankly, exhausting.

In these moments, I’ve found that it’s so important to remind myself of the importance of self-care — and that self-care is social justice.

What do I mean by this? In this video, I share why I believe that in order to show up and truly dismantle systems of oppression, we need to be at our best mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Watch now!

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The openness of elected officials in voicing hatred has opened the door to more visible white-supremacist activities, misogynistic behavior, homophobia, transphobia, and more — and unfortunately, this is just some of what we’ve seen.

But we’ve also seen the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, which have inspired hope that we can create a better world despite everything that’s swirling around us.

What also brings me hope is the outpouring of “I want to stop this hate” messaging from people who want to do better to support those of us who are feeling the sting of oppression. As a diversity expert, I’m repeatedly being asked, “What can I do to help?”

I’m grateful for this because we need strong allies in the fight against hate, racism, misogyny, discrimination, and supremacy. It’s not enough — and, in fact, adds insult to injury — to have marginalized people carry the load when it comes to interrupting oppression. Allies are critical to creating real change.

But what does being an effective ally actually look like? Here are a few things you can do to better interrupt racism, hate, and discrimination with your own actions.

1. Love and Accept Yourself

I’ve talked about how self-love is a foundational building block for an inclusive world. I can’t emphasize enough how critical self-love is in healing our own wounds, which is the clutch for creating a more inclusive society.

At first it might sound strange that turning your gaze inward can create change for others. But here’s one of the most important messages I can leave you with: we hate others because we don’t love ourselves. We fear others’ differences because we fear our own differences. And ultimately, we don’t love ourselves and we fear our own differences, because others hate on us. It’s a vicious cycle that can only be interrupted by self-love. Only by loving ourselves unconditionally — which means embracing our own authenticity, including our differences — will we be able to recognize, understand, and value others’ differences.

2. Speak Less, Listen More

One of the most powerful things that you can do as ally is to listen when people share their experiences with oppression. And when I say listen, I mean the act of deeply taking in what others are sharing with you.

We need people to hear us, hear our stories, and hear about the impact. Many of us feel silenced and have had our experiences downplayed or minimized throughout our lives. Making room for our voices, really hearing what we say, and believing our truths is critical for both understanding and change. (Here’s how to listen in an effective way.)

Also, know that asking questions is a critical part of becoming a better ally. But before you start asking away, take the time to do your own learning about oppression. This way, you can ask questions from a place of some knowledge to deepen your understanding. And when you ask (respectfully, of course, and only when the other person is comfortable with sharing) be prepared to primarily listen and affirm.

3. Use Your Voice to Challenge Hate

An effective ally uses their voice to speak out against hate. When you observe racism, sexism, or other forms of oppression — be it overt or unconscious, with actions or words, at work or at home — speak out.

It’s not enough for people on the receiving end of hate to call it out. Those with power and privilege must step up to do this as well. Doing so can be a powerful learning moment for yourself and for others.

4. Interrupt Your Biases

Every single one of us, without exception, has biases. And we need to know what our own biases are so that we can work on them.

Interrupting and owning your own part in racism, misogyny, and other forms of oppression is critical, and by changing your own behavior, you help to interrupt forms of overt and systemic oppression. Every action matters to help dismantle supremacy.

Not sure where to start? I suggest Harvard’s IATS — an online tool that can be very eye-opening about the unconscious biases we hold about others, and about our own identities — or my Empower Page about identifying your biases.

5. Be Resilient and Have Humility

Even when you’re working your hardest to be an ally, you’re likely going to make mistakes. Somewhere along the way, you’ll probably end up saying or doing the wrong thing. (Happens to me all the time, and I teach inclusion for a living!)

Resilience and humility are key here. Acknowledge when you make a mistake, and apologize from your heart about the impact of your actions — but don’t let it stop you from continuing to learn and to support others. I’ve found that it’s important to approach each situation from the perspective of learning.

Sometimes we think that our individual actions alone don’t really matter or make a difference. But every drop in the ocean matters! Individuals really do alter the system, and by changing your behavior after today, your solidarity can make a difference.

The post 5 Things You Can Do to Be a Better Ally appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

You’ll have heard me say this before: language matters! (Especially negative language…)

I’ve shared already about my struggle to get people to say my “hard-to-pronounce” name correctly and my mission to reclaim the correct pronunciation of my faith, Sikhism, but lately there’s been another bee in my bonnet relating to language — when people use the phrase “suffering from” to talk about mental health challenges and other difficult life experiences.

I’m going to throw out there that “suffering from” is an incredibly negative way of framing someone else’s experiences. And using this negative language can contribute to the continued stigma around mental health challenges and other life experiences and challenges.

The way we speak can have a huge impact on those around us. In this video, I share why “suffering from” is problematic language and what to use instead.

Watch now!

The post Language Matters — Why We Should Stop Saying “Suffering From” appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Growing up as the child of immigrant parents, I often felt out of place in my predominately white neighborhood. Aside from being one of the only Brown kids in my school, I also had — at least according to many of my teachers and peers — a “hard to pronounce” name. (FYI, it’s not that hard to pronounce! Here’s how you say it.)

In my twenties, when I decided to reclaim the correct pronunciation of my name, one of the things I repeatedly heard from people who had only ever known me by the incorrect pronunciation of my name was:

a) that they wish they’d known they were saying my name wrong and

b) that they don’t know how to ask someone the correct pronunciation of their name in a way that doesn’t seem rude or awkward.

Learning the right way to ask someone about the correct pronunciation of their name is such an important skill for anyone who wants to be more inclusive. So in this video, I share a helpful script for you to use when you want to ask someone about how to pronounce their name correctly.

Watch now!

The post How to Ask Someone the Correct Pronunciation of Their Name appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

As a social justice warrior, I care deeply about the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in my job as a professional inclusion speaker, I consistently speak about how equity is the key to creating a more inclusive world for women, BIPOC, and people from communities that experience marginalization.

But the concept of equity can often be conflated with diversity and inclusion even though they are very different! In one of my previous videos, I broke down the definitions and differences between these three concepts and said that we can’t have diversity and inclusion without equity.

In this video, I wanted to dig deeper and highlight why that is — why equity is key for building a more diverse and inclusive world, disrupting oppression and hate, and more.

Watch now!

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