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.

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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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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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.

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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In the midst of this racial injustice crisis moment, the term white fragility is consistently coming up. And finally so!

As we move forward in the fight against white supremacy, it’s so important to talk about what white fragility is and understand the negative impact it can have on our efforts to dismantle and change systems and structures that are permeated by white supremacy and racism — and on our efforts to even have conversations about racism.

So what is white fragility?

In this video, I share a definition of white fragility, how it shows up for white people, and why it can be such a problem when it comes to social justice work.

Watch now!

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Given all that we are seeing happen in the world right now, we’re hearing a lot about the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI). As someone who has been teaching DEI concepts for almost two decades now, I know first-hand how vital each of these concepts are in creating more accepting, inclusive workplaces and societies where everyone feels comfortable living as their Authentic Self.

I also know that the unique concepts of equity, inclusion, and diversity can be tricky to describe, and that far too often we are presented with generalized definitions that fail to capture the nuances of and differences between these distinctive principles.

In this video, I explain the difference between equity, diversity, and inclusion and share which of the three I think is most important for creating social change.

Watch now!

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When you see a homeless person on the street, do you acknowledge them or ignore them? When you get onto an elevator, do you say hello to the person standing there or do you avoid eye contact? If you’re at the office late and the cleaners arrive, do you say hello or do you disregard their presence?

So many of us wish that we lived in a kinder, happier, nicer, better world. We want to do better, but sometimes what exactly to do escapes us.

Here’s something I’ve learned through my work: working to make the world a kinder place doesn’t mean having to drop everything to do something huge. And in fact, it’s the smaller, simpler acts of opening ourselves up to others, including people we don’t know, that has the power to change our lives and our world for the better.

In this video, I share with you the one simple and small behavioral shift that you can make after today that has the power to create a kinder, more inclusive world.

Watch now!

The post If We All Did This One Simple Thing, We’d Change the World appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

There’s a lot of talk lately about bias tied to cultural identities like race/ethnoculture and gender identity, but there’s also continued confusion about what bias is, how it works, and where it shows up.

So what is bias?

Simply put, bias refers to the mental shortcuts our brains take in decision-making. These mental shortcuts impact the way we treat others — especially people who our brains have unconsciously decided are not like us because of the way they look, speak, behave, and more.

We are all hardwired to engage in bias, which means that there are three things that happen with bias (and they happen to everyone): we dish it out, we receive it, and we internalize it.

In this video, I take a deep dive into the three things that happen with bias and talk about how our ability to interrupt bias can affect how inclusive, authentic, happy, and even successful we are.

Watch now!

The post The 3 Things That Happen With Bias — And What to Do About Them appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.