Editor’s note: This is part of series of stories from WRAL TechWire focusing on the calls to action by African American executives in the Research Triangle technology sector following the death of George Floyd.
RALEIGH – Donald Thompson, CEO of Walk West, one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the Triangle, is reeling from the events of the past week.
He compared the killing of Floyd to “an earthquake in our society” and said the event has taken the conversation about race in the US to a global level.
“It cannot be underestimated how powerful our response has to be as a nation,” he said. “Everybody is watching, and as business leaders you, you cannot walk the middle on this. You are either against it, or you’re for it. There’s no in between.”
On a local level, he is actively working to bring about change. In April, he launched The Diversity Movement, a set of online courses, videos, podcasts, events and consulting offerings focused on diversity and inclusion course. He’s also initiating some “uncomfortable” conversations about race and diversity with the podcast, “Ask a Black Guy/Ask a White Guy.”
Here’s more of what he had to say:
- What is your view on the ground here in a Triangle?
My view on the ground here in the Triangle is not really different than in the nation. People are horrified by an African American being murdered with no justification on live TV in shown in real time. It’s a horrific event. It’s been building up for years, and there are a lot of people that are that are waking up to this reality for an African American in this world — that it’s tough to be a part of a society, a country that you love that doesn’t love you back. It’s as simple as that.
A lot of people are hurting and productivity in our country is going to go down for a while because this is a tremendous high-impact event for people of color, and it cannot be underestimated how powerful our response needs to be as a nation. If you think about an earthquake and the physical damage an earthquake does, you’ve had an earthquake in our society in the midst of a very significant and overwhelming pandemic. We have had an earthquake that has affected our global conversation about race, not just here in the US.
African American leaders in Triangle tech community demand change in wake of George Floyd’s death
One of the things that we talk about a lot is that we like to think as Americans that we are number one; that we have a great country. The real question is, when has America been great for African Americans? What period of time has been great? Was it during slavery? Was it during Jim Crow? Or during the 60s? At what moment in time was America great that we’re talking about making a great again? I don’t know what that is. So that’s how I feel about what’s happening.
- What can be done on a local level to affect change?
A lot can be done. The Diversity Movement has a lot of free resources, but one is education. We have to work on ourselves before we can work on our community or nation.
The other thing that is high impact is being a part of or giving to organizations that are assisting people of color. For business leaders, it is having real conversations with people that don’t look like you and listening. When you look in a boardroom and nobody looks like you, asked the question: Why is that? What can we do about it? When you’re at the country club and on the golf course, and you have a foursome and it’s all middle-aged white guys, are we doing this on purpose, or should we expand so that we build broader friendships? When we’re going to our houses of worship on Sundays or whenever we go to pray and worship, are we inviting others and making an environment that other people would feel comfortable so that we can truly get to know each other so that we can make lasting change?
But for me, the biggest thing is inclusive language. Until we learn how we talk to each other differently and better, so that we can have powerful conversations that stick that lead to action, it’s going to be counted. With The Diversity Movement, we’re trying to be helpful in actionable insights of how people can move the needle for that question.
- Is this a watershed moment?
This is absolutely a watershed moment. Barack Obama was not elected the first African American president without the support of white Americans, black Americans, and Latin Americans. All of us achieved something that was powerful in electing the first African American president. The changes in civil rights and legislations and voter rights were done because a coalition of all Americans decided it was past time. So I do think this is a transformational event because this will not go away because people in power hope it to be. There will be institutional and structural change because this moment shown in video real time is unacceptable to so many people.
It is beyond color; it is beyond geographies. This is changing the way world views America. We like to go to other countries and talk about how amazing we are, but we don’t fix our own stuff here. We talk to other people about human rights and we don’t have human rights here. It is a transformational event because everyone’s watching how we respond. And as business leaders you, you cannot walk the middle on this. You are either against it, or you’re for it. There’s no in between.
That’s when you have a watershed event: when people have to decide if they want to be into making the change. Now, the positives that I’m seeing is I’m getting calls from leaders that I work with on a regular basis, and they want to know how to be activated. They’re not calling me to understand issues, to dig deeper for some basic training. They want to know what they can do in their companies to make things better. I’m highly encouraged by the conversations that I’m having with a lot of folks that know me and know what I’m doing on the diversity and inclusion front. That makes my that makes my heart feel better.
- Where do we go from here?
I don’t have that answer, and I think nobody does. But what I would say is, we do have to alter the way we talk to each other, because it is not helpful in the midst of this transformational event, for those that are trying to pour gasoline on the fire. It is most important that, in our particular audiences of influence, that we raise the conversation about how to create better education and specific areas of action.
Again, that’s one of the reasons that we created The Diversity movement. So that we could bring together partners in this diversity and inclusion space because it applies across the board in how businesses go to market today.
Diversity and inclusion must now be an extension of a company’s brand. As an African American business owner and African American consumer, I’m watching who’s behaving in a manner that aligns with my principles and values. And that starts with human decency. This is more than just hiring a chief diversity officer. This is your CEO and your C-Suite, making it a priority that racial competency in your organization is a part of your strategy. This is a call for leaders to lead by example.
