Silencing and Being Silenced

Reflections on silencing, white supremacy culture, and what my work is revealing right now

On Friday, I wrote a post about silencing and being silenced, at a time when it’s more important than ever that we show solidarity and speak up. It was part of my LinkedIn series ‘reflections in practice’, which is a weekly series of reflections on what my work reveals, conversations I have, and thoughts or ideas sparked, sharing resources of interest or posing questions and early ideas for new initiatives. Unfortunately, LinkedIn decided it had too many sensitivity triggers and limited its reach to dismal impressions, so virtually no one saw it.

I even saw this play out again in another form this week while using an AI tool to draft a piece, ironically, on the silencing around institutional cultures of misogyny in the finance sector (more on this soon). It kept trying to water down the analysis, nudging me toward caution and institutional comfort. I literally felt like I was being gaslighted by a man, which was a replica of what I was actually writing about! Oh, the work, there is SO much to do.

But back to my weekly reflections. From now on, I will also share my ‘Reflections in Practice’ notes here every Friday as a separate thread. I think these offer important insights into leadership, culture, ethics, integrity, anti-racism and EDI in general, and especially at this time.

Here’s my 5th Reflections in Practice in full:

Reflections in Practice #5

I watched a really moving interview this week, featuring Marcia Howard, one of the central community organisers in Minnesota. It’s not an easy watch, but the interviewer takes such care to create a space where Marcia can share the lived reality of the last few weeks. It feels important for people to really understand the levels of racism and white supremacy that are being experienced and normalised. She also shares how all kinds of leaders, groups, and organisations are coming together with neighbours to counter this. It’s a really powerful conversation.

I think the sense of ‘history repeating itself’ might be part of why we’re seeing growing interest in our Beyond White Supremacy Culture programme. People are shifting from feeling powerless to recognising the one thing they can always influence: how they behave, make choices, challenge harm, and move from passive concern to active solidarity. Because systems are made of people, it’s in everyday actions and decisions that systems are maintained or interrupted. I’ve felt really encouraged by how we’ve seen people step forward from journalism, the arts, charity, consultancy, health and education sectors, and show interest in unlearning.

Although this is still a minority group, which is a worry. I think for many marginalised folk we feel alot of uncertainty in the future right now. I had a coaching session last week to discuss my own strategies for managing this, and I am living in a country that is openly welcoming immigrants and speaking out against a genocide. A colleague in the US shared how someone they knew was barely leaving their university dorm. Another in my community shared how the level of trans hate they were experiencing was the worst they’ve ever known.

In a couple of projects I’m in right now, we’ve been talking about the UK and the rise of the hard right and what it means across sectors. Just yesterday, someone said they were alarmed by how little attention this is getting inside organisations, as if it’s ‘outside’ the workplace rather than an operating condition shaping people’s safety, trust, and willingness to speak. We’re already seeing organised mobilisation spill into sector spaces, from conservation and sustainability to education, food and farming, and civil society.

I shared this video with a client this week, as a reminder of what true solidarity actually is. These wise words from Oli Mould feel like the right ending for this week’s reflection.