Through my business, I get to practice living in the world as I wish it were: loving, equitable and aiming towards justice. I love being in business for myself, because it means I don’t have to toe the company line or acquiesce to clients’ whims. The bad news is that so many of the industry norms for online entrepreneurship replicate oppressive models of coercion and manipulation. The good news is I don’t have to participate in them, and neither do you!
If you’re running a business and give a shit about social justice, there are lots of ways to use the platform you have (however large or small) to support the causes you care about. Here are 12 tips for how to do this effectively, skillfully and consistently.
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Remember that no one was born “woke.” Everyone starts somewhere. Wherever you are in this process of waking up to the injustices of the world is fine as long as you don’t wait a minute longer to do something about it. I like to remind myself that it’s not my fault that the world is screwed, but it is my responsibility to do what I can about it, and that’s usually more than I think I can. Don’t get waylaid by guilt. We don’t have to rush, but we must make consistent, strategic moves.
Establish your position early and often. This work isn’t work that we get to talk about once and put down for awhile til we feel like it again. Talk about social justice on your website, in your newsletter, on social media and in real life. If you’re just trying to capitalize on the hot button topic of the moment, or get social justice Kool-Aid points, you’re missing the point. It’s not necessary (or possible, for solo business folks like me) to only ever talk about social justice, or to participate in every single moment of online uproar, but it is necessary for this work to be ongoing.
Find ways to connect it to the work that you do. Are you a doula? Talk about Black women’s maternal mortality rates. Are you a visual artist? Raise awareness about the lack of gallery representation of artists of color. Are you a health coach? Interrupt diet culture and fatphobia at every turn. Systems of oppression are operating everywhere, in every field. No one is exempt.
Raise awareness about issues that don’t directly affect you. We must be invested in interrupting oppressions that aren’t part of our daily lives. People with white privilege need to talk about racial justice. Men can interrupt patriarchy. Thin people need to talk about fatphobia. Cisgender women should point out transmisogyny. This is part of how we leverage our privilege for the greater good.
Share the work of people on the frontlines of the issues you’re pointing out. Make a point to find authors who represent the demographic of the particular cause, eg disabled writers on disability justice issues, Black writers on police violence. You don’t have to say anything particularly eloquent or profound about issues that aren’t about you. In fact, you probably can’t! So instead, simply share the work of other people, positioning yourself as a signal booster rather than an expert. If it’s not your issue, be a megaphone, not an orator.
Give money to POC-led organizations. This one is simple--you’re making money through your business, so give some of it to organizations doing work that matters. Don’t give randomly. Pick a few organizations and become a sustaining donor. Most groups have a way to set up automatic recurring donations monthly or quarterly. I love supporting small, local organizations who may struggle to find funding over giant non-profits with more access to support.
Consider ways to lower the cost of your offerings for marginalized people. In the online biz world, the standard protocol is to offer a few teasers of your services for free but keep your best work behind a more expensive paywall. We can interrupt this norm with our business structures! Consider scholarships for folks living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities (who often have access to fewer resources). Offer up no-questions-asked sliding scale spots. Make the process of accessing these spots simple and dignified for everyone involved. Don’t keep your best work for those with the most money.
Don’t charge more for payment plans. You might also offer long-term payment plans--and set your overall prices high enough to do so without charging fees for accessing one. Why would you financially penalize the people with the least money? These folks are more likely to be people of color, women, disabled, queer, rural, etc. Don’t nickel-and-dime the folks who need more time to pay.
Put a non-discrimination policy on your website. You might assume that your potential clients know that you care about social justice, but if you don’t say so, why would they? Draft a non-discrimination policy that states your goals of interrupting oppressions wherever possible, commitment to inclusiveness, etc. This doesn’t need to be in legalese, and in fact, is probably more compelling in your own voice than in jargon. Put it in your website footer, or on your about page, or in your FAQs. If you’re a services provider, add it to your client contracts.
Commit to a practice of accessibility. Use image descriptions on social media photos. Use captions on your videos. Provide transcripts for podcasts. Consider accessibility requirements when hosting in-person events, and at the very least, include accessibility notes in the event info (ie, “The event is held on the second floor; an elevator is available.”) You don’t have to do it all at once. It might not be possible, for instance, for a solo entrepreneur to add captions to five years of past YouTube videos. But you can start adding them to your videos going forward. Start where you are, but keep moving forward.
Volunteer your skills where applicable. Are you a copywriter? Edit resumes for folks reentering the workforce. Are you a massage therapist? Provide chair massages at a women’s shelter once a month. Are you a personal chef? Send excess meals to the member meetings of an organization you care about. Plug your existing skills into places where they’re useful. Reming yourself that volunteering isn’t about benevolence but solidarity.
Remember that none of this is for the optics. If you’re doing this work to look good, people will see through you. If you’re hoping to assuage your own guilt about your privilege, you won’t last in these practices. “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” --Lilla Watson and Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970s
This list is by no means exhaustive! What other ways are you showing up for justice through the platform of your business?