For academics (especially White academics, but this goes for everyone) reading #BlackintheIvory and wondering how you can support Black students and academics here is a thread of things to consider a number which have been especially supportive of my own professional development
1. Stand up for Black voices in the moment especially when they are pushing back against a norm. Emailing or approaching after the fact saying "I really appreciate what you said/how you called XYZ out" isn't helpful. Silent agreement doesn't change culture #BlackintheIvory
2. Introduce them to your network! At your institution, at conferences, at places they express interest in possibly working. Having mentors organically say "Hey let me introduce you to my colleague..." without me having to ask has opened so many doors #BlackintheIvory
3. Invite them to collaborate for authorship. Ex of this for me, "Could I adapt your code from something similar you did & have you on as an author" or "I know you did a lit review/have knowledge on this topic & could contribute to intro and discussion sections" #BlackintheIvory
4.Invite them to speak about their work! In guest lectures, in seminars, on panels. If you have a role coordinating any sort of speaker series do an audit of who you have historically asked. Many of us may not have completed our degrees yet but we are experts too #BlackintheIvory
5. Really reflect on patterns in any hiring or admissions roles you have. Much of the "weeding out" may not be overt. Are applicants from all types of institutions being considered equally? #BlackintheIvory
5. Compensate folks for time they spend on DEI initiatives for your department/institution. CV lines from the activity itself do not count as currency. #BlackintheIvory
Last Note: I am glad that so many have found this thread useful and have shared widely. I think it's important to explicitly state this is by no means an exhaustive list of how to support Black colleagues, but rather a start of concrete steps anyone can start doing immediately.
