These days organizations are SO eager to enter into the work of equity. Yet so many, when they get into it and see how much work it is, how hard and uncomfortable it is, begin to retreat into the blame game:

“This isn’t what we expected.” “We didn’t know it would take this much time and work (away from our other work).” Or the classic, “This isn’t a good fit.” There are dozens of excuses.

I’ve been doing anti-oppression work with organizations for over 20 years. And so many before me did it for decades before that.

Excuses like these are clear litmus tests of where these organizations are at. And they do not dismiss the root causes of oppression at that org.

Oppression does not just disappear. It is dismantled brick by brick, thought by thought, habit by habit, with literal blood, sweat, and tears.

The sooner people understand this, the sooner we get to the real work.