I\u2019m ready for the weather to change. I am constantly checking the Chicago forecast to see if I can pull my Birkenstocks out of hibernation. My brother has succumbed to my demands and promised to send me some Vermont maple syrup from the upcoming season. My DMs are filled with videos from friends of newly born kids jumping, screaming, and playing \u201cqueen of the mountain.\u201d Spring is clearly the best season if you live in a cold winter region, but the <\/span>anticipation<\/span><\/i> of spring might be even better. It\u2019s a micro season that I am now calling \u201chope.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m writing this in February during Black History Month. This month, originally founded as Negro History Week in 1926, was officially recognized as\u00a0 Black History Month in 1976 by President Ford. I have <\/span>The Great Soul Food Cook-Off <\/span><\/i>\u00a0playing in the background, a reality cooking competition that solely focuses on Black American cuisine, and celebrates the recipes and ingredients made by our enslaved ancestors. I\u2019m eating butter pecan ice cream (IYKYK). My celebration of Blackness is not dependent on what happens in Washington. To paraphrase a great musician: \u201cSay it Loud! I\u2019m Black and your hate and ignorance have got nothing to do with my pride.\u201d Pretty sure that\u2019s the B side of their famous record.<\/span><\/p>\n Megan Thee Stallion said \u201cbad bi***** have bad days too,\u201d and these days I\u2019m feeling that line for real\u2014but I am still hopeful. The city of Detroit is getting its first Black-owned cheese shop this spring. Monger Provisions may have shut down their downtown space, but Detroit will still have a cheese shop. The torch has been passed to Janica and Patrick and the shop will open under the name Hosted this spring. As of this writing, they will be one of only a handful of brick and mortar Black-owned cheese shops that I know of in this country. (Check out Edex Provisions in Massachusetts, Say Cheese in California, Fromagio\u2019s in Alaska. \u2026 Also, Feast & Graze in Tennessee.) They\u2019re also the closest to my Chicago home. I can\u2019t wait to take the train out there this year and cheer them on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re about to do a hard subject change. Buckle up.<\/span><\/p>\n The other day I was asked \u201cHow can we keep DEI at work when the government is erasing it?\u201d This is what I actually heard in my mind when this question was presented:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf the government doesn\u2019t care about diversity, equity, and inclusion, why should I stand up for marginalized people\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n So, let\u2019s touch briefly on what\u2019s been vocalized and how the common interpretation of DEI is wrong, in my opinion. First things first, DEI doesn\u2019t mean Black. Even though it\u2019s being used primarily to tap into this country\u2019s anti-Black passions, DEI is more than supporting Black Americans. It stands for <\/span>D<\/b>iversity, <\/span>E<\/b>quity, and <\/span>I<\/b>nclusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Diversity, equity, and inclusion helps protect pregnant people from being fired. It means looking at all of the qualified resumes and not passing on candidates based on their names. DEI makes spaces accessible for disabled people because we deserve to be in all the spaces. It means treating LGBTQIA+ people (especially our trans family) with respect. It means that everyone deserves the same opportunities and chances, regardless of what they look like, who they worship, how they identify, or who they love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So if you are anti-DEI, scrutinize which part of diversity, equity, and inclusion you do <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> support, and why?<\/span><\/p>\n What if you don\u2019t have any visibly disabled people on your staff? If you live in a predominantly white region of the country, county, or state, why should you concern yourself with making sure people of the global majority are supported in your business? If you\u2019re \u201cpretty sure\u201d your staff is cis and heterosexual why should you work to make sure members of the LGBTQIA+ communities feel safe going to work? Fostering an inclusive environment shows your peers, colleagues, and potential employees that there is a space for them where you work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A few years ago I was having a conversation with someone and asked them about how the racial protests were affecting their workspace. Was their company planning on putting any language in their documents that acknowledged and protected marginalized folks? The answer wasn\u2019t just no, I was told that it wasn\u2019t a priority for them because their job isn\u2019t located in a diverse area. How disappointing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You might not have marginalized folks in your workforce now, but being shortsighted isn\u2019t good for business. Not acknowledging that people have different needs and putting protections in place for them lets me, and other marginalized folks know that there\u2019s no place for us in your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Customers and employees alike are being more intentional with where they spend their dollar, and even if you don\u2019t broadcast it, what is done in the shadows will come to light. When it does, I hope to find you in community with those of us who identify as women, LGB<\/span>T<\/b>QIA+, disabled, veterans, BIPOC folks, and all the intersections of those categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nothing is cuter than a baby goat. I\u2019m ready for the weather to change. I am constantly checking the Chicago forecast to see if I can pull my Birkenstocks out of hibernation. My brother has succumbed to my demands and promised to send me some Vermont maple syrup from the upcoming season. My DMs are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":49081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,27966],"tags":[],"coauthors":[27956],"class_list":["post-49080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-cheese-for-the-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n