The field of race and leadership

This Special Issue offers insights about race and leadership for all—not just Black, Indigenous and other people of color—but everyone, as each person is implicated in this discussion in some way. To do justice to the beauty and power of the authors’ words in this special issue on race and leadership, rather than an editors’ review we wish to instead frame a way of receiving these works. In doing so, we draw inspiration from the Sufi mystic Rumi (1995: 36):

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase each other

Doesn’t make any sense.

We invite you to join us in that field beyond. Beyond belief and non-belief, judgements and ideologies. Beyond binaries, dichotomies, dualities and polarities. Beyond the divisions of you, me and other. Take off the lenses that refract leadership into hotly argued angles.

This field, as we wish to offer it, is a state of being. A space to release the occlusions that prevent us from receiving the voices of others. To forgo the need for corroboration of our opinions, judgments and assumptions. A state that releases the ego to allow receptivity to flow. The field we envision is expansive, wholehearted, spacious and right here in this moment. A moment to just listen and be suspended in possibilities.

It is with honor we present this collection of works on race and leadership. The authors have stepped forward with courage to share words that may drift across your field like a familiar wind or more likely perturbate it in an uncomfortable and disturbing way with words to be reckoned with, thereby leading to change.

The authors, collectively, bring our attention to the importance of race and leadership in these times, and for all times. This is not a race to the finish. It is a race into this very moment in time. We all have the power in the moment to pause and reflect before acting. It is in this moment we hope you choose to use your personal power to enhance the space you inhabit for justice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed lives around the world and for many it has been traumatic and dramatic. The World Economic Forum reported that fear during the COVID-19 pandemic drove an increase in racism around the world. In UK hospitals people asked not to be treated by Asian doctors or nurses, in Chinese cities Black people faced intensified scrutiny and racism, in India Islamophobia gave rise to hate speech linked to COVID-19 and in the US Trump decried ‘the Chinese virus’, and halted Green Card applications for 60 days. These few examples capture the abounding crisis of leadership around the world at this time (Ladkin, 2020; Prasad, 2020; Qasim, 2020; Tourish, 2020). The divides related to economic, health, gender, geographical, and racial disparities have been heightened. Alongside the rise in racism, people of color and low-income communities suffered disproportionately due to “pre-existing conditions” such as unequal access to health care, higher likelihood of working in essential jobs, poor housing conditions that compound stress, health and wellbeing, and working in precarious jobs that put them high on the casualty list of economic disruption (Bonhomme, 2020; Greenhouse, 2020).

This is a time for courage. An executive order by the former Trump administration to ban certain diversity training on race and gender was described by The New York Times as an “attack” that saw federal agencies, universities and corporations put an immediate halt to such training under threat of prosecution, debarment and funding cuts. Professor Barrios of Southern Illinois University, called for “institutions of higher education to become ethical beacons for the nation” and civil rights groups, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and business lobbies fought back (Fuchs, 2020). Academics are called to resist such serious violations of freedom. This Special Issue is a part of that stand.

As a community of scholars, students and practitioners interested in leadership, we each have the potential and the power to influence the field of race and leadership in profound ways. This influence is manifest through the works we choose to write, the research projects we decide to pick up and advance, the content we choose to teach, the people we choose to hire, promote, retain, and mentor.

We have, as guest editors, reflected upon our personal race and leadership journeys along with the many rich contributions to this Special Issue. We propose a few steps to include in your journey. Our suggested steps are prompts for reflection and there is much you can add from the Special Issue contributors along with reflections on your own journey, including:

be still and reflect on your sacred life purpose

find your authentic ground and know that this process can be messy with competing voices

work together but take time to do your own inquiries

move with discernment amidst duplicities and hidden agendas

be willing to “get into good trouble, necessary trouble” and also “be hopeful, be optimistic” as the honorable John Lewis once encouraged us all

confront the inequities and injustices and choose to take action, choose not to look the other way or not speak up

see the interconnectedness of our lives and take responsibility in life-nourishing ways towards all at home, in community, and at work

take time for healing of yourself, others, the spaces in which you work, and the land upon which you stand

build bridges, not walls

engage in dialogue and be willing to listen without judgment, speak with wisdom, kindness and generosity

harness the power of education to create equitable, just societies through curriculum, research, and practice.

These are invited manuscripts. We encouraged contributions that were strong on storytelling, lived experience and current news. The voices herein are predominantly Black and Indigenous—communities who have resisted annihilation with fierce resolve, courage and grace; peoples who have transmitted from one generation to the next an unwavering belief in self-determining freedom, equity and justice. Through these generations, they have also danced, told stories and celebrated the sanctity of all life. These peoples have much to teach the world about resilience in times of uncertainty and the unknown.

We are each a thread in the much larger tapestry that American poet, author, and civil rights activist Angelou (1994) has described: “ … in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of that tapestry are equal in value no matter their color.”

We honor your commitment in reading this Special Issue and engaging with this challenging and critically important subject. We wish for you and everyone else increasing courage, compassion and clarity as we seek to contribute as leaders individually and collectively to creating a more equitable, just and sustainable world.

Black lives matter and the revitalization of collective visionary leadership

Sarah J. Jackson shares a remarkable interview she had with Alicia Garza, who, since using “Black Lives Matter” in a 2013 Facebook post, has become a central figure in Black freedom efforts. This article is not just about Garza, it is about women, community leadership and the vision of freedom that gets transmitted from one generation to the next. Where each person is part of a collective endeavor to bring into being a future where equity is every person’s birthright. It takes courage and faith to envision and create a world that exists in glimmers of hope at the horizons of radical imagination.

The paradox of the seed and soil: Cultivating inclusive leadership for a “new normal”

Keith Caver and Ancella Livers use an evocative and stirring metaphor of seed and soil to lay out an ecosystemic view of cultivating inclusive leadership. When deprived of sufficient sources of nourishment, Black leaders and others who are different cannot flourish to their full potential. Yet, when leaders decisively commit to creating the conditions for an interdependent ecosystem, the opportunity to fully harness the power and potential of a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce can be made manifest.

Working together to survive and thrive: The struggle for black lives past and present

Herbert G. Ruffin II presents a powerful account of the multifaceted struggle for justice by ordinary Black people working together through the generations to survive and thrive for self-determination as a way of life. He details the waves of movements through history to combat anti-Black violence and shines the light on a number of organizations and their activities to reveal the constellation of efforts to bring social justice that one needs to understand as a leader.

Land back: A meta narrative to help indigenous people show up as movement leaders

Nikki Pieratos, Sarah Manning and Nick Tilsen discuss how the present political climate and an increase in visibility and voice for Indigenous people can be leveraged to attract attention to dire social, environmental, and political issues. In this article, the NDN Collective, an all Indigenous-led and -staffed organization devoted to building Indigenous self-determination and power across Turtle Island, showcases one of their biggest movement building campaigns: Land Back. Built around three pillars of “Defend, Develop, Decolonize” the NDN Collective demonstrates how Indigenous peoples can tackle pressing issues such as climate justice and racial equity.

Beyond diversity, inclusion and belonging

Vincent Adejumo brings together his political science background combined with his expertise in Human Resource Management, to probe Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. In the wake of an edict by the former Trump administration to ban certain diversity training programs, Vincent offers a voice of resilience, strength and hope. Going beyond Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, he says, is not just about check boxes, body counts or integrating people, but it is about leaders upending power relations and genuinely, tenaciously learning about the wider political, social, educational, medical and economic forces that keep the status quo in place.

White privilege, black resilience: Women of color leading the academy

Simone A. F. Gause shares the lived experiences of seasoned Black female leaders in higher education. Operating in a lacuna of meaningful effort by institutions of higher education to address a lack of diversity, persistent microaggressions and biased leadership profiling, the women in this paper open up about how they navigate these challenges. Statistics and narratives are persuasively combined to help the reader understand the essences of these women’s experiences and practical suggestions are made to support change.

What silence can teach us about race and leadership

Chellie Spiller, Michelle Evans, Kathryn Goldman Schuyler and Lemuel W. Watson discuss how silence is laden when it comes to race and leadership. They unpack fear-based silence that stifles and suffocates as a way of dis-engaging, avoiding discomfort or hiding racism. However, sacred silence, they say, can be a profound teacher to help leaders, through creating the time and space for conscious reflection and inquiry. Leaders who inquire bravely into their experience, pursue journeys of transformation and change, no matter how uncomfortable, and also encourage others to do so, can help create a world where all are respected and valued.