How to be an Inclusion Rider
What if you had co-authored a book, and your co-author had been ignored by the press or the publisher, what would you do? If you saw a collaborator was being cast in the shadows would you accept it, ignore it, or speak up? Does the fact that I’m even asking these questions sound preposterous and not realistic to you? Think again. It’s the kind of discrimination that women, Black women, and POC are all too used to. (Food photographer Kristina Gill just happened to speak up about it.)
Inclusion riders
Inclusion rider is a term used in Hollywood to refer to a stipulation in the contracts of actors and actresses that requires a certain level of diversity—gender, color, LGBT, etc.— in the cast and crew of a film. (I suspect it could apply to salary demands as well.) The idea of an "inclusion rider" entered the conversation after Frances McDormand mentioned it in her 2018 Oscar speech. (She was shocked to have only recently learned the term herself.)
Every mention of "inclusion rider" I found was linked to Hollywood, but Hollywood isn't the only problem industry. There's no reason the term can't be cast wider. My own awareness came about it through the design world when leaders started to acknowledge and question why this wasn't being discussed in the design world.
After the Oscar speech Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge wrote about the lack of representation in the design world and why our community is stronger when we're all represented. She pointed out, "When we include the voices, stories, and concerns of people from a wide range of identities and experiences we gain a better understanding of each other, more compassion, more sources of inspiration, and a broader and more brilliant mix of ideas."
Being an inclusion riders is not to be confused with brands making a statement as a way to jump on a movement. We’re not talking about performative allyship, we’re talking authentic allyship. It's truly being an advocate for others and checking ones own privilege. This is about teamwork to a better future that goes deeper than the surface. It’s Shine Theory in action.
Shine Theory
Shine Theory is a practice of mutual investment in each other. The term coined by podcasters Aminatou Sou and Ann Friedman asks “Would we be better as collaborators than as competitors?”. It’s built on the belief, “I don’t shine if you don’t shine.”
Shine Theory is something most practiced by women. Under the Obama White House women in power devised a strategy called “amplification” to make their voices heard because it was such a challenge for them to exert their influence during the President’s first term. “After one woman offered an idea, if it wasn’t acknowledged, another woman would repeat it and give her colleague credit for suggesting it,” is how it’s described in The Washington Post. The amplification of voices can happen in any industry from politics, to the media, and sports.
Call for inclusion
Illustrator Tim Goodman has long been vocal about the need for the inclusion of other voices. For years he's been sharing templates of emails publicly that he uses to respond to brands and conference organizers when he has concerns about their intentions (ie. if you're white and someone asks you to do work for a POC community) or lack of an inclusive cast of people on panels. In other words, he uses his white male privilege to advocate for others and (hopefully) make brands and organizations pause and think in a way that's not threatening or aggressive.
He shared the GoogleDoc template where you can copy and paste the emails directly and adapt them as needed.
Goodman also fully acknowledges it's a privilege to turn down work, walk away from money and/or career experience—everyone is at a different stage of their career—but invites us to question and challenge the curators and "leaders."
Social media has become one of the more visible ways to give a voice to others through “takeovers,” but being an inclusion rider may never be visible to the outside world. It may start with a conversion, a letter, an email. It’s learning to speak up even when most people may stay silent and accept the status quo as “how it is.” Just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean it’s the only way, or the right way.
This change is going to have to happen from the inside out, and it's not always about waiting for someone else to tell us what to do. It may not always be comfortable. In the process we are required to self-educate and be a part of the change we want to see. School never taught us this. In fact, in school we were rewarded for getting the right answer, good grades, and being at the top of our class. The work we have to do now is primarily invisible and may never be rewarded outwardly.
Part of what needs to happen is to pay attention to what’s happening to those around us, and look for those moments when we can step in and step up. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of life, but it’s also important to pause to listen to one’s gut. When something doesn’t fee right, stop to consider what you can do to elevate someone else. It’s high time we make this the norm, rather than the exception.