VPR is Committed to Racial Equality
by Andrea Samacicia Mullan
At the start of the month, we at Victory PR made a commitment to be active listeners and dedicate ourselves to learning about how we can be even better allies to Black people. During that time I personally made some discoveries about myself and the company that were both difficult and empowering.
Specifically, it became clear that my feeling that VPR is “too small” to meaningfully help improve the unacceptable reality that Black people face is nothing more than a cop-out. My moment of clarity came when I realized that in order for progress to be made, it is essential for even the smallest company to internalize the importance of racial equity in all elements of their business. While it’s true that the pursuit of racial equity must be its own effort for all companies, including VPR, we are passionately working toward a time when the principle of racial equity is an ingrained part of our company culture. My failing is that it was not already.
During this time, we’ve established our commitment to having frank discussions surrounding race and holding ourselves and each other accountable. We made a contribution to The Loveland Foundation, an incredible organization focused on providing therapy to Black women and girls, and have made an active effort to surround ourselves on social media and in real life with powerful Black voices. We’ve also committed to actively seeking the understanding and education necessary to ensure that this drive, which is so strong in the immediate aftermath of inexcusable violence, does not waver with the passing of time.
There are a couple of steps I took on behalf of VPR before this movement took hold that I believe will help to ensure we stay on the right path. They include our partnership with IFundWomen, which enabled us in June to contribute funds to five Black-owned businesses. They are:
We also recently hired a new director, Jenan Matari. In addition to the traditionally impressive credentials she shared on her resume, Jenan is the founder and editor-in-chief of MissMuslim and in 2017 gave a TEDx talk entitled Embracing Your Identity.
Her candor regarding her own struggle for acceptance and her longstanding commitment to vocally advocating for human rights, racial equality, and female empowerment are inspirational. While the decision to hire her was made solely based on her many impressive professional achievements in the fields of PR and journalism, having someone in a leadership role here at VPR who so fearlessly champions causes faced by BIPOC is crucial to our ability to do better.
Surely all of this is utterly inadequate, which is why it’s just a start. I welcome any feedback on how VPR can more effectively support the Black community and I will personally continue to actively seek the education and guidance I need to be the type of leader I aspire to be.