Hi everyone. My name is Melicia. Okay. Good evening and thank you for coming. It is really such an honor to be here. I worked with the communications network as a corral fellow last summer. And what the organization does is connect nonprofits, foundations, and other philanthropic organizations with one another and provides them with insight into the best communication practices. Through this experience, I learned a lot about how to make ideas move using different social media platforms. Twitter is one platform upon which people can use their voice to spread their ideas and make them move. Now, one day I was just browsing through the website and I came across one idea in particular that had been trending. And here is what that was. Hashtag white girls do it better. Hashtag white girls united. Now, I just want to take a moment to ask you, how do these hashtags make you feel? And this isn’t a rhetorical question, so please feel free to shout out one word of answers. Close. Right there. There. There. All right. Great. Thank you. So I heard responses such as gross, disgusting, and embarrassed. And that is exactly how these hashtags should make you feel. But for women of color, these hashtags are mostly meant to make you feel inferior. Now, it isn’t clear who started these hashtags, whether it was someone who was racist or whether it was something someone truly believed. But regardless of the origin, these hashtags promoted a dialogue. Now, while these hashtags may make you feel incredulous, they communicate something powerful and their impact is real. Take a look at these images. They’re examples of the provocative selfies young white women took as a part of this movement. And what is the message they’re portraying? The message is that white women are superior. The message is to empower and unite white women by saying, look, we are the face of America’s beauty standard, and you as black and brown women have no place here. Now, thankfully, these hashtags didn’t go ignored and a conversation grew from them. There wasn’t any particular organization that responded, but rather individuals from across the country were backlashing. For instance, one person responded by saying, yes, hashtag white girls do it better at failing to acknowledge their own white privilege. But you can feel free to read the other two examples. Now, these responses are critical in that they started a conversation about beauty, about race, and about the inherent value individuals possess. But it is also important to remember that these hashtags are just a tiny representation of the huge racial disparities that continue to exist in the country today. In the 21st century, race is still an issue that demands critical attention and action. If you need the proof, just take a look at Cleveland, take a look at Ferguson, and take a look at Flint. Now, the hashtag campaign didn’t end there. Look who started talking about it, actresses and celebrities. A feud began between actress Amanda Stenberg, who you may know from The Hunger Games, and celebrity Kylie Jenner, I’m sure you’re all aware of who that family is, when Jenner wore her hair in cornrows. And Stenberg responded by saying this, when you appropriate black features and culture, but feel to use your position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards your wigs instead of police brutality or racism, hashtag white girls do it better. And as you can see, the conversation went wild. Jenner and Stenberg are people in the public eye with millions of people following them that were now paying attention to the issue. Now, frankly, when I saw these hashtags, I was pissed off. I grew up with my mom and her family who are white and attended a school where most of the kids are white and I read books and watched movies where people who look like me just weren’t represented. And as a result of this, I silenced myself and I lacked the confidence to use my voice to its full capacity. I was shadowed by the majority. But thankfully, in the summer of 2015, I had an epiphany about communications. And by this, I mean I finally understood the role of communications in the narrative of race, gender, and power. Prior to my time as a corral fellow, I really didn’t know what communications was. I knew it was important, but didn’t really get how it could operate as an entire department, let alone an organization. But it was reading these hashtags and seeing the responses to them that I realized that communications isn’t unintentional. It’s a science, it’s strategic, and there’s a method to the madness. Now, the communications network compiled the four pillars of effective communications in order to help organizations achieve social change through better communications. And these four pillars are brand, culture, strategy, and action. And I realized that the hashtag campaign actually fit into this model. For instance, brand was the hashtags themselves, hashtag white girls do it better, and hashtag white girls united. Culture was the fact that these hashtags took place on a platform of social media. The strategy was to flip the hashtag upside down. It was to use the same hashtag, but in a way that empowered minority women rather than belittle them. And finally, the action was using the hashtags themselves. It was the conversation that ensued about what it meant to be a person of color in America. I silenced myself because I felt less capable than those I was surrounded by. But I came out of the shadow. It was effective communications that allowed me to begin discovering my own strength as soon as I focused on who I wanted to be and how I wanted to portray that rather than becoming too disillusioned by how others were trying to define me. And re-racing my sense of inferiority took time and continues to be a constant mindful practice rather than a simple single act. But I’m still sprouting. And like this goofy plant behind me. But that’s not enough for me. I want to start a chain reaction, which is why I would like to share a little about what I learned that summer with you all. Here’s a little bit about what I learned about myself. Hashtag eyes wide open. The ability to create change is reliant upon your ability to see what needs to be changed in the first place. And here’s what I learned about communications. Hashtag never be silenced. Your words have power, so please use them for good. Thank you. Thank you.