Ep 1 - Wrapped
Let me tell you the truth - I am not totally inspired by writing blog posts, but today is different. I haven’t been great about documenting the process of building this business, but today is different. This last week was a big one, and I can’t help but stop to write some things down about how far we’ve come. We’ve just released the teaser for our pilot episode of the Black & Brown In The Middle docuseries. If you haven’t already, please check it out on Vimeo here!
When we wrapped on our pilot last month, we got our final shots in San Jose, California, which was a full circle moment for me. For those who don’t know, our first episode tells my story of becoming the token Black girl, and how that has impacted the trajectory of my life, my relationships, and my career. Growing up in San Jose, living my most formative years in a predominantly white neighborhood, and being in environments where I was often one of a few Black kids -if not the only- I experienced tokenism long before I learned what it even meant. In this story, I share the events that made me recognize my role as the token in those spaces. As we walked through my old neighborhoods and schools, I couldn’t help but remember exactly how it felt to move through life as the token for so many years.
B&BITM - Episode 1 Poster - Kendra “Token” Williams | Images by Karen Santos | Graphics by Donaji MejiaTokenism, or the “effort of including a token individual in work or school,” is easily mistaken as progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Look, we have a Black person on our team - we’ve made a lot of progress!”
We’ve all heard it and seen it done, especially over the last 10 years, as the Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, and #MeToo movements have trended across media platforms. We’re using “progress”, when we could probably say “bare minimum.”
Is it really progress if we, as people of color, are still put in a box and asked to assimilate to the dominant culture? Is it really inclusion if we have to play these roles of the tokens in order to make others feel more comfortable? After over 20 years of experience as the token Black girl, I certainly don’t feel the progress. We can do better for all of the tokens out there.
As we prepare to release the full pilot next week, I realize that this is my first real introduction to the world. This is me, in full transparency, peeling back the labels and layers that I’ve worn for most of my life. I will no longer play the role of the token, no matter the spaces I move through in my life. It is my hope that this story will inspire other tokens to shed the title and fully explore who they are and embrace all of it. And for those who know and love a token, I hope that this will encourage you to know them more fully - beyond the things that feel most familiar and comfortable. We are all deserving of the opportunity to express our uniqueness, and hopefully the more we do, the less our world will need to fill our pockets with tokens.
But… that’s just me! I want to hear from you! Have you ever been the token? What has been your experience with tokenism? How can we make real progress to set the tokens free? Tap in, and let us know what you think!