Samantha Slezak, Author at Creative Circle

Backbreaking labor under an unforgiving sun, sleeping in dirt-floor shacks, dozens of men to a room, all for below-poverty wages — it was a brutal and hardscrabble life for farmworkers in the early 20th century, most of whom came from south of the Rio Grande. That is, until Dolores Huerta, and other crusaders like her, came along. In 1965, Huerta founded the United Farm Workers — an organization that, to this day, works tirelessly to safeguard and improve working conditions for migrant farm laborers. Despite immense adversity, facing rampant racism and sexism both outside and inside her organization, Huerta was instrumental in bringing about important legislation that protects vulnerable farmworkers through boycotts, picketing, protesting, and lobbying — taking power to the people and making real change happen.

Dolores Clara Fernandez was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, a small mining town in the semi-arid mountains of northern New Mexico, which is today an abandoned ghost town. Her father, Juan Ferånández, a farmworker and miner, was also a union activist who ran for political office, winning a seat in the New Mexico legislature in 1938. Her father’s political and labor activism inspired the path Dolores’ life would later take. But Huerta spent most of her childhood and early adult years in Stockton, California — where she and her two brothers moved with their mother, after their parents’ divorce when she was three.

Her mother, Alicia, became an active participant in Stockton’s community affairs — involved in various civic organizations and her church. Alicia’s community activism informed her daughter’s path. After high school, Dolores went to the University of Pacific’s Delta College in Stockton, earning a teaching degree. She married Ralph Head and had two daughters, Celeste and Lori (though she divorced soon after) and began to teach. Her students, however, would come to school with bare feet and empty stomachs, and it became too heartbreaking to bear witness to this extreme poverty without taking action — propelling her to become an activist for farmworkers’ rights.

When she was 25, Huerta became the Community Service Organization’s political director, run by the prominent community organizer, Fred Ross. It was there that she met César Chávez, with whom she teamed up in 1962 to form what later became the United Farmworkers Association. The UFA worked primarily with Latino laborers, as most migrant farmworkers were Mexican by the mid-20th century due to the Bracero program — an initiative that brought 4.5 million Mexicans to the United States to compensate for labor shortages in the agricultural and railroad industries caused by World War II. Later described as a form of “legalized slavery” by the Department of Labor official who was in charge of the Bracero program, workers experienced inhumane living conditions, exploitative labor practices, and appalling racist and sexist violence. These workers, however, found an ally in Dolores Huerta.

In a 2017 interview with NPR, Huerta shared that migrant farmworkers “didn’t have toilets in the fields, they didn’t have cold drinking water. They didn’t have rest periods.” These farm laborers only earned about 70 cents an hour at the time — 90 cents was the maximum wage paid. The farm workers toiled from sunup to sundown, but lived in shacks with dirt floors despite how hard they worked, their furniture cast-off fruit crates and cardboard boxes. The children were ill-fed and ill-clothed, often suffering from malnutrition. It was an inhumane existence — the sheer brutality of which galvanized her work with César Chávez, and together, they fought for the rights of these dispossessed workers.

Chávez, however, often occupied the spotlight, receiving much of the credit for their joint work. Despite Huerta’s indomitable skills as an organizer and shrewd negotiator being essential to their success, she faced extensive sexism within the movement and disdain from those who believed she belonged at home with her children, rather than on the frontlines, fighting for justice.

In 1965, the grape pickers went on strike, and Huerta was the leading political organizer. But she faced violence on the picket lines and sexism from all sides: the growers she was railing against and their allies — and as well, from within her own organization. A politician derisively described her as Chávez’s “sidekick.” The feminist movement was in its nascent years and Huerta was an unconventional character — twice-divorced and the mother of 11 children. Huerta’s opponents weaponized this as inflammatory propaganda, asking who supported her children when she was “out on these adventures?” But in the words of Elizabeth Warren, she persisted. After five trying years, the United Farm Workers signed a historic agreement with 26 large grape growers. Huerta successfully turned a nationwide consumer boycott of grapes into better pay, healthcare, unemployment benefits, and labor protections for thousands of farmworkers.

While her role in the farmworkers movement has long been overshadowed by that of Chávez, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, and credited Huerta for coining the famed UFA battle cry Si se puede! — Spanish for “Yes, we can” that inspired Obama’s campaign slogan — which has so often been wrongly attributed to Chávez.

At age 90, Dolores Huerta continues to be outspoken and determined — a living labor and civil rights icon, a social justice activist for most her life, fighting for better protections and work conditions for the farmworkers that pick our food. To this day, through her Dolores Huerta Foundation, she continues to work with agricultural communities, helping organize people to run for office — a lifelong advocate for health, education, and economic development for all.

About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.

Could you be biased without even realizing it?

We often assume that our conscious or rational mind is in the driver’s seat because it’s the part of our mind that talks to us, the voice inside our head as we read the words on this page. But science says our brains make decisions intuitively before we’re aware of it; that the vast majority of our processing takes place outside conscious notice. We all have learned stereotypes, attitudes, modes of thinking that are automatic, unintentional, and inbuilt, impacting our decision-making, and leading to flawed assessments — including hiring decisions. In other words, none of us is immune to unconscious bias.

In 2002, Daniel Kahneman changed the way we think about thinking, earning him a Nobel Prize. He put forth a simple cognitive split to explain much of human behavior: fast versus slow thinking. While an artificial construct, this dichotomy draws upon decades of research. Fast thinking is unconscious, instinctive, automatic, and emotional — resulting in snap judgments and, sometimes, bias. Slow thinking is what we consider real “thought;” it’s conscious, logical, deliberate, and (mostly) rational. We use both fast and slow thinking to process information and make decisions but tend to avoid slow thinking when possible because it is more work for our brain and consumes a great deal of energy. Most of the time, our fast and intuitive mind is in control, taking efficient charge of the thousands of decisions we make every day. Even the “simple” act of walking is best done without interference from consciousness — ask someone a multiplication problem mid-stride, and they are likely to stop for a second before answering. Our brains can consciously process 50 bits of information per second but can process a whopping 11 million bits unconsciously. Thought to be an evolutionary adaptation for humans to process and integrate multiple sources of information instantaneously, these cognitive shortcuts are, in essence, timesaving mechanisms for the human brain. But with shortcuts come shortcomings: when our fast-thinking, automatic mind makes decisions that should be the province of our slow-thinking, analytical mind, mistakes creep in.

If you’re making hiring decisions based on “gut feeling,” you’re likely hiring based on unconscious bias. Yikes.

Unconscious biases, though happening outside our awareness, can impact recruiting, hiring, diversity, and productivity. The vast majority of recruiters and hiring managers would not intentionally base their final hiring decision on an aspect like this, but that’s the problem with unconscious bias — you don’t realize that it is affecting your decision making. The best way to stop unconscious bias is through awareness and direct action in your recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and talent retention processes; this will help create a more genuinely diverse and inclusive workplace.

Here are 13 examples of unconscious bias that commonly impact both candidates and employers in the workplace — along with tips on how to avoid them.

1. NAME BIAS

Definition: Name bias refers to the tendency to judge and prefer people with certain types of names — often of Anglo origin.

Name bias in the workplace: What’s in a name? Apparently, a lot. The numbers bear out that this is of the most pervasive forms of unconscious bias in the hiring process. One research study found that white (Anglo-Saxon) names receive 50% more callbacks for interviews than do candidates with African-American names. Another study found that Asian last names are 28% less likely to receive a callback for an interview than those with Anglo last names.

Avoiding name bias: There’s a simple fix: omit candidate name and personal information like email, phone number, and address from application materials. Assign candidates a number, or have an unbiased third-party team member redact this information for the hiring team before a candidate interview, making skills and experience the main things being looked at, without the influence of irrelevant personal information.

2. HALO EFFECT

Definition: The halo effect, sometimes known as the “halo error,” is when one positive trait about a person affects how we judge them in other, unrelated areas.

Halo effect in the workplace: While looking at resumes, you see that a candidate graduated from an elite school and infer that they must be an excellent fit for your company. Other candidates may match your ideal candidate profile better, but they graduated from state schools. Without realizing it, you may find yourself favoring the elite school candidate, ignoring negative details that might emerge throughout the hiring process.

Avoiding the halo effect: To prevent the halo effect when hiring, make sure you do not see correlations where there are none. When reviewing candidates, hew closely to the details and attributes listed in your job profile so that you are less likely to be swayed by other.

3. HORNS EFFECT

Definition: The horns effect is essentially the opposite of the halo effect. It is when a negative trait about a person affects how we judge them in other, unrelated areas. Perception is unduly influenced by this negative trait — casting a mantle of “horns” instead of the vaunted “halo.”

Horns effect in the workplace: The horns effect can lead a hiring team to nix candidates based on a singular trait that is averse to the team’s preferences — despite its irrelevance to the role. It could be as inconsequential as the candidate displaying a particular quirk or mannerism during an interview or having worked in the past with a company you don’t like. Perception of the candidate can be altered entirely, even though these factors are irrelevant to the role.

Avoiding the horns effect: Have a negative feeling about a candidate? Try taking the time to figure out why. Where is that “gut feeling” coming from, what is prompting this reaction? By applying the slow thinking part of your mind, you may discover that the issue is trivial or insignificant and would not impact their ability to succeed in the role. Consult with the rest of the hiring team to get other perspectives on the candidate; checks and balances go a long way to extinguishing unconscious bias.

4. ANCHORING BIAS

Definition: Anchoring occurs when individuals use the first piece of information they learn about something to make subsequent judgments. Once this anchor is set, there is a bias toward interpreting other data around the anchor. In one study, students were given anchors that were clearly wrong—they were asked if Mahatma Gandhi was older or younger than age 9, or older or younger than 140. The two groups guessed in significantly different manners depending on which anchor they initially received, with the “9 group” choosing an average of 50 versus the “140 group” proffering an average age of 67.

Anchoring bias in the workplace: Common anchors that can impact hiring decisions include the college a candidate attended, where they live, the car they drive, or if the two of you grew up in the same town.

Avoiding anchoring bias: Analyze performance and retention data to uncover where there are strong correlations between hiring and future performance. Organize your hiring process to reflect this data and focus on attributes that are meaningful indicators of success for the role, like a strong aptitude for problem-solving.

5. GENDER BIAS

Definition: One of the most pervasive biases, gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. The gender pay gap and the variance in hiring rates are two of the most common (and glaring) examples of gender bias.

Gender bias in the workplace: It is no surprise that men are given preferential treatment over women in the workplace. But it may shock you to learn that both male and female managers were twice as likely to hire a man over a woman, according to a recent study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When presented with equally skilled candidates, men were 1.5 times more likely to be hired — and when a lesser candidate was employed in lieu of a more qualified one, the lesser candidate was a man over 66% of the time.

Avoiding gender bias: A way to sidestep gender bias is to conduct blind screenings of applications that exclude aspects of a candidate that might reveal their gender — name, interests, volunteer organizations. Setting explicit diversity hiring goals can help ensure that your organization holds itself accountable to equitable hiring practices. Make skill and merit the yardstick rather than traits that can cloud judgment.

6. AFFINITY BIAS

Definition: We have all encountered this one before, both in and out of the workplace. Affinity bias, also known as similarity bias, is the tendency for people to connect with others who share similar backgrounds, interests, and experiences.

Affinity bias in the workplace: It’s easy to fall prey to affinity bias when evaluating “culture fit.” When hiring teams engage a candidate they like and feel will get along with the team, it’s often a bridge built of shared interests, experiences, and backgrounds. While similarities should not disqualify a candidate, they also should not be the deciding factor. At first glance, affinity bias may not seem like such an egregious issue, but at amplified levels, it can have serious implications for diversity in the workplace.

Avoiding affinity bias: Look to your company’s core values as the true north star when evaluating a candidate for culture fit. Make sure not to allow “culture fit” to become code for affinity bias. Focus less on shared experiences and more unique skills that will be a “culture add.”

7. CONFIRMATION BIAS

Definition: Confirmation bias is often dubbed the “mother of all misconceptions” because of its prevalence in our lives, and refers to the tendency to look for information that confirms our own pre-existing beliefs, prejudices, or desires. This selective observation may mean you overlook or reject information that does not fit your viewpoint, creating flawed patterns in our thinking that can lead to bias in hiring. It is one of the most studied unconscious biases.

Confirmation bias in the workplace: Confirmation bias can rear its head when a hiring manager looks for information to validate their belief of something, rather than looking at the data for its own merit. The hiring process can devolve into a way to confirm these beliefs as opposed to getting to know the candidate.

Avoiding confirmation bias: Create a list of standardized questions to gauge specific skills and traits of a candidate to help reduce confirmation bias. By having the hiring team evaluate candidates based on predetermined data points that relate directly to the role, candidates are on equal footing. Every interview will evolve into a unique conversation based on a person’s experience, but having a fixed set of questions will help prevent your team from asking too many off-the-cuff questions that could lead to confirmation bias.

8. ATTRIBUTION BIAS

Definition: Attribution bias is all about how we assess our own behavior: when we do something well, we credit our success to our skills and effort. But when we make mistakes, we blame it on externalities. Guess what happens when we assess the behavior of other people? We do the opposite: when we attribute their successes to “luck” — and see their errors as “red flags” or signs of weakness.

Attribution bias in the workplace: Attribution bias can skew your view of a candidate’s performance by minimizing accomplishments while amplifying faults or shortcomings — and may cause you to disregard a talented candidate. Humans snap to quick judgments and falsely assume things about people without knowing the full story. When hiring, attribution bias may cause hiring managers to find someone unfit for a role because of something unusual on their resume — like a gap of two years.

Avoiding attribution bias: There is an age-old adage about the dangers of assuming, and it holds here. Before assuming a candidate is not fit for a role, ask what happened. That two-year resume gap could be when the candidate was sick with cancer. Some simple clarifying questions go a long way to dispelling assumptions. Give people a chance to share their full stories before writing them off.

9. CONTRAST BIAS

Definition: Also known as the contrast effect, this bias occurs when you rank things. You may believe that a candidate is better or worse based on how we feel about another candidate. It can be difficult to remember that one candidate’s fitness for the role has nothing to do with another’s.

Contrast bias in the workplace: When reviewing numerous candidates for a job, it can be devilishly easy to compare one candidate’s CV to the previous one in the application pile instead of comparing it across the whole stack of resumes. An outstandingly good interview with one candidate may make the next one seem awful by contrast.

Avoiding contrast bias:  Create an applicant review and interview process using standardized, predetermined metrics to prevent reliance on feelings caused by contrast bias. By doing so, your team can compare resumes and interview answers as apples-to-apples instead of apples-to-oranges, allowing for consistent evaluation of all candidates. Applying these same tactics for performance reviews and bonus rewards for employees is an excellent overall practice, as the contrast effect extends beyond the hiring process.

10. CONFORMITY BIAS

Definition: Conformity bias is the tendency to behave like others in a group, even if it contradicts your judgment or beliefs. You likely recognize this cognitive bias by its more pernicious form: peer pressure. This bias can constrict creativity, constructive dissenting opinions, and keep people from productively challenging one another.

Conformity bias in the workplace: When reviewing a candidate’s application materials, you want to ensure that individual opinions about a candidate don’t fall prey to groupthink — you could miss out on hiring a stellar candidate for it.

Avoiding conformity bias: Before meeting as a team to discuss a candidate, have each member write down and submit their feedback and thoughts separate from one another after interacting with the candidate. After doing so, have your team come together to review what everyone wrote to hear more impartial opinions before making a decision.

11. AGEISM BIAS

Definition: Ageism is when one has negative feelings or judgments about another person based on their age.

Ageism bias in the workplace: Particularly at American companies, ageism impacts older people more often than younger. 58% of workers begin to notice ageism as they slide into their 50s — making it more difficult to find a job, move up the ladder, or change careers. Employers tend to value younger talent more and more (economics is a factor, younger workers are cheaper), despite how critical experience and expertise are for any successful organization.

Avoiding ageism bias: Work to debunk myths around ageism in your company. Create policies that prevent age bias by setting a goal of hiring with an eye to age diversity when recruiting new talent.

12. BEAUTY BIAS

Definition: Beauty bias is the tendency to believe that attractive people are more competent, qualified, and successful.

Beauty bias in the workplace: Simply put: it pays to be pretty. According to research, this is a common form of bias in the workplace — playing out in paychecks everywhere. Studies find that attractive people — yes, both women and men — earn higher incomes. Women gain an eight percent wage boost for above-average looks but pay a four percent pay penalty if below-average. The wage boost is just four percent for men, but the penalty for below-average looks is far higher, clocking in at 13 percent!

Avoiding beauty bias: Technology can help mitigate beauty bias. Utilizing phone interviews as the first point of contact, in place of video conference or an in-person interview, can help establish a baseline that is not predicated on looks. Work to structure recruiting and interview processes such that the hiring team can compare applications and interviews equally to reduce the risk of beauty bias.

13. HEIGHT BIAS

Definition: Height bias is our tendency to judge a person who is either significantly shorter or taller than the socially-accepted norm for their gender’s height.

Height bias in the workplace: Sometimes dubbed the “necktie syndrome,” tall candidates are often seen as more experienced, competent, and healthy, which is perhaps why 58% of male CEOs at major companies stand at over six feet. In Western countries, jumping from the 25th to 75th percentile of height — a four to five-inch differential — is associated with a 9 to 15 percent increase in salary. Studies show that an extra inch may be worth almost $800 a year in elevated earning.

Avoiding height bias: By conducting initial interviews via phone or video conference, susceptibility to judging a person based on height is reduced. Awareness goes a long way towards identifying this common social behavior in yourself.

Illustration by Creative Circle candidate Jose Mora.

Indigenous rights can be a touchy subject for American* colonizers. Looking back at the messy history of rape, illness, slavery, and genocide over the ownership of massive swaths of land, as well as an array of treaties that have been broken again and again. Furthermore, independence for European colonies across the Americas did not usually mean independence for the native populations.

During Guatemala’s grueling decades-long Civil War (1960-1996), Rigoberta Menchú grew into a young activist, an intelligent organizer, and a fierce defender of her people in El Quché, as well as indigenous groups all over Guatemala. Born into a family of community leaders, her parents settled on mountain land after being unable to sustain themselves on the land left to them after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. Her father was an activist in his own right and was killed in the 1980 Burning of the Spanish Embassy. Her mother was later kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the Guatemalan Army.

To add some context, Guatemala, along with Honduras, was known as a “banana republic.” The Civil War began as a result of a 1954 coup d’état that was supported by the CIA, a common occurrence in the Cold War era. The instated president Carlos Castillo Armas was assassinated three years later and replaced with slew of military leaders that committed suppression, assassination of opponents, and a range of war crimes. When guerrilla groups rose up against the military regime, extreme violence pervaded the country, particularly targeting indigenous populations who were harshly discriminated against in all facets of society.

Despite her tragic early life, Menchú rose up and became an international advocate for the indigenous resistance in Guatemala. She fled to Mexico, began advocating on behalf of her people to the international community, and joined the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations.

In 1982, she narrated a book about her life and the life of her people titled Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia, which was translated to five language including I, Rigoberta Menchu, An Indian Woman in Guatemala in English. She opens the book with “I’d like to stress that it’s not only my life, it’s also the testimony of my people,” as not all the stories come from her personal and family experience, but the experience of other indigenous Guatemalans.

She also spoke heavily of traditions and teachings from her Mayan mother from the interdependence of nature, to gender roles in Mayan culture, to the significance of the sun, as well as birth and death rites. Menchú noted how her mother encouraged her to speak out as an equal throughout the struggle for human rights:

“I don’t want to make you stop feeling a woman, but your participation in the struggle must be equal to that of your brothers. But you mustn’t join as just another number, you must carry out important tasks, analyze your position as a woman and demand a share. A child is only given food when he demands it. A child who makes no noise, gets nothing to eat.”

She attempted to return to Guatemala in 1988 but was threatened with jail time and instead has to stealthily visit for very short periods of time. In 1992, Menchú won the Nobel Peace Prize. She opened her lecture with the following:

“I consider this Prize, not as a reward to me personally, but rather as one of the greatest conquests in the struggle for peace, for Human Rights and for the rights of the indigenous people, who, for 500 years, have been split, fragmented, as well as the victims of genocides, repression and discrimination.”

She goes on to call for social justice and the implementation of human rights in Guatemala, outlining the struggles of the indigenous population — which include exile, poverty (and the malnutrition, infant mortality and lack of education that come with it), and persecution by the army — and women’s struggles in particular.

To paint the picture of context once more, this was a woman in her early 30s, who was living in exile of her home country after her immediate family were all killed, speaking with grace and poise about how to move forward and protect humanity’s most vulnerable populations from her home country to South Africa to the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

Menchú brought several heads of state to trial in Spain (and later in their homeland of Guatemala), including Efrain Rios Montt who despite being convicted of masterminding indigenous genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison, never served any actual jail time. He was the first head of state tried for genocide in his home country.

Her international activism continues as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, president of Salud Para Todos (Health for All), Nobel Women’s Initiative, PeaceJam, and Foundation Chirac. In her positions, she has advocated for shortening the patent life of AIDS and cancer drugs to increase availability, advocated for women’s rights around the world alongside fellow Nobel Prize winners, mentored youth, and otherwise promoted world peace.

To this day, she continues to speak out against inequality, climate change, and injustice, most recently focusing on the turmoil in Venezuela. Her remarkable resilience, courage, and compassion remain an example to humanity of the potential of a single life.

May her legacy continue to inspire movements.

AWARDS + HONORS

1992 Nobel Peace Prize
1992 UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador position
1996 Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award
1998 Prince of Asturias Prize
1999 asteroid 9481 Menchú was named in her honor
2010 Order of the Azetex Eagle
2018 Spendlove Prize

*As in those who settled in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean

About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

Welcome to the distributed workforce story of 2020. If remote work and freelancing were growing at an unprecedented rate before — it’s stratospheric today.

The numbers paint a compelling picture: according to a study conducted by Freelancing In America, 57 million Americans freelanced in 2019, about 35% of the country’s entire workforce. And with where things are today, the number of freelancers in the USA has undoubtedly grown and is likely to reach to over 90 million by 2028 — which is why crafting a plan for remote performance reviews is such an essential move.

While some of have had education and experience working with and evaluating remote hires, most of us have not had the opportunity to learn the nuances of navigating these distanced professional relationships. But with remote work and freelancing becoming a more significant part of everyday work, it is now more essential than ever to institute the types of policies that have served well in a more traditional work environment, particularly freelancer performance reviews.

Freelancers do not often undergo the same in-depth evaluation process as full-time employees, and many companies do not have freelancer performance reviews at all. For both the company and the freelancer this is less than ideal. Here’s why: the company doesn’t have the opportunity to improve the work by addressing issues that need attention. The freelancer loses out on receiving overarching feedback that would allow them to grow and improve their quality work — a lose-lose.

With rates of independent contract workers skyrocketing — and with so much work remote for the foreseeable future — creating processes to help grow and improve valuable relationships with freelancers has legs. If you are thinking about folding freelancer performance reviews into your company’s management process for remote consultants, here are several things that will help make it a winning strategy.

Preparation = Success.

As in so many things, laying the groundwork sets the stage for success. Go into a freelancer performance review knowing what you want to say and how you want to say it ahead of time. Make sure to deliver materials beforehand to the freelancer, gather peer review responses, and create an outline for each performance review. Work with managers that have remote freelance staff to design a plan for reviews that works well for you company — everyone involved will get the most out of the process that way.

Schedule regular freelancer performance reviews. Not just an annual one.

Just as full-time employees benefit from regular, constructive feedback from their managers, so do freelancers. Many full-time workers have their work reviewed quarterly, with a more in-depth annual review. Extend the same process to remote freelancers and reap the benefits of improved work and strengthened work relationships. Identifying areas for improvement on an ongoing, regular basis throughout the year allows for more successful, sustained growth for all involved.

At the beginning of your relationship with a consultant, it may make sense to schedule more review time to ensure that things are heading in the right direction. Blaming an independent contractor for work that misses the mark when they have not had the chance to receive constructive feedback from managers or peers is not a sound system. Create a process with check-ins throughout the project lifecycle or over the span of a year so that all parties are on track.

Video calls have been your ally, but for freelancer performance reviews, they’re your BFF.

While a phone call may be useful for daily work, it fails to capture the tone and emotion of an in-person meeting. Physical communication conveys a lot, and video allows you to be clearer and provide physical cues so that remote contractors can feel the importance of your words in multiple ways. Video simulates focused face-to-face meetings. Find a platform that works well for you — and use it (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.). Unsurprisingly, 87% of freelancers feel more connected when using video conferencing.

Self and peer evaluations are clutch.

Traditional performance reviews often include self and peer evaluations — it’s a smart move to also have them as part of your annual freelancer performance review process. It may be even more critical for freelancers to receive feedback from the people with whom they work. Given the lack of daily face-to-face contact, it can be challenging to gauge how the people they are working with really feel about their work. But by including self and peer reviews, independent contractors have an opportunity to speak openly about where they feel peers can improve — and if there is potential for hurt feelings, peer evaluations can remain anonymous. And getting feedback from freelancers may open your eyes to issues you did not know were there when conducting your review of a contractor’s work. It can be hard to have a feel for the relationship of employees that pass files back and forth online.

Create a unified message.

Focus on the most important message you want to deliver; by doing so, you will have a much better opportunity to create a positive outcome from the meeting. Annual reviews are the right time to bring up the most pressing issues affecting work performance, while smaller things can be addressed in quarterly reviews or a more casual phone conversation. By curating a unified message for the freelancer to “take home,” you will help define the review’s successful outcome.

Some tips: go into every review with a single clear message you want to impart. If there’s more than one, keep it to no more than three distinct points — the more focused your discussion, the more likely the recommended changes will be made.

Make an action plan and follow through.

To make actionable change, you need an action plan. At the end of every freelancer performance review, involve the freelancer in putting together an action plan for moving forward. Having them engaged in the process will feel less like a direct order and more like something that they have a hand in shaping, to help secure their future work with the company.

Before you end the meeting, have a plan in place. The freelancer should know where they need to improve and what steps they will take make that happen. If you want to hold them accountable to this action plan, make sure you are also accountable. Reliability and consistency will help make the review process one with a positive, productive outcome.

Don’t know where to start? We’ve prepared the this downloadable freelancer performance review template — it’s as simple as that!

I’m going to be honest here. I’ve written a few versions of this because it’s hard to know who I’m writing for. We’re all having such similar and yet such varied experiences throughout this pandemic. Throughout these global cries for justice, as we watch the wealth gap widen and the dreams we were promised if we worked hard enough crumble. While we watch innocent Black folks killed by police officers again and again. My intention here is to offer some tools for mental and emotional resilience no matter your circumstances, which can be a struggle financially, mentally, emotionally, physically, or a combination or all of the above. I hope you are getting your basic needs met. I hope you are finding joy.

For those of us who still have a roof over our heads and some sort of income, we may be reciting the same phrase. Something along the lines of, “I’m doing well, honestly, I feel really lucky all things considered.” Maybe we even mean it. But there is something about this “stuckness.” Something about how this feels like everything is happening and yet parts of life feel like they’re on hold, unless we consciously find creative ways to move around those barriers. Maybe that’s the kind of creativity we need right now.

Whatever your current struggle, you are not alone. Maybe you’re physically exhausted. Maybe the emotional toll of risk management is spiking your anxiety. Maybe the most recent tragedy in Kenosha, on top of so many others, is driving you deeper into despair. Maybe you are burning out on activism. Maybe you feel helpless and the stress of it is making everything worse. Maybe you’re out of work and unsupported and facing financial hardship.

Maybe you’ve experienced “the hell zone.” I found myself having periodic dips during the first months of isolation and social distancing. I would go from “everything’s going to be okay,” to crying on the floor in a matter of hours. That has leveled out. Become less extreme. I’ve come back to my grounding practices and been able to sleep a little more. Maybe you’re still swinging on the pendulum. Maybe you’re finding yourself numb. Maybe you’re too tired to care. There is no wrong way to cope.

Your grief, your trauma, your despair, your rage, your fury, your exhaustion are normal under the circumstances. It is tragic, but it is true. While many of our systemic issues have existed well before the pandemic, they are clearer and more inescapable than ever under present circumstances.

So how do we cultivate resilience when we feel like we’re falling apart? What do grounding practices look like? How can we build up our reserves to prevent this fallout in the first place?

With no shortage of traumatic events and studies, science can offer us some suggestions for how to come out of this stronger. Methods of processing and adaptation. Below are a couple of the ways you can relieve stress, build your reserves, and find the inner strength to become your most functional and resilient self.

Acknowledge your feelings

It’s vital to recognize the feelings that have come up for us and where they’re coming from. Right now, they’re probably coming from a lot of places. Taking the time to sort out today’s cocktail of grief and stress may help manage them and limit burnout and breakdown.

Is it anxiety about catching COVID? Is it financial stress? Is it the unyielding grief of oppressive systems felt most prominently in Black communities? Is it physical illness? Is it a job layoff? Inconsiderate behavior coming from partners or roommates? Is it an old trauma response resurfacing? If we don’t acknowledge those sticky feelings, it’s easy to get them tangled. When I work with clients, I call this practice “unraveling the emotional threads.”

Understand the source to understand the feeling.

See yourself as the architect of your reality

When studying children of troubled backgrounds, psychologists discovered a common thread among the most resilient, the ones who thrived despite their circumstances at home. These children, more often than not, had an internal locus of control, meaning they saw themselves as the architects of their own reality or the “orchestrators of their fate.”

When we see ourselves as participants in our own stories rather than victims of circumstance, it gives us a sense of control. The pandemic has revealed all the places where we only had an illusion of control, so how can we possibly reconcile this? By focusing on what we can control: our reactions, our habits and our perspectives. Once we acknowledge the source of the stress, we can be more proactive about how we deal with it.

Show a little compassion

We can be so critical with ourselves, but taking a moment to stop the judgmental voice in our heads can be really good for us. Maybe you’re not as productive or creative as you were before COVID. Maybe you feel like you’re falling behind. These are all stories we tell ourselves that don’t reflect the reality of our present moment and will only further harm your mental state.

You can start by noticing the negative talk in your head. Something like “I’m failing right now.” Take a breath and be kind. “I don’t feel like I’m succeeding the way I want to be, but that is okay in this moment. I won’t feel this way forever.” The negative talk is not going to get you out of the dark spiral of doom. But being nice to yourself, even when it feels gross and impossible or like you don’t “deserve it” might create the necessary space to pull you out.

Talk about it

Humans are social creatures. We need community. Isolation has been hard on that. While many people have been able to expand their pods of community, others have not. Do you have people you can check in with? Do you have people who will check on you? Maybe there is online support for the issues you’re working through.

Some friends have been catching up via group video chat calls. I have been on two and hated them, so we all have to find the methods that work for us. Maybe you need more than a friend right now. This could be a great time to explore therapy, especially since many are offering virtual sessions. If you’ve avoided therapy because of the stigma, I promise it’s cool now. We all do it, and it’s great.

Mental Health Resources for BIPOC

APA Resources and Crisis Lines

Write about it

Maybe you’re not quite ready to talk about your feelings. Try writing them instead. A consistent writing practice of expressing negative emotions can have beneficial health effects both mentally and physically. It’s an excellent supplement to talking to someone (like a friend or therapist) and can even serve as an alternative until you are ready to talk.

Create meaning

The ability of a group of people to thrive after a crisis often has strong ties to the meaning they create from that experience. At the end of a crisis, post-traumatic growth rises as people ascribe meaning to their hardship, as Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankel writes about in Man’s Search for Meaning. When all is said and done, what have we learned, how have we grown in spite of and because of this hardship?

Flex your muscles

Maybe you can’t make it to the gym, but you can still move! We have tons of body weight exercises you can do at home right here, or simply go for a walk, bike ride, swim, or dance in your bedroom. The boost of oxygen and endorphins can keep that perspective clear and less likely to take you into doom town. Studies show regular physical exercise is associated with emotional resilience for acute stress. While the stress of COVID and everything else is probably more chronic than acute, keeping up with cardio and incorporating some more restorative practices (like foam rolling, stretching, or yin yoga) can certainly help in cycles.

I honestly cannot stress this one enough. Last week, I was combative and sulky and weepy after consuming too much news. After 45 minutes of outdoor yoga, I felt like the dark cloud consuming me had lifted. Our minds are fragile ecosystems that require nourishment.

Take breaks for mindfulness

If you haven’t tried it already, cultivating a yoga practice can be a helpful gateway into exploring mindfulness. A yoga practice is more than the exercises (known as asana), but also includes meditation, breath awareness, as well as following ethical guidelines for living. There are yoga and meditation classes galore for you to try, but the core of what you need is to practice awareness of the present moment. Notice how you’re sitting as you read this. The feelings in your body. Are you tensing up anywhere? Can you breathe a little deeper or more slowly? Can you feel the air against your skin? Your feet on the floor? Your seat in the chair?

A practice like this on its own might not feel like enough. We can only understand resilience in relation to stress. If our well constantly “leaks,” there is no way to stay emotionally satiated. However, cultivating a mindfulness practice can help you identify the “leaks” and manage how you react to them.

Find moments for gratitude

The neuroscience backs up gratitude practices as a way to build resilience. Focusing your thoughts on the good and positive things in your life, helps foster a more uplifted state of mind by exercising your neurological wiring. This is not about “light-washing” your experience. This practice acknowledges the hardship but allows for the space to recognize what small pieces of joy we can claim today. Whether taking a moment in the morning or before bed, or making it a journaling practice, or taking a daily walk to connect with those bits of joy, there’s a reason it’s a core tenant for many religious and spiritual practices.

Find ways to help

As Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés reminds us in her letter “We Were Made For These Times,” nothing heals the heart like standing up and being there for others.

Of course, what’s especially challenging here is our limited ability to help if we’re not on the front lines. Action is what takes that anxious energy and helps us to process it, however, going out into the world now carries a certain amount of risk and may exacerbate that anxiety for some. It could be critically dangerous for others.

Some of us have been able to start venturing out with the proper precautions. From protests to volunteer organizations, there is no shortage of people giving back to their communities, demanding justice, and working towards a better tomorrow.

Maybe it’s not safe for you to contribute in that way. That’s okay! You can still make calls, write letters, send donations, raise awareness, and check in on the people in your life. Building your resilience can start by helping one person in any way you can. Maybe you write letters to the elderly. Or donate to indigenous students. Or make calls for justice. There are ways to help regardless of your ability to leave the house.

Long-term effects + children

The intergenerational effects of traumatic stress are rampant at the cellular level, as has been studied in Holocaust survivors and their children. While many of us are doing okay, many others are not. This is also why cycles of poverty and abuse are so difficult to get out of, contributing to inter-generation and systemic poverty and child abuse that are entrenched in the fabric of our society.

In order to develop resilience, children need to feel supported. According to Harvard Graduate School of Education, children who go on to thrive after traumatic events have at least one stable and supportive relationship with an adult.

What that looks like during these times can be different for everyone, but allowing space for questions, confusion, explanation and understanding can be paramount to keeping a level of trust, comfort and understanding. Experts suggest brief but honest answers to their questions, as well as labeling and validating feelings to help children cope emotionally.

This is a difficult time for everyone in wildly different ways, but we are also being presented with opportunities to change how we interact with the world. Like a seed cracking or a chrysalis bursting open, this liminal time is uncomfortable, but also unavoidable.

The art, music, and creative industries were some of the most hard-hit by COVID-19. Major festivals and fairs like Coachella, South by Southwest, Art Basel, and more had to be postponed or canceled — fashion shows went virtual. Theatres remain dark. We don’t know when (or if) artists will return to the stage or when art openings will open again.

But in the face of all this absence and loss, artists and fans have found community in staggering numbers by tuning into Instagram Live and Zoom, watching intimate performances and shows streamed right into living rooms everywhere. DJ D-Nice’s Club Quarantine became one of the must-do digital tickets, with fans including Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Joe Biden, and Oprah. And museums and cultural institutions joined the fray, finding new ways to bring art to the people. While we suffer through the challenges of COVID-19, and yes — there are many challenges — we want to take a moment to salute those that have found new modes of creation in these most unusual of times.

Here are eight great creative things born in the time of C-19 that are giving us life.

1. LIMBO MAGAZINE: A New Type of Magazine About the State We’re In

LIMBO is a novel rethinking of the magazine publishing model. A compendium of original, quarantine-created work from over 100 top artists — including Tom Sachs, Vivienne Westwood, Wolfgang Tillmans, and more. This grassroots idea is rooted in creating a positive outlet and paying work for creatives living in an uncertain time. In the words of Nick Chapin, the creator of LIMBO and former Director of Publishing for art-world juggernaut, Frieze Magazine:

“I started to worry about the younger artists, freelancers I’ve worked with over the past 10 years who are often living paycheck to paycheck. There’s no furlough scheme for artists, and no safety net for many people across the creative industry, so the situation seemed pretty dire. At the same time, I wondered what new ideas were bubbling up under lockdown. It was a rare moment, everyone in the world standing still. It felt like we ought to take a picture—a snapshot and a cross-section of the state of things through the eyes of the most creative people.”

And the result? Perhaps the ultimate time capsule of 2020 — as seen through the gaze of some of the most creative humans on the planet. A collection of hope, laughter, and a vision for the future.

2. Verzuz Live Battles: An Homage to Hip-Hop’s Roots in the Age Of C-19

When COVID-19 closed the curtain on live music performance, ingenuity kicked in and created another way. Veteran superstar producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland started the Verzuz series, turning their own friendly rivalry into a social media hit paying homage to hip-hop’s roots and reigniting careers.

The concept behind the Verzuz series is simple: Swizz Beatz and Timbaland curate a DJ-like Insta-Live event, choosing two Hip-Hop or R&B icons, typically from the golden age of 1990’s-early 2000s that they both came up in, to face off in two 10-song rounds. Artists play signature songs and tracks that they wrote, produced, remixed, or performed. While the performers make their magic happen, a real-time audience that has ranged from 250,000 to 710,000 (for May’s Jill Scott-Erykah Badu) cheer them on and comment on the action.

These classic rap DJ and R&B battles have become a much-needed bright spot for music lovers. Since April, Verzuz has become a quarantine cultural institution — with the adjacent creation of its own host of characters, lexicon, and community. It has revived and sparked new interest in Black legacy artists, sparking the term “the Verzuz effect,” making these online events the talk of the quarantine town.

3. Window Swap: New Twist on a Room with A View

Wanderlust calling? Travel may be on hold, but that doesn’t mean the vistas have to be. The brainchild of a wife-and-husband team of creatives living in Singapore, Vaishnav Balasubramaniam and Sonali Ranji created the ultimate “quarantine project” — Window Swap, a website that lets you travel without moving by letting you gaze out of other people’s windows all around the world. From the comfort of your own home, you get the feel of being in a new place, without the pathogenic drama of planes, trains, or automobiles. Anyone, anywhere, can access Window Swap — just visit the site and find a video of a window to look out.

Want to share your world with the world? Just shoot a 10-minute, static, horizontal locked shot video, ideally with part of your window frame or balcony door frame in the shot, and send it to this qunaliaa@gmail.com. Have fun exploring!

4. Drive-In Opera: An Aria En Plein Air

When COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandates first began, music events pivoted to virtual spaces. But now that lockdown has eased somewhat, how can fans enjoy a real-life experience without crowds? Say hello to drive-in opera! The famous International Festival of the Voice that takes place each year in Phoenicia, New York, is hosting the world’s first drive-in opera! On Saturday, August 29, one of the grandest of operas, Puccini’s Tosca will be performed live on stage and simulcast on giant Jumbotron screens. An advanced sound system will amplify the arias as you relax in the cozy cocoon of your vehicle.

When the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to re-envision the annual 3-day Festival of the Voice, this idea for a drive-in opera was born. 600 cars will have space to partake in this unique performance, and it may just set the stage for future events of its kind worldwide.

5. #MuseumFromHome

Just because the museums are closed doesn’t mean you can’t take in the art. When the physical doors closed, tons of museums opened virtual doors for all to experience in this time of distancing, magically making the far away tangible with a mouse’s click. Here are a few that caught our fancy:

Through Google Arts & Culture, you can take virtual tours of some of the world’s most impressive archeological and cultural sites.
The world-famous Art Basel fair. This visual celebration may have been canceled, but you can indulge the glories from home, even if you had no plans to attend the fair in-person. Scroll through its unique online viewing room, featuring more than 2,000 artworks from 235 global galleries.
Take a virtual guided tour of the iconic Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Join museum educators for a live shared discovery of different collections, exhibitions, and architecture. Each tour shines a spotlight on a selection of modern and contemporary artists and works to spark conversation, contemplation, and collective meaning-making. All ages and abilities are encouraged to come play.

6. Stories of Splendid Isolation – Little Moments of Literary Respite

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDbuZjSB4TB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Google Assistant’s Stories of Splendid Isolation creates little moments of literary respite that bring together thoughts from writers all over the world, chronicling the myriad ways everything has changed during this time of social distancing.

Using the Google Assistant app, listeners can hear writers from around the world share their thoughts and reflections on the COVID-19 crisis. It is a point of connection in these less-connected times. Created by Visual Editions in London, with help from Google’s Creative Lab, Stories of Splendid Isolation is available through Google Assistant. Each day, there’s a choice of three different authors to listen to, with each clip around two minutes long. Writer’s musings range from their personal lived experience of the pandemic to an imagining of what life might be like post-quarantine times.

To be part of this story, download the Google Assistant app, and say: “Hi Google, talk to Stories of Splendid Isolation.” Google Assistant will take care of the rest — all you have to do is give yourself a few minutes a day to listen.

7. The Sofa Singers

Sing your blues away at this twice-weekly online vocal extravaganza from James Sills, which brings hundreds of people together from around the world to sing together. The genesis of The Sofa Singers is a now-classic tale of the virtual pivot. When it became impossible to run his real-life choirs, vocal leader James Sills launched this group, connecting people globally through the power of song from cozy sofas everywhere.

It’s free and easy to take part! If you want to lend your voice to this epic auditory Zoom experiment, register here to come together in real-time and sing with hundreds of people for 45 minutes every Tuesday evening and Friday morning (UK time). Before the session, participants receive a lyric sheet and access code to join the session, where Sills takes participants through the song bit by bit.

8. Dancing Alone Together

Welcome to the transformed reality of live dance — creatively cobbled together and delivered to us wherever we are through our myriad devices, from professional companies finding new ways to dance together, to new models for movement classes that invite you to shake off your insecurities in the comfort of your kitchen, living room, or garden. In the video above, Alvin Ailey dancers move lyrically together, apart — performing an excerpt of choreographer Rennie Harris’ Lazarus.

These unusual times have also brought more regular folks into the dance fold through livestreams like DanceChurch, which captures a rotating cast of dancers, often including founder Kate Wallich, Thomas House, and Lavinia Vago — who take turns leading movement that is part virtual dance class and part joyful therapeutic release.

Usually committed by a well-meaning person — unaware that what they’re saying is inappropriate, gauche, or hurtful — the term microaggression captures the spirit of these slights. But make no mistake: microaggressions can cause mountains of harm.

Welcome to the world of microaggressions. It’s more macro than you think.

Microaggressions are remarks or actions that do not necessarily signal malicious intent but can inflict insult or injury just the same. These commonplace (and often unconscious) instances of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, and more are insidious because they tend to happen casually and frequently — with no explicit harm intended. And if you are from a marginalized group, they may be a constant in your world.

While it might sound trivial, the cumulative effects of these countless micro messages invariably signal that you do not belong, leading to low self-esteem and feelings of alienation. And can trigger imposter syndrome (when people doubt their achievements). Research from Dr. Derald Wing Sue, Professor of Counseling Psychology at Columbia University, and others shows that microaggressions may be more harmful than overt racism or prejudice. Dr. Sue, who has written two books on microaggressions, defines the term this way: “The everyday slights, indignities, put-downs and insults that people of color, women, LGBTQ populations or those who are marginalized experiences in their day-to-day interactions with people.”

Microaggressions matter because they seem to be both symptoms and causes of larger structural problems. It can be all too easy to slight others without exerting vigilance when interacting with people whose lived experiences are “other” than our own. Lack of intention does not mean that the impact of these remarks and actions doesn’t hit hard. Microaggressions spotlight cultural differences in ways that put the receiver’s “non-conformity” on vivid display, inspiring shame while causing anxiety and crises of belonging for minorities. While they may not always be ill-intentioned, microaggressions add up, creating a hostile environment and illuminating deeper problems in our country. It’s death by a thousand and one paper cuts and counting.

What do microaggressions look like?

Any minority group in society can become a bullseye for microaggressions — women, religious minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ folks, and more. Here are some examples of microaggressions and the subtext behind them.

EXAMPLES:

“Where are you from” or “where were you born?”
“You speak English so well!”
“What are you? You’re so unique looking!”
A teacher or boss fails to learn or continues to mispronounce a student’s or coworker’s name after they have been corrected multiple times.

Subtext: You are not a real American. You are forever a foreigner in your own country. Your ethnicity or racial identity makes you exotic.

EXAMPLES:

A doctor of color is mistaken for housekeeping or service worker, or female doctor mistaken for a nurse.
A person of color is ignored at a store counter as attention is given to the white customer.
Saying “you people…”
In a meeting, the boss tends to call more often on male colleagues than female ones.

Subtext: People of color could not possibly hold high-status positions. Women occupy nurturing positions. People of color are less valued customers. You do not belong. You are a lesser being.

EXAMPLES:

A person crosses to the other side of the street to avoid a person of color.
A white person clutches their purse or feels for their wallet when a Black or Latino person comes towards them.
A store owner follows a customer of color around the store.

Subtext: You are dangerous. You are poor. You are a criminal and are going to steal. You do not belong.

EXAMPLES:

“You’re a credit to your race!”
“Wow! Impressive, how did you become so good at math?”
To an Asian person: “You must be great at math, can you please help me with this problem?”
To a woman: “I would never have guessed that you were a computer programmer!”
“You need to get yourself a Jewish lawyer.”

Subtext: People of color are usually not as smart. All Asians are intelligent and great at math and science. It’s unusual for a woman to have strong mathematical abilities. Jews are pushy and shrewd.

And sometimes microaggressions scream more silently, like when completing basic forms and being forced to pick Male or Female, or being presented with two options for relationship status: married or single. The implicit message? You don’t count the same way if you don’t fit these dualistic buckets.

Actionable steps to combat microaggressions?

Even those of us with the best of intentions can inadvertently commit a microaggression, and honestly — most of us have at one time or another. Committing a microaggression does not mean you are a bad person. Rather, it’s a symptom of living in a world where the dominant view tends to be Eurocentric, masculine, heterosexual, and Christian. There are steps we can take to help minimize the impact and harm of microaggressions. The first step to addressing a microaggression? Recognizing that one has occurred, then dissecting what message it might be sending.

When you are the bystander.

You witnessed what you feel is a microaggression, and you know that staying silent expresses tacit approval for what was said or done — so what should you do?

Be an ally. Your voice can be a potent force in combating microaggressions. When the target of a microaggression complains, they are often dismissed as being over-sensitive or biased.

Speak for yourself. Share why you found the comment, remark, or action upsetting. It’s vital to speak from your own experience. You don’t want to talk on behalf of the person who experienced the slight, because doing so can be a form of microaggression. From your perspective, share why you are offended, disturbed, or hurt.

One way to proactively and constructively respond to the microaggression is with a form of micro-resistance called Open The Front Door. It is an approach that can resolve conflicts quickly and efficiently while still paying respect to the listener. By using this communication technique, both parties can move on and maintain a positive relationship. Open The Front Door, or OFTD, is a mnemonic device for the four steps involved in this valuable tool.

Observe. Describe in clear, unambiguous language what you see happening.
Thoughts. Share what you think about what happened based on your observation. Try not to put the person on the defensive.
Feelings. Express your feelings about the situation.
Desire. State what you would like to have happen.

Developed to help both those on the receiving end of microaggressions and their allied colleagues address these issues in the workplace, OTFD is a potent tool because it encourages direct and transparent communication while offering clarity around goals for how to proceed after the problem has been identified. It is an incredibly malleable model that allows for a range of responses that can be modulated depending on the environment, power dynamic, and personal communication style of the individual.

When you are the microaggressor.

The proverb holds, especially here: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Even those who are members of a marginalized group can commit microaggressions against other minorities, and sometimes even against members of their own group. A Latina lesbian may succumb to a common microaggression against people with disabilities, raising her voice when speaking with a blind person as if they are also deaf — the underlying assumption being that those with disabilities are disabled in all aspects of their functioning.

So what to do if you are accused of a microaggression?

Try not to be defensive.
Before reacting, stop. Think. Consider that the person is taking a risk in sharing this information with you. Take stock of your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors — are you angry about being confronted? Do you hear yourself trying to minimize the situation? Work to listen actively, even if what you are hearing challenges you.

Acknowledge the other person’s pain. Apologize.
Take responsibility for your comment. Apologies go a long way. If you are unclear on how your comment may have offended, gently ask for clarification, sharing that you would like to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

Then reflect.
Ask yourself where the microaggression came from and how you can sidestep making the same blunder in the future. Remember that these micro slights add up, and as they do, the harm they inflict grows proportionally. Endeavor to increase your understanding of how your privilege and prejudice may skew your thinking so that you can actively shift your perception and behavior going forward.

It may be tempting to gloss over microaggressions, given that blatant racism is still an endemic problem — but the accumulated build-up of these seemingly small lacerations has profound mental and physical health consequences that cannot be overlooked. We have to take a hard look at microaggressions and make moves to mitigate them if we want to do more than pay lip service to diversity and inclusivity.