Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion Commitment Statement
The Junior League welcomes all women who value our Mission. We are committed to inclusive environments of diverse individuals, organizations and communities.

 

Part of a letter sent to our membership on June 2 from the JLC Board of Directors

As Junior League Leaders, we cannot stay silent and sit on the sidelines watching as our community feels the heaviness of grief.

As an organization that believes in building better communities and strives for leadership excellence, many of us have asked what we can do.

Junior League women are trained to be civic leaders in our communities. It is time to use our training to improve our communities through effective action and leadership. We must do the work. We must be willing to be humiliated and vulnerable. We must speak out and we must be visible. We must know when to be quiet and listen. And equally important, when to speak up.

To our JLC Women of Color, we stand united with you. We are here to listen and ready to engage in difficult conversations.

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is as important as ever. Our Board of Directors proactively voted to continue the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee and will partner with that team to shape the strategic direction for our League for years to come.

We encourage each of you to take the time to explore these materials and to share others. Our League will be working to incorporate more resources into our ongoing Diversity and Inclusion work and will continue to look for ways we can join in collective action or make our own.

Resources

Books: 
How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Social Media: 
The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Podcasts:
Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
About Race
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

Articles:
”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)

Resources for Raising Antiracist Children: 
Check out these books for children and young adults from the list of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
Listen to the Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
Listen to the Fare of the Free Child podcast
Read PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
Read A Kid’s Book Book About Racism
Follow The Conscious Kid on Instagram

 

AJLI’s Statement

“The Association of Junior Leagues International condemns discrimination, racism, and racial injustice in our communities and in our Junior Leagues. Black women and other women of color have been systemically denied equity and inclusion in our economy, education, civic privileges, and responsibilities in the voluntary sector, including in The Junior League. As affirmed by our member Junior Leagues, we are accelerating our efforts to take action and advance definitive, measurable policies and practices that eliminate racism in our countries, our communities, and our Junior Leagues. When we do this, we unlock tremendous power for our communities and realize our vision of women around the world as catalysts for lasting change.”