Introduction: A Book of Problems, Possibilities, and Practices

Mindsets are powerful. When you hear of a "growth mindset," thoughts of building upon one's skills and continuous learning are likely to emerge. The listener pushes their mind, and subsequently their actions, to align with a more enhanced version of themselves-all because of a belief. One with a "fixed mindset" is assumed to be inflexible and set in their ways, confident in their knowledge of the world and their abilities, and thus not easily persuaded about emerging theories, skill sets, or ideas-especially if what they already know produces a desirable outcome.

An equity mindset has slightly different characteristics from a growth or fixed mindset. For one thing, equity doesn't start with thinking "What can I improve today?" An equity mindset begins with questioning one's environment: "How did this all start, how did we get here, and what does that mean for me and my space?" Another difference is that while an equity mindset calls for personal journeying, reflection, and awareness, it is not a "self-help" approach. It is intended to support creative solutions-making to address inequities stemming from the consequences of a white-dominant culture. Learning under an equity mindset is not selfish; it's a choice to see one's actions as interconnected, interdependent, and on a continuum with other people and the spaces we exist in. It welcomes those who desire to be accomplices with those who are most proximate to unsafe conditions, generational discrimination, and normalized aggressions. And perhaps most importantly, an equity mindset does not center on the acquiring of knowledge or application of checklists to achieve a business outcome (this is where I may lose some folks, but if you're still here, hear me out).

The practice of an equity mindset is a commitment to:

1. Resisting the practice of normalizing inequity in our spaces;
2. Deepening our understanding of how we got here via data, history, and lived experiences of those with intersectionalities;
3. Leveraging existing tools and frameworks created by those who are oppressed to decenter harmful dominant practices and design through a justice-informed, reparatory lens.

Chapter 1 digs deeper into some of the characteristics of an equity mindset. But to truly understand an equity mindset, we must understand what equity is.

A Working Definition of Equity

The Oxford Dictionary defines equity as "the quality of being fair and impartial." Other versions of this definition include the word "just." An amplified version on Dictionary.com defines equity as "the policy or practice of accounting for the differences in each individual's starting point when pursuing a goal or achievement, and working to remove barriers to equal opportunity." The somewhat problematic part about doing this equity work is that there isn't a solid, shared baseline definition of what equity is. As a result, equity work has largely been watered down, delayed, or minimized to a comfortable, "feel good" or occasional priority. And this matters, especially since at its core, it means that those who need it the most must continue to wait until the masses get it and understand it before they can truly experience dignity, freedom, and safety in every space their bodies occupy.

I'm going to give my working conversation on equity because I think it's important not to assume that everyone has one. When I think of equity, I don't think the definition "the quality of being fair and impartial" is enough. I actually think it can be problematic if one sees the work as being about how to treat others in a "fair and impartial" way without considering the factors which made the current conditions possible. And while I believe that an important quality of equity is an acknowledgment that everyone has a different starting point, that, too, feels incomplete because it doesn't tell you completely convey that not only do people start differently but live differently. If you only believe that where I started was messed up, you may actually believe that I can do enough work to make up for that start. The mess, though, continues beyond the start, and lasts a lifetime.

My starting point is always this: Equity is needed because inequity exists. Equity is a process to address the gaps in care, support, and resources created by human beings whose intention was to be in power, create systems that benefited from those gaps, and reduce the likelihood that those without power would achieve an equivalent quality of life. That intent has spiraled into multiple mass disparities throughout every system and shows up in virtually every space we exist in. Attempts to eradicate this intent have never fully succeeded, and at times have caused a doubling down of inequitable practices-evidence of how successful the original transplant of divisive beliefs and practices really were, and continue to be.

When equity is described as an outcome (i.e., our goal is to achieve equity through a health-justice lens), it is the state in which no physical, social, or political characteristic of a human being interrupts one's enjoyment, participation, inclusion, or connection to care, support, and resources. By "care, support, and resources," I am usually referring to the first two foundational levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid: physiological (water, food, shelter, sex, sleep, clothing, air) and safety (employment, health, property, resources, personal security). Achieving equity would mean that justice (the accountability and repair for harm for the generational impact of inequity, the dismantling of systemically racist systems and practices, and the co-creation of the spaces we exist in) would be present.

The Equity Mindset: Designing Human Spaces Through Journeys, Reflections, and Practices is a guide that refuses to let the opportunity to build better cultures pass us by. Central to this book is that we have enough and we are able to disrupt enough-that is our collective purpose during this time we are here. It's a supplement to the works of those who dedicated much of their lives to telling the ugly truths, like James Baldwin in No Name in the Streets; and deepening social frameworks, like what bell hooks in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center did with her call for a deeper intersectionality within the feminist movement; and connecting us to the power of vulnerability, joy, and fighting for our collective happiness, like adrienne maree brown's Pleasure Activism. Make no mistake, I don't write as well as these geniuses, but I am connected to the same pulse they and others are, which is the pulse of sharpening how we see each other, how we see our problems, and how we do the most we can with what we got. There are four parts of an equity mindset explored in this book:

1. CENTERING those most impacted by inequity, their histories, and their solutions;
2. CLARITY on how systemic racism is embedded within society, our work, and our interpersonal relationships;
3. CONNECTION to one's personal relationship with power, privilege, and access;
4. COMMITMENT to not just equitable outcomes, but to evolving practices and processes that help us deepen equity, justice, and transformation within our space.

A Creative, Nonlinear, Approach to Delivering This Book

This is not a book you need to read all the way through or in any particular order. I'm hoping that this will be the book you grab when you feel like you need a supporter, a guide, a thought, or an idea. I do not have all the answers. As a person of African descent, I am inclined to bridge truth and practice with storytelling and use narratives, poems, essays, case studies, streams of consciousness, quotes, theories, my ponderings (which I call ifyisms), and social commentary as a way to connect and relate truth and honesty-first within myself, then with others. As we are all different learners with different abilities, it was important for me to tap into different methods. This guide is full of diverse frameworks, struggles, and ideas from practitioners and friends who do the work of weaving equity strategies into their space. These #equitymindset insights, chats, and conversations are a way of expanding how we use curiosity as a tool toward systems and culture change. I was inspired by this quote on the power of dialogues, and hope you invest in the richness of the love, the randomness, the ideas that shoot like stars, and the alignment in spirit to create spaces that hold all of our wholeness.

Dialogue is an act of creation.

Dialogue cannot exist in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people.

The naming of the world, which is an act of creation and re-creation,

Is not possible if it is not infused with love .

No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause-

The cause of liberation.

And this commitment, because it is loving,

Is dialogical.

-Paulo Freire, from The Pedagogy of the Oppressed

How to Get the Most from This Journey

• Keep a journal handy! This book is intended to speak with you and support how you connect deeper with your equity practice. I am...