Black women often feel excluded or underrepresented in wellness spaces, which is why this week’s guest LaFonda Cousin founded her yoga studio Pardon My Flow.
But diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives go much deeper than that. As LaFonda pointed out in her interview, we live in a world that has made DEI synonymous with race. And racial equity is really important! Black women have historically been excluded from a lot more spaces than just yoga studios - they’ve had to fight to be at every table, from business to politics to entertainment.
Lately, DEI has been used to divide people. It’s “us” versus “them.” But the truth is that DEI means all of us. Whether you’re a woman, a parent, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a person with disabilities, a person of lower income, or basically anyone other than a straight, white, wealthy, Christian man, without any disabilities, under 40… congratulations, you are the DEI.
Barriers and institutional biases have existed for centuries to keep people out, and it’s only in the past few decades that we’ve started to rectify that. DEI programs that bring more people to the table benefit everyone, including businesses and organizations. That’s why it makes no sense that the Trump administration is attacking DEI. They are trying to roll back progress by by pitting “us” against “them.” It’s up to us to reject that framing and realize that diversity, equity, and inclusion are good for everyone.
