“Bodies of culture,” psychotherapist Resmaa Menakem ’s term for people of the global majority, are working constantly; throughout the day they are often behaviorally code-switching for survival. This can look like adjusting speech patterns, interpreting direct and indirect messages, and adapting behavior to fit in with white dominant norms, to avoid negative stereotypes, and to minimize creating discomfort among those in the dominant culture.

As a Jewish woman, I recall the value of connecting with Jewish colleagues in a former workplace after a major employee outing was set for Yom Kippur, the most important and solemn holy day of the Jewish calendar. Even as a nonobservant Jew, I felt unseen and disrespected by the decision, and even more hurt by the poor response of the leadership when the situation was brought to their attention. I appreciated being with others who understood the context and feelings without requiring any explanation or worrying about making the leaders feel okay while we processed our feelings.

When we are not expected to explain or adjust for every aspect of our identity, our worldview, and our historical context, we can be more at ease. We feel seen and understood without having to make extra effort that is not even in service of our own needs but, rather, is for the benefit and comfort of others. This feels like ease and spaciousness.

A wise friend and inclusion leader, Cristina Cruz-Hubbard , likened this work of constantly being on alert for and adapting to the dominant culture as like having all of your smartphone apps open. For a while you can manage this way, but it requires regular periods of resting and recharging to keep up the energy for this extra work; otherwise, you’ll find yourself exhausted and out of power like a smartphone drained of its battery.

So much of our culture, the media, workplaces, and authority figures are headed by straight, cis, white Christian males: people of the dominant culture. When we have identities that are not in the dominant group, we end up doing some code-switching, often for safety, survival, and access. This is work that people with all (or nearly all) dominant identities may not ever have to do and may not be aware is regularly being done by others.

And, with anti-Blackness being such a prevalent and negative bias in our society, Black and brown people may be particularly apt to feel the pressure to code-switch and to feel appreciation for affinity spaces that allow for a break from that work. When we at Open Horizon (OH) seek to level the playing field and support our partners, this is one of the ways that this is operationalized. We look for opportunities to provide ease and spaciousness to our partner leaders by offering affinity spaces.

We know that leaders in the social sector carry heavy workloads as they lead and advocate for their nonprofit organizations, staff, and the communities that they serve. When we design programming, we realize that an important part of the support we offer is creating spaces that allow our partner leaders to reduce the need to code-switch, to have the choice to not explain their identities, their ways of communicating, or their cultural or historical contexts.

This spring, and again earlier this month, our Executive Director D’Lynn Jacobs hosted an affinity gathering for Black leaders in our network in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia). In June, we held an OH Leaders Network virtual event with speaker Dr. Yanique Redwood, author of White Women Cry and Call Me Angry, around the issues of racial abuse and white fragility in workplaces in the third sector. After hearing the author interviewed, we moved into affinity groups based on racial identities so that participants could have the ease of being with those who don’t require them to explain themselves. We find that this affinity programming is valuable for all involved and we intend to continue to offer it at future events, both in person and virtual. For example, at our 3rd annual Leaders Retreat in January we will be adding a third day so that, for the first time, we will have programming on racial healing that utilizes affinity spaces. When have you found ease in an affinity space, even if it didn’t have that title?

By Lisa Cohen, Open Horizon Co-Founder