How Remote Teams Can Honor Black History Month

With many teams still working remotely this year, it’s easy to feel disconnected from the rest of the team and world. One way that Pixability managed to not only stay connected to our team and our company values, but grow as a culture, was to invest more deeply in our commitments to diversity and to our communities. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Discussion Group came out of this effort, with weekly meetings to talk about injustices and how we can drive positive change in the world.

We wanted to share how we’re celebrating Black History Month to show that remote companies can still use this time to reflect on Black history and culture, raise awareness of activism in their communities, and make direct contributions to Black organizations.

Here’s how Pixability is honoring Black History Month this year:

Running the Black History Month 5K

The New York Road Runners is holding a virtual 5K race to celebrate Black and African American runners. Participants can run the 3.1-mile race anywhere, and are encouraged to reflect on how the Black community has shaped where we live and share photos on social media. So this month, some of our team will be hitting the streets to celebrate the Black community’s impact on their local communities, mapping their runs to include monuments, statues, and places of historical significance in Black history. The race also raises money for youth and community programs.

Our Bay Area team will be visiting these landmarks during their runs:

• Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park and the Remember Them: Champions for Humanity Monument (honors 25 culturally-diverse humanitarians such as notable black champions: Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglas, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Dr. Marcus Foster)
• The oldest independent black bookstore in the nation, Marcus Books
• Brown Sugar Kitchen, owned by Top Chef contestant Tanya Holland
• Black Panther Headquarters at 14th and Peralta Streets
• It’s All Good Bakery, the original office for the Black Panther Party

Weekly Black History Month Newsletter

We started a weekly newsletter that runs through Black History Month to help raise awareness of the amazing work that Black activists and community organizers are doing to build a better future. The newsletter also features some great books by Black authors, and each week highlights a different non-profit to support, including Black Girls Run & Black Girls Code. We hope this newsletter encourages the Pixability team to think on how they can support the Black community where they live, and learn more about the issues and injustices that are still deeply entrenched in our world.

Involvement with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Discussion Group

We’ve started a dedicated Slack channel and meet weekly to discuss diversity issues in our industry and across the country. Team members have been inspired by this safe space for dialogue around the rapidly changing political landscape, and it has allowed our employees to understand and invest in each other’s emotional wellbeing during a very challenging time.

Continuing Support for the NAACP and Black Community Programs

Pixability has committed to supporting the NAACP through charitable donations, and during Black History Month, we are finding ways for our remote team members to volunteer for the NAACP and other Black-related causes in their communities. Our Bay Area team members are helping Hands On Bay Area create a thank you program for the Black Futures Lab’s “Black to the Ballot” initiative, which worked tirelessly in partnership with Black organizers around the country to engage record-breaking numbers of underrepresented voters and get them registered to vote. Employees are encouraged to find similar opportunities in their own communities, and we will be having a Pix Gives Back Day in February when employees will be encouraged to focus on the cause in their community.

Last year, we also used our YouTube expertise to build an inclusion list that empowers marketers to support Black creators, artists, and video makers — it’s available here for marketers to use their ad dollars to elevate important, brand-suitable channels on YouTube.