EMG CEO Jevon Bolden Shares with ACE Steps Editors Can Take to Champion Diverse Voices
Last week I had the rare opportunity of being on the first-ever agent's panel for the Academy of Christian Editors Retreat held in Colorado Springs.
The question…
What steps can editors take to champion more diverse voices?
…was posed to us.
I answered it live the way you see in this video, also found here.
Three points to contextualize what I was saying:
Diversity is not a trend. It is a necessary part of any healthy ecosystem. It crumbles without it.
Editors, how you have been socialized influences who you trust to speak to a topic and who you believe has value and an important perspective? The more limiting your socialization has been, the more limited your acquisitions will be if you don't work hard to broaden your exposure to various voices and perspectives.
A question had been asked a bit earlier in the panel: “What current market trends or topics are you seeing the greatest demand for in Christian publishing, and how do these trends influence which projects you decide to represent?” So here, I was adding more about why I often reverse engineer my approach to determining what it is that readers/people are needing or looking for versus what’s trending. Because of my social location to trend and that of the majority of clients I represent, I’d rather be a trendsetter than a trend follower.
The notes I had written to answer this question went more like this…
There's so much to be done--and we've started the work many times over--but the most important thing an editor can do is this:
If they are interested in diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice at all, an editor, especially one from majority culture, must interrogate themselves:
"This topic matters to me. How can I use or increase my influence to improve this area for my team?"
"Am I brave enough?" It’s risky to push back and stand up against power structures. Because that’s what this is. When you are pushing to give a voice to the voiceless, to those who are powerless in some way, you are challenging the status quo, you’re challenging power, and you really have to be up for that. Just as quickly as teams are diversified, and those diversity hires are fired or teams gutted, you could be part of those things too. Just as quickly as people think that books by people of color are en vogue and you’re one of the editors bringing those on is just as quickly as people think they’re out of fashion, and they need to be banned and you fired. Consider if you want to be part of that. This is our every day life, but you’re talking about joining a mission that isn’t your everyday life if you’re part of the majority culture.
"Am I sincere enough? Are my intentions pure and true?" This can’t just be you trying to meet a trend. Sincerity and heart is required. The lives of diverse or marginalized people should be reduced to a trend. We are not “trendy.” If we’re really talking about thriving in community together, if we’re really talking about belonging and inclusion and being together and unity, DEIB cannot be a passing trend. It is not a trend to the marginalized. It’s a matter of life and death in many cases.
"How am I educating and resourcing myself to see what I envision for diverse voices come to pass?" The answers to this question—what can editors do?—is already out there.
"Where can I be daring? What should I take a risk on? How can I use what I know about my team to better meet objections and help them see the viability of this diverse voice?"
"What limiting or wrong beliefs about certain marginalized communities are impacting my acquisitions?"
If you are an editor committed to publishing diverse voices well, what steps are you taking to champion them well?