Black History Month is not only a reminder to learn and celebrate the rich history of the Black community, it's also a reminder that if we don't intentionally practice inclusion and allyship every day, history is bound to repeat itself.

Many of us have witnessed painful evidence of this through institutionalized discrimination, deliberate exclusion, and violence against vulnerable communities.

It can feel overwhelming to find ways to practice everyday inclusion and drive meaningful change - in our homes, our communities, and at work.

What are we empowered to do and what are we equipped to do? 

Cisco's purpose is to power an inclusive future for all, and we practice a culture of inclusive language as part of our Social Justice Actions. It's as simple as avoiding the use of harmful language. Or as complex as breaking down the nuances of diverse cultural experiences and perspectives.

Ultimately, we show our allyship with the words we use and our intention behind them. Check out Cisco's approach to inclusive language.

I'm so proud to lead a team of advocates driving this important work. Two of them play key roles in our Innovation and Emerging Technology organizations: Brianna Gilchrist and Jerome Sanders.

In addition to being advocates for inclusive language at Cisco and beyond, they share their personal stories around language and belonging.

Bridging the gap

Brianna is a Software Engineer in Innovation Labs based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Brianna Gilchrist, grew up in a small town surrounded by family and friends who looked and sounded like her. It wasn't until she started attending college at Kennesaw State University near Marietta, Georgia, that she became aware of others acting differently or choosing language that sometimes made her uncomfortable.

As one of only a handful of black women studying software engineering, she says, "I think there was a lack of awareness by other students about language, and that sometimes led to a disconnect and my feelings of not belonging."

"While completing a group project for one of my classes, I found that I was one of two Black people on my team, and the only woman. Throughout the semester, we'd meet outside of class weekly to work on our project," Brianna adds. As this project progressed, I started to grow uncomfortable with some members of my team referring to the only Black people in the group as a collective: 'you people.'"

She recalls, "There was also this strange expectation that my only role on the team was documentation, and the coding was to be left to the men on the team. When we tried to speak up about the language use and expectations, it soured the group dynamic, as they felt that we were being overly sensitive."

Brianna is happy that through her work she can help bridge those gaps by having important conversations with other professionals about word choice and making a difference in how language is used.

"My hope is that we will continue to be a catalyst for change throughout our work and projects, and we will remain persistent as leaders for inclusivity and diversity within Cisco and our community."

Inviting bold conversations

Jerome is a Product Marketing Manager in Cisco's Emerging Technologies and Incubation team based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Jerome J. Sanders, who identifies as Afro-Latino, shares a similar story. He grew up in California in a diverse community. He attended school in San Diego, whose students were predominately Black, Latino, and Asian. As a first-generation college student, he studied at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, a private Jesuit university in Silicon Valley when he first became aware of non-inclusive language, how it occasionally was used freely, and how it needed to change.

When Jerome joined Cisco in 2013 as an intern, he was pleased to find that the company had affinity groups, such as Connected Black Professionals and Conexi