HOW I CAN BE A MORE INCLUSIVE TRAVEL BLOGGER & INFLUENCER
The first week of June was hard. It was emotional. It was impactful. It was educational. And it was very eye opening.
I was moved by the world coming together to speak out against racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death – a death in a long string of unjustified violence, brutality and murder against the Black community. It made me angry, sad and hopeful.
It makes me angry because it's not a new story. It's a story that we all should know better than to put on repeat — and we have known better for decades. Angry that through social media I was altered to many people I have known throughout my life that can’t, and almost refuse to, see their own privilege and disrespect the Black Lives Matter movement by constantly saying ‘all lives matter’. Sad that more innocent Black people are getting killed while they sleep in their bed, when they go to a convenience store, when they go for an afternoon run, and the list goes on. Sad to see the pain and anguish permeating these families, friends and the community over and over. But hopeful that even though it was long overdue the world FINALLY came together to support Black Lives. The BLM movement saw a sudden surge of support, with many coming to the realization that enough is enough and this movement is more than just a moment, it’s the start of what I can only hope is a better world.
That being said I have always been aware of micro aggressions against people of color, because I in fact have experienced them a few times since I moved to Virginia. I recognize that being adopted and being raised in an all-White family gave me a degree of “White privilege” – and I say that in quotes because I am in fact not White. I was born in Brazil and after taking an Ancestry DNA test a little over a year ago I was able to confirm what I had always believed about myself, I am a mix of cultures: 65% Portuguese, almost a quarter African, 10% indigenous South American and then a mish-mash of one percents from a handful of other countries in Europe.
Even though I am brown, I will probably never understand exactly what the Black community is feeling and experiencing. But I CAN see them, hear them, mourn with them, stand with them, and fight FOR them.
Being in the travel industry I have noticed how White it is. Being that I am an influencer I see who else is participating in the campaigns I am able to participate in — and mostly White influencers. It’s no secret that brands have been less than stellar when it comes to diversifying their campaigns and diversifying the influencers they choose to send on press trips. To be quite frank it makes zero sense and there is absolutely no excuse for it. Opportunity should be equal, especially in my industry of travel — especially when you can’t even say black people don’t travel. I read that 17% of African Americans take one or more international trips and travel locally more than six times per year, and that there are nearly 5 million black millennial travelers in the US, who spent $63 billion on travel in 2018! Brands have no excuse to not diversify their campaigns.
I spent the week educating myself, which is a lifelong journey of education, and finding more Black Influencers, Content Creators and Bloggers to diversify my feed. Because, even though I have been following a handful of Black creators for a while my feed was still blatantly whitewashed, and I needed to do more to support my fellow Black influencers.
I love that my feed is more diverse now and I am finding SO MUCH travel inspiration from Black influencers. These women are crushing it in the travel game. I love the energy of support that is permeating this platform.
The world is changing, and I’m committed to continuing the education and lending my support – both on and off of my digital platforms. So what am I going to do moving forward?
Firstly, I am going to focus my attention on how I personally can do better – at home, in my friend circles and on my platforms.
Being a travel influencer who has been given many wonderful opportunities because of my content I feel a responsibility to promote positive change within the travel industry I am a part of. Travel is my ultimate passion. Content creation is my creative outlet. I want it to be a space that is more inclusive. In order to be a part of positive change in the travel industry, we’ve got to do the work first
How can I continue to hold brands accountable?
I want to make sure the brands I work with have a diverse group of influencers in their campaigns. If a brand doesn’t see the value in diversity, then I don’t see the value in working with them.
I need to start by checking their feed, are they diverse? Do they represent all races, backgrounds and sizes? Are they including and featuring BIPOC influencers and creators?
From there I need to do more research about the brand itself. What are their company values? Do they practice what they preach? How did they respond to the BLM movement and are they publicly addressing their company’s actions, or lack thereof?
And finally I need to actually ask them who they are including in the campaign they are inviting me to participate in, or the event they are inviting me to – and be prepared to suggest BIPOC influencers I think would be a great fit as well.
This is how I can help affect change. Campaigns need to align with my brand and my values. And if more and more influencers ask these questions brands will realize they need to make a change.
How can I continue to diversify my blog content?
I want to be more mindful as I share travel guides, adventure content, and food & beverage stories.
I need to be seeking out Black-Owned Businesses when I travel.
I’ve always been someone who writes from personal experience. Aside from collab posts with other bloggers, if I haven’t done or experienced something, it most likely is not going to end up on my blog.
I thrive on the local experience no matter where I go (which includes food, art and memorable activities and adventures), so in order to support Black-Owned Businesses on my blog, I also need to support them in the flesh.
I want my guides to be inclusive, which means I need to do the research I always do but take it a step further by making a conscious effort to include more sustainable and Black-Owned businesses in my guides – which ultimately would inspire you to visit them as well.
How can I share more travel stories from the Black and Brown perspective?
This goes for both my social feeds as well as my blog. I should be collabing with BIPOC creators on Instagram Live. I should be uplifting women who are also POC and share their individual travel stories.
I should be thinking about how I want to handle guest posting moving forward and be mindful that I am featuring a diverse array of creators, rather than people who are similar to me.
From time to time I do feature round-up collaboration posts with other bloggers, but I need to make sure that the people I am including in these round-ups (both men and women) come from a diverse background. So that means I need to stop looking at the locations they suggest first, and look at who they are as a person first to make sure the content is from a diverse group of perspectives and experiences.
These are just some of the small steps I plan to implement across my channels. Yes, Seven Day Weekender is all about doing what makes you happy and finding memorable experiences that satisfy your cultural curiosity every day of the week, but it should also be an uplifting and inspiring place for everyone.
Small “stones” build a larger foundation – a foundation for change. Each person can make a difference, so this is my commitment to start mine.