Michelle Saahene is one half of the non-profit organization From Privilege to Progress, which was started in 2018 to contribute to the public conversation about race and racism. Michelle was thrust into the public spotlight after she spoke up while witnessing two Black men being arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks. The video of the arrest, which has been viewed over 11 million times, sparked public outcry and catalyzed Michelle’s journey as an activist and anti-racism educator. Michelle sat down with Forbes to discuss her experiences thus far, the importance of understanding the fullness of Black humanity, and what she does to stay invigorated while doing what can be very taxing work.
Janice Gassam Asare: For the Forbes readers who are not familiar with you, could you just share a little bit about yourself and your background?
Michelle Saahene: Sure. I’m Michelle. I am the co-founder of From Privilege to Progress...a nonprofit organization that strictly deals with anti-racism. We do speaking engagements with corporations to help them address their biases and change their company culture. My story really originates from 2018, when my [business] partner and I, who I did not know at the time, exposed the blatant acts of racial discrimination happening of two young Black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks. And we found that a lot of Americans, and actually people around the world, were really fascinated by the story…they weren't aware of what racism was like, but because they didn't understand their privilege, and they had just woken up to it. We decided to create a community of people to understand what their privilege was, learn how to use it for progress, unlearn the biases and the conditioning of white supremacy that they've been learning their entire lives, so they can actually show up and help make racial progress in our country.
Asare: You posted a really interesting video on your Instagram…where you talked about how, as an anti-racism educator, as a Black anti-racism educator, you feel like sometimes people only see the value in you when you're educating them about something or when you're teaching them about anti-racism or helping them unlearn their privilege, and how part of anti-racism is seeing Black people in their full humanity. Can you speak a little bit more about that and what prompted you to create that video?
Saahene: What prompted me to create that video was I noticed in my engagement, when I would post something that was not related to race, racism, anti-racism, my engagement was exponentially lower than when I was talking about race. What concerned me about that was what you said; the fact that people were not seeing Black people’s full humanity...because we're not a monolith…when I was actually in the Starbucks that day, I was studying to be a life coach.
So, when the world kind of started asking us questions and asking us to speak all over the place, I mean, we've spoken at companies in Sweden…we've spoken to audiences in India and Italy and Israel…it kind of took over my life, if I'm being completely honest with you. I was getting so much demand to talk about race and racism and anti-racism.
But at the same time, I found that it was overshadowing all the other parts of my life that I just generally enjoyed: reading, life-coaching, music, fashion, wellness, all the things that I love to do before this took over my life. And when I would talk about those other things, and I would get such low engagement…I have to remember…these are people that I don't know. But, at the same time, it still made me feel a sense of…what's the word I'm looking for? Like I was only worthy in this one space, that I didn't belong in these other spaces, which is part of the problem.
Asare: What are your thoughts on social media and how social media has been used as a tool to educate the masses? If you are an anti-racism educator, you recognize that a large part of how you…find people to work with and educate, is through social media. So, you have to “perform” or produce for the masses…yet, what's really interesting is that when you are too radical in what you share, it can also impact your engagement, where social media platforms and the algorithms will suppress your content because it's not “friendly enough” for the algorithm.
Saahene: At the end of the day, the white people are pulling the strings in the background…we have to come to that realization and understanding…I think it's just a matter of learning social media, learning how to play the game, if you will. And then getting intentional about what you are trying to convey to your audience. I think that's really important because these algorithms are going to keep doing what they do…I think it's just important for us to always be intentional with what we post and remind ourselves why we're posting, who we're posting it for, because at the end of the day, your audience is going to remain true to you if you stay consistent in your messaging…eventually, the algorithm can start to work in your favor if you stay consistent.
Asare: The last thing that I wanted to ask you is, how do you stay invigorated while doing anti-racism and anti-oppression work? It can be very overwhelming when you are going into these companies or speaking with these organizations and maybe you face resistance. Or maybe when you and Melissa post something on social media, getting attacked in your comments section, or getting people who are very resistant to the messages and the information and the education you're trying to bring…how do you stay motivated and invigorated to continue doing this work?
Saahene: I think what we need to learn to do at the same time that we're learning about the systems of oppression and the true history of this country and unlearning our biases, is starting to do that, specifically for people of color, the healing work, as on the other end of that, because all of us have experienced racial trauma. And where I don't see a lot of conversation happening is how we are going and to heal from that…I was reading something that I think they said, when they did MLK's autopsy, he had the heart of a 60-year-old man. This work is incredibly difficult for us to do. So, if we don't learn ways to cope and breathe and relax and try to heal that race-based trauma, we are just going to continue to actually add to our own trauma.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
