Project that aims to contribute to the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion in the world, as well as the awareness and visibility of priority attention groups in the country, using color as a tool to generate identity.
”Throughout the centuries color has been an element of communication between people, there is no community, people or nation that has not been identified with certain tones, combinations and patterns. At present the color is inclusive; today anyone can identify with or prefer more than one color, this being the result of humanity, individuality and freedom. This project intends to promote dialogue about color in the context of different struggles for inclusion that have been identified through a color, based on a proposal that points out the existence of unfair situations that are fought, day by day. day, by many human beings, and how color warns that there are problems to attend to”, mentioned Alberto Soto, Director of the Department of Art at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
In such a versatile world, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are fundamental pillars that must permeate all areas of the human being. According to information from the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred), the spaces in which the most cases of discrimination occur are in the workplace, leisure and recreation, as well as in public services. A study prepared by Mercer in Mexico in 2021, in which 113 companies with operations in the country participated, detected that 72% have an improvement focus on DE&I; however, only 40% carry out a long-term strategy.
The allies of this project undertook the task of compiling the descriptions of some of the priority attention groups in Mexico, a directory of institutions that support these groups, the color with which they are identified, as well as recommendations for inclusive language to address these groups. In this first stage of the project, 14 groups were included: motor disability, visual disability, gender, older people, boys, girls and adolescents, youth, fatphobia, LGBTQ+, domestic workers, people with HIV, anti-Semitism, indigenous peoples and communities, journalists and autism. Given that color is an element of identification, union and visibility, during the event those priority attention groups that are not yet associated with a color were invited to propose one that represents them.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion must be part of the DNA of any good company, individually and as a team. We have to work to challenge stereotypes and correct biases, we want everyone who works at PPG Comex to find their color, so that too can permeate outward. We are in a cultural transformation that requires different voices and perspectives to offer the best possible results and create an environment of inclusion and commitment, and without a doubt, this project is one of the many steps that we want to take to achieve it”, said Javier Sosa, President of PPG Comex and Vice President of Architectural Coatings for Latin America.
Sharon Zaga, President and Co-founder of Museo Memoria y Tolerancia highlighted, “Let’s fight because education and awareness lead us to a culture of peace and tolerance.”
For her part, Bárbara Anderson, Co-founder of Yo También expressed, “The invisibility of people with disabilities in Mexico does not presuppose their non-existence. It is incredible that more than 20 million people who live with a disability or a limitation in our country are invisible, ‘colorless’. It is time to give them their space, their access to their rights and make them visible, and what better than colors for this”
Color is a universal element that has no distinctions, it is at the center of all cultures and has influenced the course of history, from antiquity to the present; For this reason, institutions, academia, civil associations and private initiative join forces to continue making visible those vulnerable groups that are still discriminated against in Mexico through color as a factor of union and identification.