Racial Justice at Work

CHAPTER TEN

Closed Mouths Don’t Get Justice

KATELYN PETERSON

Lead Client Success Account Manager

The Winters Group, Inc.

(she/her/hers)

My silences had not protected me.

Your silences will not protect you.

—AUDRE LORDE

Have you ever heard the saying “closed mouths don’t get fed,” possibly in a song or film or quoted by your favorite entertainer? There may be different interpretations of what this means, but this idiom was instilled in my family based on the common understanding being “if you don’t speak up, you will not get what you want.”

Another common phrase is “silence is golden,” or how about the opposite, “say what you mean and mean what you say.” While these expressions may seem like universal advice that applies equally to everyone, ...