Over the past week, Black photographers and photographers of color have experienced an unprecedented amount of bigotry, racism, and emotional labor within the community surrounding the death of George Floyd and other racially-charged incidences. 

It is time for photography industry leaders and corporations to use their platforms to speak out against the racism Black and minority photographers are facing within the industry. This includes mandatory diversity, inclusion, and equitable sensitivity training for photography vendors, executives, and leadership staff. And it also includes ambassadors, who are often the faces of photography companies. 

To begin, we ask that you start with these initiatives: 

• Racial-bias training
• Creating safe spaces for difficult discourse and conversations
• Identifying the areas of bias within the industry and proactively working to change them
• Creating anti-racism policies for all social media platforms
• Making all of these policies public knowledge and defending them accordingly 

Gestures are not enough. Global actions are required now. It is only through facing systemic racism together that we can be the change that we want to see in the world. The time is now. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Dr. Tomayia Colvin 

Tomayia Colvin Education 

About Tomayia:

Dr. Tomayia Colvin has been photographing high school seniors for more than eight years and was a classroom teacher for more than 10 years. She’s been an educator on Creative Live, WPPI, Imaging USA, United hosted by Showit, and a host of others. 

She has been featured in articles in Professional Photography Magazine, Rangefinder Magazine, ShootProof, Black Enterprise, local newspapers, and radio stations. 

Dr. Colvin is also the author of two best-selling children’s books, Mya’s Big Adventures: Career Day and The Adventure of Jaxon Maxwell: Jaxon Saves Christmas. She is also the founder of Tomayia Colvin Education, an online photography community created to empower photographers of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and be a safe haven of inclusion and diversity. 

Additionally, she’s the proud founder and host of The Photo Cookout that celebrates and supports Black photographers and photographers of color. 

She’s also the mom of two dynamic little people and is often busy shuffling kids from basketball practice to karate. She lives for the car rider line, cupcakes, Dr. Pepper, and making blue jeans, Converse, and t-shirts the new business casual. Her doctoral studies included the study of the success of Black women photographers, educational and organizational leadership, and community 

Website- www.tomayiacolvin.com 

Education Website www.tomayiacolvineducation.com 

Instagram - www.instagram.com/tomayiacolvin 

Facebook- www.facebook.com/tomayiacolvinphotography