Accountability Is Love
Presented by In The Weeds
By Raeghn Draper
Accountability is love. It's one of the main tag lines for the organization I work for, Chicago Hospitality Accountability Advocacy Database, or The CHAAD Project for short. CHAAD was created by two disgruntled restaurant workers who wanted to call their establishment out and demand more action for the community regarding COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. They made a spreadsheet of Chicago restaurants and what actions they were or were not taking and offered this information to their hospitality community. The database blew up, and the CHAAD Project began.
The Chicago hospitality industry was craving a way to call out the generations of trauma and abuse that had become a norm within restaurants. We all whispered about what chefs had uncontrollable tempers and which bars weren't safe if you were a woman alone, but people no longer wanted to gossip about these abuses; they wanted to scream.
Accountability is for all of us. Some would call it cancel-culture, but we all make mistakes, cause harm, and do the wrong thing sometimes. Accountability allows us to be held responsible for our actions and be directed to course correct with community support. It protects workers by allowing them a platform to have their concerns heard. In an industry that often treats workers as disposable, accountability affirms that none of us are replaceable, and that with a bit of course correction, we can all get back on track.
People make restaurants. The food, drinks, and cleaning would not be done otherwise. People will make mistakes from having a bad day and snapping on someone to saying something inappropriate. Accountability allows us to stop whispering about harm and mistakes, and instead invites us to do something about it. This is the future of hospitality.
In The Weeds is a National 501c3 public charity that Champions the Physical, Financial + Mental Health of the Hospitality Professional. It is the vision of In The Weeds to create a safe, inclusionary + sustainable hospitality industry for the people who power it.
Raeghn began her working life at the age of fifteen in the dish pit of a local bakery. Drawn to hospitality for its low bars of entry, fast-paced environment, and flexibility, she gathered over eleven years of experience as a dishwasher, host, pastry cook, server, and bartender. Her current work focuses on advocating for better working environments and an end to nuclear weapons. She remains hopeful that everything that initially drew her to hospitality is still valid, and with thoughtful collaboration and some equity, we could have a thriving badass new industry.
Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Best Served. To achieve our mission of bringing more voices to the table, we are committed to sharing a variety of viewpoints across the industry.
