Imagine being only acknowledged for your emotional composure rather than your merit and hard work… Smiled at only out of comfort for them and not for you… Your life filled with twists and turns while they talk about their house by the lake and that damn dog you could care less about.
Imagine refusing to smile by the water cooler because you chose to withhold another empty conversation with your White counterparts who ask you very little about what it is like to be a woman, heck a woman of color in this space but rather what’re your plans for the weekend….like they really give a damn!
Or how about the time you had to take off to go to court and they assumed it was for child support because you lack the lavish threads and the band they so proudly wear on their left ring finger. Meanwhile, you are wondering what empty-headed man would be caught dead with her thoughtless, insensitive ass. Did that make you uncomfortable?… Yup, I said it, ass!
These spaces are boring… They do not allow for real growth as a Black woman seeking to expand and explore her purpose but rather teach you how to become invisible In a world that was never designed to be yours.
Where inclusiveness is only a word on a page or better yet written in BIG & BOLD letters on the HR website. The page that barely gets an update.
I should boycott!
That’s right I should boycott the ‘shuckin and jivin’ mentality that has haunted Black men and women in this whitewashed world. I should wear my big bold colors at Monday’s meeting and Tuesday’s meeting and Thursday’s meeting. Yes, there is a lot of meetings. You guessed it.
And what are we talking about? Nothing! Not a damn thing. Oh yeah, let me finish… How about I boycott that damn birthday card! Why can’t it just come from your real White friend at the job? The one that actually cares about your damn birthday. Not from a bunch of signatures and empty bday wishes they found on Google. Yup Google yall.
I should boycott! the “I’m just being fair” statement because somehow White folk think you are walking around looking for fairness when you are looking for respect and mobility in your role based on your experiences and the skill set you bring. Corporate shit!
You know what line they use to promote the ‘non-promote-able’ White men and women in the department. Yes, I made up a word… Move on. I sit and think to myself, wait, did this damn supervisor just make up a title and find money in the budget for that one project my White colleague did…with my damn help! Yup White America.
I should boycott!
I am going to boycott that supervisor! You know the one, who never wanted you there in the first place but it gives her pleasure and power to send you that passive-aggressive email about your performance… Meanwhile, you haven’t seen her ass nominated for one damn board nor truly be a change agent in the field she claims to be so happy to be in…YUP!
Oh yeah, you were nominated and got the role! #Blackwomanontheboard
Look here! You should just say you are happy you dodged the bullet of working for the damn family business. Whatever the hell that is. And it gives you more stories to over-exaggerate while visiting the family lake house. She lyin’ yall!
Speaking of change agents, these same damn supervisors will never acknowledge you as an innovator. You have to be damn near dead and gone just to get your name spoken of minus the flowers and plagues. Heck and don't let you talk about new opportunities. They will have you training a half-ass replacement who went to school half the time you…can’t forget those student loans sis.
#freeusfromstudentloans #theydontpayusenough
Oh, how about the chameleons…Those you thought were allies but the minute it’s time to speak up and speak out, they cower in the corner. The people who look just like you! The people who have faced the same challenges you have yet just so damn happy to have “made it”. #yallnotsellingout #sike
You are hung out on the ledge like a dirty dishrag! Left to defend a decision that benefited the entire department yet the damn supervisor so desperately wanted to credit! Damn. #myfacestillmadethenews
Those same allies, lower their heads deeper into the blank computer screen as you remind the staff that once again the meeting agenda has not changed in three months and you aren’t quite clear of how this speaks to the new direction of the department.
Wait did she roll her eyes and grab her pearls…yall she really did! In front of everyone, she grabbed her pearls when I stood up for myself in this two-hour-long meeting. We only got through the first three bullets…two more pages to go. Please ma’am! Cut the shit!
I should boycott!
Living in a world that was designed for me is like trying on a raggedy pair of jeans that not only can they not fit but you can see my damn panty line! Sorry, not my style.
My flaws, my fears, my inability to fake it ’til I make it, is now exposed is like all the documentaries on Netflix. #SomebodyFixIt
Any changes you make to becoming YOU somehow a moment is taken up to point out at a department training of how different you are to the rest of the staff in your department. Fucking work personality test.
Of course, I am different. I figured that out the moment I walked in the door. I didn’t hold that against yall. Oh yeah, and how my headwrap matches my shirt…I meant to do that! It’s called fashion.
America, yall got us messed all of the way up. And I feel for Black men too. Keep the facial hair to a minimum, watch your tone, be extremely social in every situation known to mankind, and acknowledge every White woman the minute she walks into the room. …you know the same way you would acknowledge your Black sisters because “it’s only fair”.
“Somehow I had become another representative of the entire Black race.”
They lay out the red carpet for you only if you vow to keep in line. Only then will they run you your money and let you switch your title that means very little the moment you leave their organization.
A title they know they can throw around as long as it is attached to a Black last name, excuse me I mean to a person of color because diversity is key (don’t forget to add the wink)
Damn, I want to boycott!
Being Black in America.