Working While Black
This identity is not invisible. Every day that I walk out of my home and in my neighborhood then into this world and my office, I wear the color of my brown skin. Most days, it is with pride of what I represent and whose I am. On some days, I have to wear this Blackness as a shield, protecting me from a world not made for me and people who would rather not have me in it. The standards of our society are whitened; health, beauty, status, power, privilege have all been crafted with me and those of rich melanin placed in the margins and in the borderlands. This is palpably evident in the workplace. Do you know what it’s like to actively codeswitch, recalling the words of your language and replacing them with “normal” diction not your own? Or have you stalely grinned at a popular culture reference that seems exclusively from the book of whiteness, one that you aren’t really allowed to read? Is there a memory you have of your hands ringing in anxiousness as you contemplated whether you were going to say something or not? If you do, then you know, and these bits of wisdom below will ease your burden. If you don’t, you can only imagine, and below will help you do just that.
The Burden of…. Picking Your Straws
Whenever I am summoned for advice on navigating Blackness in workspaces and in life, I remind folks that they get to choose (and have the task) to decide what fights need fighting, what arguments and lessons are worth teaching, and what experiences deserve sharing. Similar to Christine Miserandino’s spoon theory that’s been widely adopted to describe the mental, emotional, and physical lens of living with a chronic illness, you cannot possibly choose to interact with every implicit bias and every overt, racist incident. Constantly being aware of not only your experience but also the experience of the oppressor is exhausting enough. You’d be mad all day, and you’ve got things to do; a world to change. So, you get to choose; you get to consider your needs AND consider justice. You get to acknowledge you have a voice and use it if you so choose while also not feel guilty if you would rather not say.
The Burden of… Organizing
I relish being a daughter of the resistance. How to fight power and speak the truth effectively is melded into my spirit. Understanding hierarchies of power and rallying the people is my superpower and is so for lots of folks who look like me. Think about it. You have a concern. You consult with folks, whether they be the folks in the breakroom or on your team. You get them to begin questioning their experience (that there is even an experience to be questioned in the first place), brainstorm, collaborate. Next thing you know, you are marching forth, demanding change to the paperwork protocols or lobbying for diversity on your team. Organizing is about pooling the power of many to operate as the mountain. It takes a lot of strength to do this. So, make sure you’ve got the muscles (i.e. a plan, organization charts, data, etc.) and the numbers (or you figure out how to get it).
The Burden of… Being Tactful
This is my fancy way of saying that there is power in speaking to be heard. It is less important for me to “make sure I say my piece” than it is about me seeking to facilitate the understanding of truth. It is an active practice to be vulnerable while communicating and defining my experiences of hurt, of joy, of betrayal, and everything in between. Vulnerability is how folks hear you, and it’s how you find the words to say, “What you said perpetrates the years and years of harm done to my people, and this meeting is becoming difficult,” or “I am the only Black face in this room, and it’s painful. What can we do about that?” Grounding your experience in your emotions is vulnerable, is weighty, and can leave you feeling exposed, but leadership is about doing the hard thing to get to change things (and helping other folks do it, too).
The Burden of… Having Somewhere for the Ugly to Go
Even as I type this, I think about the reactions you, my dear readers, may have to my perspective on living and working for justice in your workplace. Whether you’re Black or white or somewhere on our spectrum of world colors, talking about race and power and privilege is activating; rage is inevitable whether you’re wanting to defend AGAINST or left feeling defenseless. You have got to have somewhere to put those feelings. When you learn to soothe and know WHAT to do with your physical reactions in moments of difference, you can learn better, you can teach better, you can be better, and you can help others do the same. Sometimes, it can be your grandmother that you call before bed to tell her about that boss at your job. Maybe it’s a coworker who can bear witness in those difficult moments after staff meetings or when that ONE coworker sent that ONE email. Learning when and where to let off your steam to then channel it into the effort to speak honestly, openly, and vulnerably, will be balm to your bruises and a continuous task in your bag. The work of being Black in America is a painful, beautiful story of rising and fighting and rising again. So will your heart rate. Keep it in check.
My Black is beautiful, and the work that I do in service to all that matters to me is needed in this world. Because I believe this with all my heart like so many of my brothers and sisters in the fight, it’s important that we take care of ourselves. By equipping ourselves with the best armor for our hearts and heads and bodies, we fight better for equity for Black folks and folks of color in hopes that one day we might all be free. To Freedom!