Tag: racism

The Buzz: Making the Case for White DEIJ Leadership 

Recently, the University of Florida announced the elimination of its Chief Diversity Officer and the entire office of program and support staff. The targeting of the likes of Dr. Marsha McGriff (former CDO at UF) is enabled by those who point to successful and educated Black women in positions of power as having “unfairly benefited” from affirmative action. Such erroneous claims would fall flat in the first instance if white folks took initiative in leading DEIJ change in their organizations.

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The Buzz: “Other Black Girls” and Racism in the Workplace

The book The Other Black Girl by Zakiyah Harris has mixed reviews. *Warning: this essay will contain spoilers to the novel.* There are so many things to explore about this story: relationships between Black women, the publishing industry as a whole, workplace micro-aggressions, respectability politics, internalized racism, and so much more. The Other Black Girl is far from boring if you look at it from the right lens. A question that rose up for me while reading: Where do you draw the line when it comes to defining who/what is good for the Black community? 

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A Point of View: On Addiction (In the Melody of Patti)

As often as I can, I offer musical reference in my writing as a way to share the energy and tone I intend for the information I have shared. As a child, I remember my mother listening to “If Only You Knew” by Patti LaBelle on repeat. As an adult, my body recalls the pain of wanting and wanting to be wanted as she played that song. What better way to speak of addiction than to use these same words that have been shared with us, but this time, imagine the unrequited love of a controlled substance as the object of desire as opposed to the loving arms of another person.

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Gen Z and Y on D&I: Racism and Climate Change

Concern for the state of the environment has never been greater. We cannot think about environmental justice without considering environmental racism. Now more than ever, it is evident that we are living in a climate emergency which is directly linked to racial injustice, and the legacy of colonialism is directly linked to climate change. To save the planet — to save our lives — systems of oppression must be dismantled. Acknowledging the inextricable connection between climate action and racial justice is a good first step.

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Gen Z and Y on D&I: A Thin Line Between Monster and Human

What is a monster and what is human? Is he a monster because of the fear to say no or runaway? Is he a monster by association with members of his community, or the company he keeps? Is he a monster because he is Black? Or because he is Black and educated? Maybe he is human because he stopped to say hello when someone said hello to him. Maybe his fears and emotions make him human. It is an indictment on society’s conception of Black men that the line between human and monster could be so paper thin.

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Operationalizing Justice: Translating “Days Without Incident” to Health Equity

The concept of the “safer space” is one of the more profound new movements in diversity and equity work. It is powerful because it draws away the fluff of rose-colored viewpoints and initiatives for addressing organizational disparities, and instead it lends itself to grounded and pragmatic attitudes. It forces us to operate in the following truth: Safety cannot be promised, physically or emotionally. 

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A Point of View: We Still Wear the Mask: On Facing Racism In A Virtual Workplace

In Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask,” and then, in Maya Angelou’s expounded version “The Mask,” we read about the phenomenon many BIPOC endure: we must shelter our authentic selves as a means of survival in a white world. Smiling to mask pain or laughing when we feel like crying, have been knee-jerk reactions to the trauma and violence of racism. As Dunbar and Angelou so eloquently describe, we so often choke down the pain in our realities for fear of white rage — as though revealing that we no longer want to be oppressed is cause for visceral attack.

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Gen Z and Y on D&I: Navigating Unintentional Ignorance vs. Blatant Racism as a Biracial Person

Being biracial comes with a lot of warning labels — but unfortunately, no instruction manual. As a biracial adoptee, more layers of uncertainty are added to this uneven terrain. It wasn’t until around the fourth grade that I felt like, overnight, I morphed into the mixed elephant in the room, and I became fully aware of how loudly my appearance was speaking for me before I ever actually spoke.

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The Buzz: Acting in Solidarity with Asian Americans this Black History Month

This is not a competition. This is not “oppression olympics.” There is no gold medal for whose lived experience is more deadly, or who is more stereotyped, in this country. Uplifting Black voices during the month of February is critically important… and it does not have to come at the expense of denouncing yet another episode of racist targeting of Asian Americans. 

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A Point of View: Racism is a White Problem

The dim reality is that the society we live in today is a product of racism and white privilege. Individual good deeds, though certainly appreciated by the recipient, are not enough to change the intrinsic racism that has been embedded in our psyche for centuries. Being a good person is not enough. While you cannot help being born to racist parents, or growing up in a racist society, you can, however, choose to address systemic racism. If you are not fighting against it, you are part of the problem.

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Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change

Racial Justice at Work book cover

Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit

Inclusive Conversations: Fostering Equity, Empathy and Belonging Across Differences

We Can’t Talk About That At Work! (Second Edition)

Cover of the book We Can't Talk about That at Work (Second Edition) by Mary-Frances Winters and Mareisha N Reese

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