Book Snippet…

It has been awhile since I have posted some of my writing and I decided to post a little snippet of my book. I will tell you up front, this book is going to make some of you uncomfortable but I promise you will be okay. 😊

NOTE: This excerpt is a raw version, it has not been reviewed by my editor.

Book excerpt from “DIVERSITY: The 9-Letter Dirty Word.”

One of the areas that I have a challenge with in organizations, is the dimming of your light so that others are more comfortable. This is a topic of conversation with professionals of color, specifically African American women. There is the stereotype of a loud, brash, neck-rolling, gum popping, individual. In order to down play these stereotypes, many of us dim our light to make others comfortable.

As an educated woman of color, I have found that I cannot be too opinionated, take the lead too often, share accomplishments, or provide advice too often. Frankly, this makes people uncomfortable when I speak up stating that I know how to do/complete something. I cannot be angry/upset as the visual of these emotions plays into the “angry black woman” stereotype. When I present an idea; usually, I have to craft a carefully worded email so that my tone is flat and emotionless. (If you know me, that can be hard to do when I get excited about a topic.)

You are probably saying to yourself, “I don’t get it.” Let me help you further. Although every manager, supervisor, etc., likes to stand on the “I treat everyone the same” message, do you really? I want you to take a moment and conduct two little experiments.

First, review the emails that you have received from various members of your team over the last business day. Review the tone, information presented, timing, etc. Now, I want you to look at the emails from persons of color on your team. How much information have they provided? Is the type of emails you receive from them not what you have received from other members on the team? Are they asking for advice that others on the team would not ask for?

Second, do you expect the person of color on your team to be happy and jovial? When they are quiet, do you immediately think they are angry or upset in anyway? Do you have the same concerns for your other team members?

Now, I am sure some of you are very offended by these questions. I can hear your heart racing…guess what? Your responses to these questions do not mean you are a racist. Let’s get that part out of the way. I want you to be more aware of the diversity dynamics on your team.

I am a pretty upbeat person at work. Do you know why? I have a serious resting bitch face. There can be nothing wrong, but if I am not smiling, folks get nervous. Here is an announcement for the world, sometimes black folks just want to be quiet. Nothing is wrong. Nothing has upset us; we just don’t feel like talking. (Now, if you are in a customer facing position that could be tricky.)

Do you want to read more? Well, you will have to wait until the end of October 2019. 😊 Please share your feedback regarding the excerpt.