The Curiously Brief Life of Integrated America At its core, integration was a social policy designed to end the brutal racial caste system that locked Black people into the bottom rungs of American society. The policy was codified into law 53 years ago (yes, integration is that young) in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That law banned race and other forms of discrimination in … [Read more...]
4 Tips for Black Employees: Melissa Harris Perry & Roland Martin
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There's a lot we can learn from watching the careers of prominent Black people. Icons like Melissa Harris Perry & Roland S. Martin provide at least 4 key lessons for Black employees and as Black professionals working in White spaces, we would be wise to pay attention. To help us do that, let's start with a quick analogy: one that compares the power of house guests and … [Read more...]
Black Hair, White Racism & the Law
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New Hair Era | Same Old Racism When I first cut out my perm in the 1990s I had no reason to believe that I was going to live long enough to see a natural Black hair movement. Nobody, and I mean nobody at my predominantly White Penn State University campus was wearing natural hairstyles then and I remember feeling very alone. A lot of my friends and advisors would ask me … [Read more...]
Sandra Bland: Murdered For Acting Like A Black Girl
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Sandra Bland was murdered because she sounded and acted like a Black girl. Her death was a fatal example of the ways Black girls are regularly treated by society when we don’t use our Make-White-People-Feel-Comfortable skill sets. This is especially true when we talk and act “Black” and don’t maintain consistent use the White Girl Voice in … [Read more...]
There’ll Never Be Niggers in Their Boardrooms Either
Who Is Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Who Cares? If the members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon had not been videotaped singing “there’ll never be a nigger in SAE…” then all signs indicate that they were well on their way to lucrative careers. It is likely they would have assumed incredibly desirable, powerful positions in government, education, the arts, sciences, policy, law and … [Read more...]