Conference season has begun with a bang. I’ve attended two in the past 10 days: the Forum on Workplace Inclusion for diversity and inclusion professionals and the Spring 2016 CLO Symposium for learning and development leaders — both of which I’ve attended many times before. Conferences, these two in particular, are a safe space for … Continue reading Flying While Black
So, the trailer for the upcoming Nina Simone biopic was released, and the Internet has gone wild with commentary this week, most of it against lead actress Zoe Saldana. It can’t compete with a nude Kim Kardashian West shot in terms of sheer click power, but calling Saldana’s portrayal of the late singer and Civil Rights … Continue reading Zoe Saldana and the Case of Too Light to Be Right
Hollywood might be one of the most action-packed industries out today when it comes to diversity, with the possible exception of sports, pun intended. With the recent and continuing Academy drama over the upcoming Oscars and its dearth of nominations of color, the critical commentary on the gender wage gap and various well-known faces lending … Continue reading Meryl Streep Is Not the Enemy
You may not have heard of this company called Slack — it produces a messaging app for teams — but I think you should check it out. It’s not a big company, though it’s growing fast, but it has created some serious diversity traction in a relatively short period of time. Even better, its approach … Continue reading Slack Not So Lazy When It Comes to Diversity
As an editor, I see mistakes everywhere — forgotten prepositions, misplaced plurals, unfortunate word choices that pervert contextual meaning in a way that is not advantageous to the writer. And as an editor who covers diversity, I make a lot of connections. For instance, I tweeted out an article this week examining the difference between stress … Continue reading Inclusion: The Fountain of Youth
I’ve been obsessed by one question lately. And it was brought home to me in stereo just last week when the New York Police Department stripped Sgt. Kizzy Adonis of her badge in connection with Eric Garner’s July 2014 death. It was just so ridiculous. She had nothing to do with it. Like, literally, she … Continue reading Black or Female, Which is Worse?
So I was talking to Dr. Shirley Davis, former head of diversity at Society for Human Resource Management, recently about this and that, and she mentioned the new head of diversity at Twitter was a white man. I’d heard of the appointment as we rang in the New Year, and my immediate reaction was, really? … Continue reading Can a White Man Lead Diversity?
Rosalind Brewer, the CEO of Sam’s Club, has been all over the news this week thanks to a recent CNN video interview. The birds are squawking loudly for her blood, or at the very least, her resignation, which I find incredibly odd given the interview’s contents. In it she talks about raising wages across the … Continue reading Not Talking About Diversity Makes You a Racist?
So Rupert Murdoch, CEO and Fox News founder — wonderful phrase to have on the old résumé — sent out the following tweet this week: “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else.” Okay, so, diversity just officially got more complicated. Now … Continue reading Real Black, Fake Black, Too Black For Action
