There’s a palpable tension in workplaces across the nation right now. For many, the police shootings of unarmed black men, protests, and unrest spilling into the streets is hard to make sense of. With each passing day, it becomes harder and harder to separate work from life outside of work. One of the challenges with […]
This is the final article in a patriarchy series—from the mouth of a Black man to the ears of Black men—written by the multi-talented Daniel Johnson. Subscribe via email. A common question from Black men when the topic of patriarchy is broached is the question of “What will we replace it with?” I read this […]
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott by police officer Brentley Vinson has mobilized a series of multi-day protests and riots in response to yet another instance of state-sanctioned violence and the premature death of black people. According to reports, plainclothes officers in the same vicinity as Scott and his SUV […]
“Where have I been?” I used to wonder. Was it a rock or someone’s spell that I been under. Don’t wanna knock my people, but we closed as doors. And the stench up in this bitch we simply can’t ignore. No more! I’m no ostrich, though I been ostracized — kept out, curb-kicked, marginalized. But […]
I’ve lately been fielding questions from non-black founders and hiring managers looking to diversify their teams. They sense the need to acknowledge the risk inherent in uprooting a person’s life when pursuing new opportunities, and acknowledge the challenges faced by blacks when competing for roles. The subtext of the questions are, “how do I show […]
Peace. Hate is rampant. I won’t say it’s at an all-time high because I’m a student of history, so I’ll say it’s alive and well—fueled by the internet. People love nothing better than having a hot take, shooting down someone or something. No matter what someone says, and no matter how positive their intentions or […]
I place the towel over her silk scarf and tap the iron to make sure it isn’t too hot. I do not want to burn through the thin material. This is part of my morning routine. Today the scarf is blue; yesterday it was yellow. I will prepare her morning bath with a drop of […]
My first job out of college was with a company that currently employs more than 375,000 human beings. Since disconnecting from the Matrix, my professional life has been organized around much smaller (and often distributed) teams. I’ve had great managers, hard-working teammates, and wise mentors. But none of this prepared me for a head-on collision […]
As I lazily rolled out of bed in a slightly dazed and confused mental state, I picked up my phone to look at the date of my last post. Almost three weeks ago. Disgusted, a familiar and annoying voice from inside begins to speak. Every morning I wake up, I have the same thought. “Am […]
This is article four of five in a patriarchy series—from the mouth of a Black man to the ears of Black men—written by the multi-talented Daniel Johnson. Subscribe via email. Often, the loudest voices raised against patriarchy are those women that it oppresses the most harshly, quite similar to the way that the loudest voices […]