Watch Me Work 2: Black Corporates in Popular Films

This post is the much anticipated sequel to our post Watch Me Work. This time we're focusing on popular movies that feature Black people in Corporate America.

Laurel Ayers, The Associate

Laurel Ayers is sick of being treated differently because she is a young Black woman, so she becomes an old White man. After quitting her job to start her own firm, the investment banker changes her gender and complexion to rise to the top.

Marcus Graham, Boomerang

Marcus Graham is a successful advertising executive who is also popular with women. He finds his career in uncertain territory when his company is bought out. Marcus attempts to sleep is way to the top with the well-seasoned head of the new company, only to find out that she is more of a figurehead. He then sets his sights to his attractive new boss who is as much of a detached, sexed-up walking ego as he is.  

InterviewingU: Interview with Sherri of Corporate Curls

We had the pleasure of interviewing Sherri of Corporate Curls to talk about her work to make Corporate America a safe place for natural hair.

Fast Fasts about Sherri

             Name: Sherri of Corporate Curls

Age: Still a Spring Chicken

From: North Carolina

Job: Corporate America – Manger of people. 

Lex: What are some of your hobbies?

Sherri: I love creating beauty with my hands including, but not limited to, drawing, styling hair, painting, and sewing.

IncorporatingUS: Setting Effective Career Goals from Friends of Ebonie

This is an older post from Friends of Ebonie, but good advice doesn't have an expiration date. Angel McNeil gives readers 5 ways to set effective career goals and here's our favorite:

Make them SMART

 

"SMART= (goals that are) Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Timely. This simple idea can help you to achieve your goals and be able to articulate what you want and what it looks like. We might set a goal that says “I will submit my paperwork on time” but that goal is too broad. If we take that same goal and make it SMART it might say I will submit all budget reports to my manager every Friday by 4pm. This goal tells us what we are striving to do, when we are supposed to do, and who is involved in that goals. SMART goals lend us a level of accountability and motivation. Boom!"

Check out the full list here: Ready, Set, Goals!

When Black Lives Don't Matter in the Office

I ran from this post. I fought this post. This post was the reason I created this blog and yet it is one of the most terrifying things I've done.

Seeing people who look like me pour their rage into the streets, onto placards, and up against Facebook walls does something to me. It's like drumming. They are on my television in the morning as I button my blazer and slip on my "walk to work" shoes. They are in the streets at night when I'm walking home after a long day with my laptop slung across my shoulder just in case something comes up. The drumming is getting louder and louder, but no one else in my office seems to hear it. Deals and deliverables. Birthdays and barhopping. Vacations. Nannies. House of Cards.

Are the turmoil and anxiety of an entire group of people shadowing my existence imaginary? Have I fabricated it? And then someone breaks the fourth wall and I know they can all see the drummer even if they cannot hear the music. Murmurs about the inconvenience of protesters disturbing their commutes. Whispers about seeing the riots on the news. Never to me.  But these words float in the corridor. It is a miracle I can hear them over the drums. I stay silent at work. I'm afraid if I start talking it will sound like the loud and oppressive drumming. I'm afraid of not being taken seriously, being ignored or, worse, being pitied.

Black lives don't matter in the office. Deadlines matter. Bottom lines  matter. But color lines, wealth lines, lines that separate Black people from justice don't matter in the office. This piece is for those of us watching the protests from our offices. Meeting deadlines, not leading picket lines. Staying busy, working later, doing all that we can to ignore the drumming. I hope it works for you. It's not working for me. There is an urgency in my spirit that is dangerous to success in Corporate America. Our jobs often depend on the same institutions that perpetuate our oppression.