This article was first published by Rumbi Makanga on Medium. I was asked to give a talk by a London-based company for Black History Month in October 2022. Initially, I was going to title my talk Your Silence Will Not Protect You after the eponymous collection of essays by Audre Lorde and to honour the many silences I have nursed over the years and the vast silences I know countless Black people are forced into in their professional lives. It took a bout of illness in the last days of 2020 to
Black women have long faced hair discrimination in the workplace, from hiring practices to daily interactions. The 2023 CROWN Workplace Research study found that Black women’s hair is 2.5 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional, with more than half of Black women feeling the need to wear straight hair for job interviews. As many as 1 in 5 Black women aged 25-34 reported that they had been sent home from work because of their hair, and 1 in 4 Black women believe they were denied a job because of their
Cummins is hiring on pocitjobs.com Chris lives with a higher purpose than self. As a Business Information Systems student at Tennessee State University (TSU), Chris served as a University Ambassador mentor and volunteered at his local Boys and Girls Club. He has long felt a calling to give back, to minority groups in particular. So, when he graduated, Chris planned to interview prospective employers that placed as much value on giving back as he did. When he attended the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Day at TSU and interviewed
Uber’s Chief DEI Officer Bo Young Lee has been placed on a leave of absence following employee complaints about “Don’t Call Me Karen” events which aimed to explore the “spectrum of the American white woman’s experience.” Concerns raised by Black and Hispanic employees prompted Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Chief People Officer Nikki Krishnamurthy to request Lee’s temporary step back while they assess the situation. “We have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterday’s Moving Forward session,” they wrote in an email seen by The
The SANS Institute and Sinclair Community College have teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch the JumpStart into Cyber summer program for underrepresented student groups. The program aims to “engage and empower underrepresented student groups, including women, Black, African American, Latino(a), Hispanic, and Indigenous students” by providing them with a two-step cybersecurity summer experience which leverages the gamified learning experience of CyberStart. Hacking simulations The program kicks off with CyberStart, an online gamified learning platform created by experts at SANS, the world’s largest provider of cybersecurity training
Buzzfeed Inc (owners of Complex, HuffPost, Tasty, etc) told investors about its plans for AI-generated content. The company also outlined its plans for developing its Black, Asian, Latine identity-based brands to help corporate brands tap an “authentic voice.” BuzzFeed, founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III as an internet popularity contest, has been at the forefront of Internet culture for over a decade. This year, the platform launched its AI-powered content such as games and quizzes, with some success. But it plans to go further. During an investors event held
Leading semiconductor company, Intel, has announced it has reached its goal to increase global annual spending with diverse suppliers to $2 billion eight years ahead of schedule. It has also surpassed its goal of $250 million in spending with Black-owned suppliers by the end of 2023. The rapid evolution of technology, driven by cloud computing, data networks, and smartphones, has transformed industries worldwide. At the core of this digital revolution lies semiconductor technology, powering everything from computers to medical equipment. While the tech industry has come under scrutiny for neglecting its DEI goals
Asian American professionals are more likely to join Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) than their colleagues but feel excluded from workplace DEI initiatives, according to new research by AAPI Data and Momentive. Despite their diverse backgrounds, people of Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage often encounter similar challenges that hinder their career growth and well-being. To address these concerns, many turn to ERGs as a source of support, connection, and advocacy within their organizations. AAPI Data and Momentive found that 16% of Asian American workers, 18% of Native Hawaiian
Cisco is hiring on pocitjobs.com Meet Naomi Colon – a woman who embodies the definition of a modern-day superhero. Juggling the demands of motherhood, community service, and a thriving career as a project specialist at Cisco, it’s no surprise that Naomi’s story has caught the attention of many. POCIT sat down with Naomi to find out more about how she does it. Tell me about your career trajectory and your journey to Cisco. I started my career in healthcare right out of high school, and pretty much stuck around until
This article was first posted in re:think Issue 3. “Disabilities can be visible and/or invisible; with invisible disabilities, there aren’t noticeable signs that someone is disabled.” — Hana Gabrielle Bidon “I was in an existential crisis when picking my major. I wanted to major in mechanical engineering when I first entered college; however, I didn’t enjoy physics, and didn’t know what to do from there.” Seeking inspiration, Bidon tried out a variety of courses: a history class, a government class, and Introduction to Computing. While considering her new path, she
