Monday's Opening Thought: November 29, 2021

This week’s opening thought: In my work, I regularly encounter white people and people of color with adjacency to white privilege and power. They share with me that they are distraught, upset, sometimes even shocked by the machinations of racism and white supremacy. We inevitably talk about accountability during these conversations, of white people and people with privilege being actively engaged and doing their individual and collective work to evolve and unlearn. I bring up how we all have to call in and call out racism, white supremacy, and oppression in every space, system, and institution we find ourselves in. At this point in the conversation, like clockwork, many white people and people of color with privilege utter the line that often signals we’ve hit their discomfort threshold:

“We have got to do better.”

Um. OK?

I only have one response for that statement to people who go there with me: what does “better” mean? Better yet, what does “better” mean to you? Because often, this sentence is thrown out there for camaraderie, not action or accountability, and not self-accountability or self-action. It’s the kind of statement that allows someone to feel like a decent, caring person, to show a semblance of care and concern without taking tangible steps actually to be better. That is the danger of hollow statements: They sound nice, but they contribute to nothing but the good/bad binary of the person saying them.

Sure, we need to do better. Of course, we do. On multiple fronts. The question is, what are YOU going to do to “do better”? What is your responsibility to yourself, your friends and family, the children in your life, the community you live in? How are you going to take accountability for your actions and unlearn a lifetime of white supremacist ideology? Where are you going to start with your self-work? When are you going to start your self-work?

“Do better” sounds nice. It’s a sentiment with which we can all agree. Being better, though? Being better in a concerted way that supports marginalized communities? That supports Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities? That supports AAPI communities? That forces systems to evolve and change and calls in and calls out people for their harmful words and actions? That’s putting YOUR words into action.

Live a life of action verbs.

Monday's Opening Thought: November 22, 2021

This week's opening thought: I'm not going to scold you or go out of my way to make you uncomfortable about celebrating the U.S. national holiday coming up this Thursday. What's the point?

At this point, most U.S. Americans know the actual origins of the gentrified and white-washed history of white people with no survival skills harming and killing the rightful and original stewards of the unceded land that makes up what we call North America. We all know that this upcoming national holiday's "roots" were taught to us in a series of lies in our formative years. We all made headdresses and hand turkeys in kindergarten. We all participated in some horrific school pageant or holiday program where we sang racist stereotype-driven songs about Native Americans in elementary school. As adults, most of us recognize the number of fallacies we were told about the "relationship" between the pilgrims and Native Americans. With all of that in mind, many of us still celebrate this national holiday for whatever personal reason we make ourselves OK with. Some folx view it as a gathering of friends and family, a moment of gratitude, a big shopping day, maybe even an opportunity to eat decadent food and watch U.S. American football. If you decide to celebrate the holiday this Thursday, that is your choice. I am not going to judge you or begrudge you. I hope you go into the Thursday holiday with legitimate gratitude and respect for the Indigenous people murdered and harmed in shaping the "history" of said holiday, regardless of how you choose to celebrate. But I will ask you to do a few things for me during your holiday observations if you consider yourself an active anti-racist and anti-oppressive person:

• Don't put marshmallows in the yams. That sh—is diabetes-inducing enough without marshmallows.

• Quit gentrifying mac and cheese by putting random items in it that don't need to be there. Seriously. Mac and cheese does not need to be gentrified. Straight-up delicious mac and cheese is more than sufficient.

• Take a moment during the holiday to understand that this holiday and its parades and white-centered celebrations are painful and traumatic for our Native and Indigenous friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues. Take a moment during the holiday to sit with yourself and reflect on the historical context and pain of the holiday, especially in the face of the ongoing global pandemic—just an acknowledgment of how we got here to keep you grounded. If there are things you don't know about the history of this holiday, take a moment to learn something – and unlearn something else.

• Call out your racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic, ableist family members. Or don't invite them to your house. Or don't go to their house. You're an adult. You don't have to do anything that causes you harm or be around harmful people; familial relations be damned. If you say you're an “ally,” that you’re about that life, be about that life. Stand for something. If not now, when? Because if you aren't willing to step up now and stand for something after the pain and trauma of the past 24 months for so many marginalized communities and communities of color, then you're likely never going to.

Well wishes to many of you and your families if you observe and celebrate the holiday as a time of gathering and gratitude that respects the owners of this land. May you acknowledge and reflect on the sacrifices and pain that have brought this holiday into existence.

My eternal condolences, respect, and gratitude to the rightful stewards and owners of this land.

On "Other Duties As Assigned"

I don't make the memes. The memes make themselves.

Can we talk about how we are long overdue for removing the toxic concept of "other duties as assigned" from job descriptions and job postings?

According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for federal employees [read: federal], "other duties as assigned" is meant to refer to minor tasks related to a role, so every possible scenario doesn't need to be stated in contracts, job descriptions, and related documentation. The issues for me lie in one place: this is a loophole of legalese used to work the crap out of people and push multiple jobs under one job description. Over time, non-federal jobs began to base most of their job-building practices on these guidelines, too. It's a trap for all of us, regardless of the sector we work in.

You can't plan for every possible scenario because no job is built in a wind tunnel. There will always be some functions of your role that evolve or possibly change on a given day or with a given situation. That should be expected because human beings and workplaces can be unpredictable at times. But when it comes to most jobs, the addition of "other duties as assigned" at the end of a job posting or job description has less to do with possibilities and more to do with "how can we legally merge two jobs into one when we're regularly short-staffed?" How many times have you found yourself legitimately stuck with doing random tasks and whatnot that have nothing to do with your job? Most of our jobs find us doing extra things that stray away from the jobs we applied for and accepted. Our organizations are constantly short-staffed in various areas and use this clause to fill long-term staffing gaps instead of an interim tool with a timeline. We, as employees, deserve better.

Employers need to evaluate job descriptions and make sure they are clear regarding job duties and feasible performance expectations at least annually (preferably twice a year). Employees need to be a part of that discussion around job duties; that way, you know if the position has evolved and whether or not tasks should be added or removed. And you should do this because it will allow you to build and maintain up-to-date job descriptions focused on the legitimate duties of the position that do not treat people like stop-gap measures. And employers need to evaluate why people leave their organizations and begin the messy long-term work of repairing and rebuilding hiring processes and retention. If you aren't constantly short-staffed, you have no reason to push for "other duties as assigned." Easier said than done? Of course. That doesn’t mean you don’t do it, though.

Consider it your duty to remove “other duties.”

Monday's Opening Thought: November 15, 2021

This week's opening thought: There is never a "good explanation" for why you're racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, or ableist. I don't need to know why. Your actions and words say all they need to say. An explanation doesn't matter.

I don't need to hear how you wouldn't be racist if you didn't almost get robbed by a Black kid when you were twelve. I don't need to understand how being rebuked by women has "made you sexist." I don't need to hear how you were raised to believe in two genders and two genders only. No explanation will explain away your heinous words and actions. This ain't a Marvel movie.

No one is obligated to sit and listen to your supervillain origin story.

You are not the sympathetic party or the victim in the ways you think you are, regardless of any trauma you may be carrying in your brain and body. And believe me, if your default is hate, you are grappling with generational trauma at the very least.

Being harmed doesn't give you a pass to harm others, and it doesn't make a good base for weaving a yarn that gets people to give you a pass.

Spend less time on "why" and more time on "why am I still?"

And keep your origin story to yourself.

On "Professionalism" and Kamen Rider T-Shirts

One of the best decisions I ever made in my life and career was deciding that the concept of “professionalism” was white supremacist thinking and that it was not for me. It’s not a coincidence that the only people who have ever questioned my “professionalism” were white folx with power and positionality who were uncomfortable with me bringing my full self into what they viewed as their workplace.

They can keep questioning.

I’m gonna keep rockin’ these Kamen Rider t-shirts with my nappy hair and my pop culture references while landing podcast appearances, clients across the United States, national conference presentation offers, and local EDI summit invites.

“Professional.”