My blogs are usually centered in storytelling of the Black woman’s experience within corporate America. This time, I am inadvertently going to share the Black woman’s experience, HOWEVER, I am going to talk about how allyship is needed for Black women to mentally survive corporate America.
2021: Allyship Was the Call to Action
Allyship was the word for 2021! Everyone was in the streets, marching, shouting, enraged, and confused after watching the senseless murder of George Floyd and calling for the arrest of Breyona Taylor’s murderers. Then the world “opened back up,” and all allyship was forgotten and boom, life was back to “normal.”
Let me make this clear, Black woman have proven that we can survive, we can “make a way out of no way,” however, we too want to thrive. We want the same opportunities professionally as our White counterparts. For that to happen, we need support from our allies or those that consider themselves allies.
Are You and Ally?
Honestly, the first thing that we need to confirm is, are you an ally to Black women? This is generally determined by the Black women that are in your personal and/or professional circles. I personally have one to two White women that I personally and professionally consider allies. These women make it their life’s mission to advocate for women like me even when women like me are not in the room. Why is this important? Advocacy should never only occur when there is an audience, you want to make sure that all social and ethnic groups are aware of your viewpoints and what you always stand for. For instance, no one should feel comfortable enough to make comments about your Black female counterparts in your presence. These individuals should have an awareness that if those comments are made in your presence, you will say something.
The One Time I Had and Ally In the Workplace
Well, I do not have a story to input here. I am intentionally using this space for the shock I hope it brings to the reader.
Ally’s Call to Action
You want to help but do not know how, right? Here are three starter steps as you navigate becoming an ally to Black women in the workplace:
- Provide support to her
- Do not only call out poor behavior behind closed doors, stand up for what is right in public
- Align with her when she is being mistreated or challenged in a meeting
These steps seem easy, but they are not. These actions take courage and the willingness to help dismantle a system that is built not to support Black women.
Contact me for further discussion on how to support Black women in these difficult spaces.
Alicia Coulter, MPH, MSW is the CEO & Co-Founder of Advantage Health Now. Alicia is also a Critical Race Theorist and highly sought-after equity and inclusion coach and speaker with a passion for equity and inclusion and a heart for education. Her coaching clients are women that need support from inequitable workplaces and women that want to provide support to these women. Alicia’s style of delivery as a keynote or panelist when delivering challenging topics brings a level of charisma and tenacity that encourages the audience to let down their guard. Her experience includes keynote, workshops corporate sessions, health education seminars for individuals, businesses, and more.