Workflow
‘It’s time for U.S. business leaders to talk about reparations’
Sometimes the discussion of reparations seems too far removed from mainstream discourse about racial injustice, as if people believe it’s “too controversial” a topic to broach, but Michael Gee makes it clear here that you can’t talk about the advancement of Black people without taking reparations seriously. And he provides a helpful reading list to get you up to speed on what specific reparations would do to bring equity to educational and job opportunities. Harvard Business Review
‘The poison of male incivility’
Last Tuesday, Rep. Ted Yoho called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “f**king bitch” in front of reporters on the Capitol steps. Later, Ocasio-Cortez’s eloquent response to the half-hearted apology he made for verbally assaulting her went viral. (If you haven’t watched her speech yet, you should.) This piece from Rebecca Traister unpacks the misogyny that perpetuates such behavior, including media framing of Ocasio-Cortez in the aftermath. We can’t help but include a few of the major highlights:
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“Perhaps Yoho’s words weren’t understood as eruptive and norm-shattering because calling women nasty names, in your head or with your friends or on the steps of your workplace, is much more of a norm than most want to acknowledge.”
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“Times reporters wrote that Ocasio-Cortez “excels at using her detractors to amplify her own political brand” (Ocasio-Cortez’s “brand” is the subject of frequent coverage; it’s rare that powerful white men are understood as having built brands; they just have careers).”
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“What is also true and unsaid here is the way in which degradation and dismissal of women—as disgusting, as crazy, but also as Jayapal’s examples remind us, as infantile, incompetent, irrational, and stupid—has been key to the building and maintenance of disproportionately male power in American political, economic, social, and sexual life.” NY mag
‘Black women are the nurturers in your organization, but should they be?’
Microaggressions bent on questioning Black women’s expertise and value are a constant in our workplaces. Here, Alanah Nichole Davis describes what it’s like to be the caretaker of the organization, overworked, overtired, unsupported, but still smiling in order to keep white supervisors at bay. What sticks out to us especially is Davis’ call for supervisors, instead of devaluing Black women, to practice saying, “I trust you.” It stands to reason that the person who’s been responsible for everything her whole career knows exactly what she’s doing. Baltimore Business Journal
‘How the pandemic may change ‘work-life balance’ forever’
Companies that used to tout cool office perks—like the in-house Ferris wheel at Acuity—are having to get creative during COVID-19, especially where work-life balance benefits are concerned. To keep employees from burning out while trapped (yes, trapped) at home, Slack is offering one Friday off a month, SurveyMonkey is adding monthly “care flex days” to its already unlimited PTO policy, and Sage Intacct is shifting how employees schedule meetings. Others, like KnowBe4, are offering virtual workout classes to keep endorphins flowing. Bloomberg
Women to know
‘Meet the brave but overlooked women of color who fought for the vote’
August marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment, but the story of women’s right to vote is one that’s often incompletely told, if it’s told at all, because it centers on white suffragettes alone. These excerpts from Finish the Fight! honor the women of color who fought for suffrage and, even after the 19th Amendment was ratified, weren’t able to vote. NY Times
Plus: Is it August already?
‘The 50 best places to work, as rated by the women who work there’
These pandemic weeks sure do fly by. But the perk of a new month starting is you get access to fresh top companies lists on InHerSight. That’s right, our lists update every month with new ratings and reviews so you know exactly which companies are chasing the gender-equality horizon...or something like that. InHerSight
