This post on racism and the workplace is provided by Ramona Strategies, a management consulting firm that is committed to building happier, more productive, more inclusive teams. America is in a state of distress right now.  Everyone knows that.  In the past few days, we at Ramona Strategies have been spending time with current and former […]

Recently, while interviewing a woman who had experienced work-related sexual assault, I heard something that has taken on particular resonance in the wake of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford agreeing to testify before Congress in Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing.  In my interview, the woman invoked Anita Hill and the Clarence Thomas Confirmation Hearing.  She […]

When Tarana Burke founded the #MeToo Movement in 2006, she wasn’t looking to start a viral campaign; she was looking for lasting and radical change.  As she explained to Ebony last fall: “It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow. . . It was a […]

If you were on social media in the last few days and are connected to any women, the #metoo and related campaign was likely a ubiquitous presence in your feed.  For those of you who missed it, “me too” responded to the following prompt: “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted […]

On September 11, 2001, I was teaching fourth grade in Washington DC.  When we got notice of the first hit, I was in the middle of a lesson on phonics and root words.  One of the school’s administrators stepped into the room, approached me closely, and whispered a question to me about whether I knew […]

This was originally published two years ago, but it remains relevant today.  Happy Women’s History Month! March is Women’s History Month, and if you’re anything like me, you probably treat that announcement with less than overwhelming enthusiasm.  BUT, maybe we’re off on that front.  Here are some facts you might not know about Women’s History Month. […]

A few days ago, the Nation published a devastating article by Zoe Carpenter about the infant mortality rates for African-American babies.  The article deserves a careful and thorough read; it is a damning indictment of America’s collective failure to live up to our ideal of providing an equal playing field to young black Americans.  After […]

After my long-lasting obsession with 16 and Pregnant, I’m familiar with the fairy-tale fantasies of young women in high-school, who believe their Prince Charming must be the man-boy with whom they flirt, and text, and Snap, and procreate.  I also remember how mature I felt (and was, in some ways) when I was finishing up […]

So many people with signs.  They were streaming in from the parking lot in little groups — three here, two more there, a group of five laughing as they hurried in against the chill.  Then entering the concrete halls of the Dulles International Airport, there was the sound, bouncing.  Instead of announcements about baggage claim carousels, […]

On a day like today, we need poetry. First, Langston Hughes.  Let America Be America Again.  Read it all here.  But also, this: O, let America be America again— The land that never has been yet— And yet must be—the land where every man is free. The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME— […]