1. Being A Black Face In A White Space with Bari A. Williams

The Secret Lives of Black Women

The Secret Lives of Black Women and Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Charla and Lauren first met, they were two of three black women in their department. They share stories of being in a white workspace with lawyer, tech executive and advisor Bari A. Williams. Bari, who has built a career around advocating for diversity in Silicon Valley, dishes advice on how to overcome barriers that black women deal with on a constant basis when trying to simply do their job. You can find more about The SLBW at https://www.instagram.com/theslbw/ Follow SLBW on Twitter and Instagram @theslbw Find Bari A. Williams on Twitter @BariAWilliams This episode is sponsored by Lola (www.mylola.com code: SECRETLIVES), Green Chef (www.greenchef.us/secretlives75), and Care/of (www.takecareof.com code: SECRETLIVES).

Transcript

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0:00.0	I worked at Facebook and so I was watching those hearings last year with popcorn like
0:05.4	what you gonna say? Oh what you oh that's what you go? Oh that's what it is now? Oh that's your explanation?
0:10.3	Okay that's interesting. When they say, oh, we want it diverse, but we don't want to lower ourselves.
0:16.0	Why is that automatically the first place your mind goes?
0:19.0	It's a racist place to go.
0:21.0	Like, do something different. I am the black person who
0:26.2	was going to call you out and say that you're wrong. Hold you accountable. And that's
0:29.8	the thing that they especially don't like. You have to be you and you need to be
0:34.0	vocal about who you are and what you want because clothes mouse don't get fed and
0:38.6	people can't read minds. This is the secret lives of black women. I'm Lauren. I'm Charlotte and it's our first episode.
0:46.0	Yeah!
0:47.0	Yeah!
0:48.0	So you know we have to come out the gate hard.
0:50.0	Hard, which is why we're talking about something that I feel very strongly about and I know a lot of my
0:54.9	black girlfriends have had to deal with. I'm so angry about it. And it's being the one black face in a white
1:00.0	workspace. It is like being in the Twilight Zone.
1:04.0	That's exactly what I would say about it.
1:05.8	That's exactly how it feels.
1:06.9	Yeah, you know what?
1:07.6	I actually feel like this topic is a great genesis
1:10.6	to start this show because when you are the only black face in a white
1:15.9	workspace you depend on your black friends so much like as soon as five o'clock
	...

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