Miss_Luna
Well-Known Member
I've felt this way for a while, but I would never say it out loud amongst non-Black people
After reading Becoming, I felt like I was missing something...I have been a "first" in a few programs in my life and I really wanted to get her perspective on how she remained unapologetically Black and maintained her integrity when dealing with conscious and unconscious bias from non-Black people. I didn't get that, at all. It was more like how she modified her behavior and held her head high. I wanted to know how she managed to not roll her eyes or flare her nostrils when someone mentioned her hair or her body type, etc.
But then I thought that this book isn't for "us", it's for everybody. That made me sad.
I have an executive coach that is an older Black woman, around Michelle's age, and she received feedback that I was too direct and it offended a white woman. The white woman told my coach that she was probably offended because she's not used to young Black women speaking up for themselves. My coach told me to temper my speech to make these white women more comfortable. I'm the only Black person in the group so it would be me speaking like a child, while everyone else says whatever tf they want. So I told her if I have to change who I am to accommodate every white woman then I'm not being myself and I'd rather not work at a place that doesn't accept me. That was the millenial in me with a no effs given. I expected Becoming to discuss these kinds of experiences and it frustrated me.
After reading Becoming, I felt like I was missing something...I have been a "first" in a few programs in my life and I really wanted to get her perspective on how she remained unapologetically Black and maintained her integrity when dealing with conscious and unconscious bias from non-Black people. I didn't get that, at all. It was more like how she modified her behavior and held her head high. I wanted to know how she managed to not roll her eyes or flare her nostrils when someone mentioned her hair or her body type, etc.
But then I thought that this book isn't for "us", it's for everybody. That made me sad.
I have an executive coach that is an older Black woman, around Michelle's age, and she received feedback that I was too direct and it offended a white woman. The white woman told my coach that she was probably offended because she's not used to young Black women speaking up for themselves. My coach told me to temper my speech to make these white women more comfortable. I'm the only Black person in the group so it would be me speaking like a child, while everyone else says whatever tf they want. So I told her if I have to change who I am to accommodate every white woman then I'm not being myself and I'd rather not work at a place that doesn't accept me. That was the millenial in me with a no effs given. I expected Becoming to discuss these kinds of experiences and it frustrated me.