It's no secret that we must demolish the patriarchy. People of color are important for corporate America to be focused on right now and things are shifting.
I don't like to get into politics too much but what's relevant to this topic is the fact that we just elected another older white man into office. However, I do believe this is the last of that. I'm woven into at least the local politics and am hearing a lot of the discussions about how we start to propel brown and black people.
I think this is our moment now that we must really start to come together as women, and I'm going to say both black and white women. Black women are not upholding the patriarchy but white women certainly are.
Why the Patriarchy Still Stands
On one level, I understand the notion of holding onto your power or privilege and why women do that. But on a deeper level, I don't understand why we vote or do things against our own interests. Now, this notion that only one person or the other person has power is the problem. One person can have it, and the other person can have it too.
We can be together in society. But not until we're willing to acknowledge that we're just trying to diminish and dismiss other people in order to have that. That's what's happening in corporate America. This fight to get that opportunity or bonus instead of her. This women issue that we have going on is our work.
The Power That Comes From Working Together
There is more power in numbers when we move together. People who are fighting to uphold the patriarchy are operating from a place of fear. It's fear that you're not going to have something because somebody else does. Maybe that's because I am a black woman who lives on the other side of that coin but I'm not there.
What I do see in other countries is that when we move together, we accomplish more. So we've got to start stepping up and being there for each other. People ask me all the time what I would recommend or how we do this. You may not like my answer to it, but in order to progress society, we have to lift up the most marginalized people.
White people are going to have to learn to support black and brown people in leadership. We are not just your service people. We are people who have been marginalized for over 400 years. And we know what it feels like to be those people. We're not going to let it happen to you. We're going to make sure that this society encompasses all of us. I just really encourage people to come to this reality that this is about us.
Let's Start Taking Steps in the Right Direction
We can accomplish more together. As organizations, we're going to have to make some tough decisions in order to progress people. Yes, it's not going to feel good for some people, but it doesn't feel good to me and many other people right now. I talk about this every week through different formats on my show, Heartbeat radio. I am live every Wednesday at 7 pm Pacific time where I talk about what I call the 'ecosystem of brown and black America'.
I also can't wait for you if you want to get on my waiting list for my book that's coming out. My book is called The Color of Courage. If you want to get on the waiting list, just click here because there's going to be some raw truth in this book. It's truth that will really make you think and know that we can all do better together.
Cindi Bright is a Seattle based speaker and consultant on topics of race, diversity, and social justice. She hosts HeartBeat radio a weekly program discussing the issues impacting brown and black people. She spent over 30 years in corporate America as a human resources leader/executive. She is known for her candor, honesty, and humor. Her work is aimed at personal and business transformation.
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