A Tuesday Reminder for the HR "Professionals"

Hey, y'all! Here's a Tuesday reminder for all of the HR "professionals" out there that, as a field, human resources is not about caring for employees. It should be, but historically has not been. HR was created as a tool of capitalism and white supremacy to maintain a particular workplace status quo centered on governing and managing people, not supporting their rights and needs. HR as an industry still operates from management theories and frameworks, many of which are bogged down in early to mid-1900s rhetoric and oppressive patriarchal nonsense. Colleges and universities still teach HR from this lens. The governing bodies of the industry build their certification testing from this lens.

That doesn't mean you must do your work based on that sh--.

It's 2024. The world is literally and figuratively on fire. We're barely 365 days removed from a global life-altering medical emergency that took millions of human lives. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, and oppression are running rampant. The specter of far-right systemic oppression is all around us. If you're still out here calling yourself an HR "professional" and you haven't realized a) how much people loathe HR as a field and b) how necessary it is for you to be a humble, vulnerable, lifelong learner and unlearner that centers equity, inclusion, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive life practices in your work to show people that HR can and must evolve?

Then it's time for you to do something else with your life.

We're well past the days where HR is just some nice, cushy, 9-to-5 office gig. We're well past looking at HR as paperwork and transactional interactions. And we're well past protecting companies.

Human lives are impacted by what HR does and does not do in your workplace every damn day. Human lives are altered, and deep-seated harms are reignited by the situational workplace trauma you foment when you don't center humans in the processes and policies of the place you work. And if you don't get it, how much harm can you do while walking around as the "People and Culture Manager" or whatever other fancy rebranding your company has done to absolve you and the company of having to face the human reality of the workplace and the world around us?

You are a problem.

You are a danger.

And you are more of a cog of the system than the people you've been tasked with oppressing.

But hey, you're one of the good ones, right?

A Quick Sit-Down on Juneteenth

Hey, people of pallor. It's y'boy, Pharoah. Not "your boy" - y'boy. Believe me when I say there is a difference.

But I digress.

We've got bigger fish to fry, so let me pull up a chair and straddle it like Commander Riker so we can have a quick chat.

You sitting down? You comfy? Alright. Awesome. Let's "rap."

I don't know the proper "greeting" or "well wishes" message that someone who isn't Black should offer to Black people on Juneteenth, but y'all wishing me a Happy Juneteenth does not feel right.

It gives "progeny of oppressors hoping you will give them a pass because, hey, you're getting a federal holiday for your ancestor's suffering, so why are you uncomfortable with me acknowledging the holiday that exists because of my ancestors oppressing your ancestors" vibes, which is not a good look.

So I'm gonna float a few alternatives your way so you don't have to insert your foot in your mouth on some fetish sh--.

Maybe you shouldn't say anything to the Black people in your lives outside of maybe hoping that today is a day of rest for them if they have it off from work.

Maybe you could not treat Juneteenth like a summer barbecue holiday and not diminish its significance like you've diminished Labor Day, Memorial Day, or even Independence Day.

Maybe you could take some time today to learn Juneteenth's history and significance while enjoying your unearned federal day off.

Maybe you could legitimately volunteer your time and energy to a cause supporting Black communities in your city while enjoying your unearned federal day off.

Maybe you could recognize that Juneteenth only represents the emancipation of enslaved Africans in Confederate states and that enslaved Africans as a whole weren't free across the United States until the passage and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865, so Juneteenth, while being a significant moment in Black U.S. history, isn't the "Black Independence Day" y'all have been led to believe it is.

...

You're gonna go ahead and ignore everything I said because it feels uncomfortable in your tummy and wish me a Happy Juneteenth anyway, aren't you?

Of course you are.

SIGH.

Well, I tried.

"Good talk."

[Image description: A cartoon of Star Trek: The Next Generation character Commander Riker awkwardly straddling and sitting in a chair.]

Image description: A cartoon of Star Trek: The Next Generation character Commander Riker awkwardly straddling and sitting in a chair.

On Resilience, Privilege, Catchphrases, and Affirmations

If you view resilience as something you can quantify as a "side quest" achievement that can be yours if you "work hard" and "dedicate yourself" to cultivating it, then you need to take a moment to acknowledge that you have led a privileged life.

A whole lot of us are resilient because we had no choice.

For many of us, it's about being resilient or perishing. Many of us come from lineages and ancestries that had to be resilient in the face of overwhelming oppression, racism, colonialism, elitism, classism, and white supremacy. Many of us carry the weight of our ancestors in our bodies while we navigate a world still using the same tools to oppress our communities 300+ years later. Many have identities that put us at odds with societal "norms" when all we want to do is live and thrive. Many of us tap into our resiliency daily because it's either fight or die.

There's no in-between.

If you're able to view resilience as a catchphrase, a watered-down yoga affirmation from your "guru" of pallor, or a "workplace value" for your company that you espouse to new hires with glee and gusto, you have no idea how privileged you are.

But hey, at least it looks "awesome" on that Etsy motivational poster you've got up in your house or cubicle, right?

On "Fit," Belonging, Copping a Squat, and Sitting a Spell

For those who have never felt how it feels to understand that there isn't a workplace where you "fit" or belong because of your identities and that your only recourse is to do what you must to survive, count yourselves lucky.

But while you're counting your lucky stars, sit a spell and unpack how privileged you are to feel like you belong everywhere with no feelings of discomfort or attacks on your personhood.

Or cop a squat and mull over how unwilling you might be to acknowledge that you've accepted assimilation and suppression of who you are in some fashion as a form of survival.

Acknowledging these things isn't intended to make you feel guilty.

Acknowledging these things is intended to help you tap into your humanity.

Workplaces aren't one size fits all.

Identities, safety, and belonging aren't either.

On Nat, Magical Girls, and the Intersection of Justice

Sometimes, my energy is magical girl energy.

Sometimes, my energy is Nat Turner energy.

Either way, understand that justice is always at the center of who I am.

Also understand that you do not wanna come around me with hate and bigotry and catch me on a day where the Nat Turner in me pulls out his Sailor Scout wand to dispatch you and your ugliness.

Believe that.