There's been a lot of talks recently about performance improvement plans, their effectiveness, and whether or not they meet a legitimate need. The short answer? No. They aren't effective, and they don't meet a legitimate need. But, like most things that are messy and workplace-related, it's much deeper than the short answer.
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Image description: a pepperoni pizza in the shape of a craft heart can be seen resting on a wooden cutting board. A bouquet of pink and white roses are laying to the left of the pizza.
This week’s opening thought: some of y’all treat being present and accountable for your perpetuation of and connections to racism and white supremacy the same way y’all treat your partners and spouses on Valentine’s Day. You don’t think about it until you’re confronted with the prospect of being held accountable for not doing anything. You then frantically scramble to maintain feeling like a “good person”, stopping at the gas station or Walgreens on your way home in some last-ditch effort full of limp roses and gimmick teddy bears. And when your big phoned-in gesture isn’t received in the way you wanted it to be, you lash out for not being seen as a “good” person who was “doing something to show that you care.”
Hope you enjoy sleeping yo’ ass on the couch ‘cause that’s gonna be your bed for some time to come.
Happy “Captain Cook’s white colonizer ass got what he deserved” Day. Save a slice of that heart-shaped pizza for y’boy.
Image Description: The image is the Joe Rogan Experience podcast logo. In the center of a black circle is a picture of the face of Joe Rogan, bathed in a red-orange tone. Rogan is smiling maniacally behind a microphone. He has a third eye in the center of his forehead, with energy lines emanating from it.
This week's opening thought: the Joe Rogans of the world exist and will continue to exist because they are a part of the fabric of white supremacy. White people and too many people of color with power, privilege, and positionality will always give the Joe Rogans of the world more grace and chances to continue harming others over and over again than anyone deserves. The Joe Rogans of the world will always show you exactly who they are loudly and openly, then "apologize if they did something that harmed you." They do this because they know that the tenets of whiteness and a subset of people of color with power, privilege, and positionality will never hold them accountable or responsible for their dangerous views, actions, and rhetoric. Joe Rogan isn't just a Spotify thing.
Joe Rogan is rinse-and-repeat white supremacy.
And like most of the tenets of white supremacy, most white folx and many people of color with power, privilege, and positionality don't want to deal with holding people accountable, even if it's right at their front door knocking. He's your co-worker, neighbor, supervisor, the senior leadership team at your job, and family member.
Joe Rogan is white U.S. America.
And there are a lot of us who don't need a "controversial" podcaster (read: racist, far-right cis hetero white man) or a music streaming service to hear from Joe Rogan every day or to stand up against white supremacy.
You don't need Air Pods to mentally and emotionally see the world around you, be present in that world in an intentional way, and be about something other than upholding whiteness and lies.
Image Description: A cyborg can be seen stalking around an office area. The cyborg is reminiscent of one from the Terminator film franchise. He is wielding a sci-fi-inspired laser gun. Above him is a caption that reads, "Black History Month content that isn't fluffy, "feel good," or Martin Luther King Jr.". A little white girl is hiding under a desk. There are tears in her eyes. Above her head is the caption "Most white people."
This week's opening thought, expressly for white folx: tomorrow is the first day of Black History Month. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your workplace, community group, church, "professional" organization, or social organization is all ready to go with their MLK quotes and Rosa Parks pictures. They've probably got the white choir practicing a few negro spirituals. I'm sure someone in your company who runs the social media wing of things has the nice appropriative Black History Month image with the hollow copy ready to post first thing in the morning. You know the image, the one with its African flag colors (because evidently, the whole damn continent of Africa only has one flag) and silhouette of a Black woman with an afro. You know the kind of copy I'm talking about, too, the kind that is somehow 250 words long but says absolutely nothing of substance.
Did I nail it? Thought I did.
I went out on a limb because I knew that limb was actually a whole damn tree and would support my weight.
It's white U.S. America's turn to go out on a limb and learn more about Black history in this country than the 10 people y'all have been learning about since elementary school.
Black history ain't fluffy. It ain't supposed to be "feel good" fodder for white consumption. Black History Month is a month for MY people to celebrate our achievements in the face of whiteness and its ongoing compulsion to oppress black bodies. For YOUR people? It's a month for learning, unlearning, reflection, and atonement around why whiteness has an ongoing compulsion to oppress Black bodies. Your performative gestures need to be replaced with an understanding that Black folx weren't slaves; we were ENSLAVED. Your MLK quotes need to be replaced with the knowledge that he was the most hated man in the United States during his lifetime and that all of your misquotes of his words were aimed at y'all. Your need to talk about George Washington Carver every year needs to be replaced with a deeper exploration into not only Carver but the millions of Black folx who have created and innovated processes and products that have made your life easier.
Black history is United States history. I know y'all wanna ban critical race theory because then you'd have to acknowledge this, but banning is denial through bureaucracy. It doesn't change the truth. Speaking of Truth, what do you really know about Sojourner?
Looks like you've got some learning to do that goes way beyond 28 days.
Hello, white U.S. Americans who organize events and programming for your company or organization. It's that time of year when the air is crisp, winter is well underway, and white "professionals" reach out to Black speakers, consultants, and facilitators to speak at their corporate events as panelists and teachers to "celebrate" Black History Month. You reach out to us to share our stories, pain, and lived and learned experiences with your white organizations during the shortest month of the year, continuing the cycles of melanated pain porn for white consumption that your organizations have trafficked in for decades.
And you're still asking us to do this for little to no compensation.
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