That Black woman colleague? It me 🙋🏾. A THREAD. 1/
#BlackTechTwitter #TrustBlackWomen #BelieveBlackWomen #InvestInBlackWomen #PayBlackWomen #Reparations #BlackLivesMatter
#BlackTechTwitter #TrustBlackWomen #BelieveBlackWomen #InvestInBlackWomen #PayBlackWomen #Reparations #BlackLivesMatter
After ~6yrs of consistent & positive engagement with the community, organizations, & press on behalf of Google, I suddenly went dark just as I had achieved a significant milestone in my career: heading the DC office for @pinterest, leading federal policy for the company. 2/
What should have been a moment of pride and the beginning of a long journey achieving federal and social impact wins for the company, Pinners, and the communities it serves instead marked a period of glaringly unfair pay, intense discrimination, and terrifying retaliation. 3/
My manager and the recruiter outright lied to me during the negotiation process on leveling, pay, and promotion, pitting me against the only other person on my team, a friend and fellow Black woman @ifeomaozoma. 4/
My manager made disparaging comments about my ethnicity in front of my team, and later about another woman colleague’s Jewish heritage in relation to those earlier comments. It was wild. 5/
When I reported this to HR, their response was that even though he had made those statements, he had no “ill intent” and therefore not violated @pinterest’s code of conduct. And this is when the retaliation began. Sadly, many women of color were complicit in this retaliation. 6/
(See the Milgram Experiment and its variations, i.e. where researchers at the U of Minnesota and UC Berkeley found that when subjects were ordered to deliver electric shocks to a live puppy by an authority figure, half of male subjects and *all* female subjects obeyed.) 7/
When I recommended @pinterest reverse a decision to cut contractor pay during the holidays, I was berated by the GC & stripped of my responsibilities by my manager, even though the pay cut was indeed reversed. 8/
@pinterest hired a private investigator to interrogate me. My sponsorships & partnerships with Black organizations & companies were scrutinized and halted. My manager criticized my recommendation on contractor pay & my tone. The list goes on & all of this took place in <1yr. 9/
The racist & sexist workplace devastated my mental health - I was prescribed antidepressants for the 1st time in my life. The weathering that scientists say takes place in Black women’s bodies due to racism & sexism was taking place in me. 10/ preview.tinyurl.com/y5u2abwf
Despite all of this, I rolled out win after win for the company. Eventually, I had enough. I’ve come to find that as Black women ascend the corporate ladder, the intersection of racism and sexism becomes both more nuanced and overt. 11/
Black women are typically overqualified but underpaid, tokenized and scapegoated by middle managers who feel threatened by our achievements and capabilities but are empowered by leadership to fail up and push us out. 12/ fastcompany.com/40504481/this-…
I find that what I experienced is all too familiar. In fact, it is a rite of passage. In reading statements affirming #BlackLivesMatter & seeing Black works suddenly highlighted by mostly white corporations, I find that my silence stunts my healing and misleads my community. 13/
I am so grateful to @ifeomaozoma for not only coming forward, but supporting me and struggling alongside me through this. And I want Black women in tech to know, I am here for you. I am here for us. Let me know how I can support you. 14/14
