‘Diversity job openings fell nearly 60% after the coronavirus. Then came the Black Lives Matter protests’
Multiple research studies have shown that in times of crisis, companies pull back on diversity initiatives to save money, and that this negatively impacts their growth and renewal when the crisis is over. (McKinsey & Company actually wrote about this in the quarterly report they released in May.) We love a good data story, and here’s one from The Washington Post that shows just that: companies placing a hold on diversity, equity, and inclusion jobs early in the pandemic. That is, until the Black Lives Matter protests pushed everyone to do a 180. The Washington Post
‘Employers are sick of the pandemic. Employees are paying the price’
Has your employer asked you to return to working in the office even though all of your work can be done remotely and the pandemic is still going strong? This Slate article chronicles multiple accounts of employers doing just that, and employees feeling unsafe because of it. Friendly tip for managers wondering how to know whether your team feels safe returning to the office: Ask. Slate
‘Moms are working dramatically fewer hours than dads during coronavirus. It’s a‘red flag’ for what’s ahead.’
Moms doing two fewer hours of paid work every week during the pandemic might not seem like much, but it adds up, and the fact that the decrease in dads’ paid work hours at this time is statistically insignificant is just another reminder that division of labor is still unfathomably skewed in favor of men. And now, to firmly plant your jaw on the floor, comes this quote: “Parents in many other countries also have a right to reduce their working hours until their children are eight years old. So in Sweden, for example, you can reduce your schedule to a 75 percent schedule, working 30 hours a week, until your kid is 8.” The Washington Post
Women to know
‘When I came out, I didn’t know any other gay teens. Naya Rivera’s character on‘Glee’ showed me I wasn’t alone.’
The news of Naya Rivera’s death hit hard last week. Rivera was known for her role in the aughts show Glee, and for many in their teens when the show came out, her role as Santana Lopez was a representation of queer women they’d never seen before. In this piece for The Washington Post, Melissa Obleada honors Rivera’s legacy as an LGBTQ ally. RIP. The Washington Post
Thought butter
‘I’m a queer, Black, disabled woman. It’s not my job to educate you’
There’s a lot of chatter about ways to be anti-racist and to stay engaged in the topic of equality, but for Black people, the truths that the rest of the population is now grappling with are nothing new and the emotional labor put in to help others understand them is draining. Here, Kay Shakespeare takes the latter a step further by addressing the intersection of race and LGBTQ identity, and she provides us with an “activist self-care checklist” to decide when to engage in discussion of inequality:
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Do I have the bandwidth to entertain this person? Do I care enough about them?
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Do I feel safe around this person?
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Are they receptive to another person’s perspective, or have they already made up their mind?
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Is this person open to storytelling experiences and resources for their own self-learning?
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Are they compensating me for my emotional or informational labor and time? Glamour
Plus: something we missed
‘My joy is my freedom’
I’m a few weeks late on this article from Keah Brown, but it deserves a read. Joy, like belonging and love, is one of those emotions everyone inherently deserves, but as Brown points out, our society “assumes joy is impossible for disabled people, associating disability only with sadness and shame.” Her reclaiming of joy is so perfectly relatable: Sometimes she’s happy, and sometimes she isn’t, which just makes you think Duh, because she’s human. That’s exactly the point. Elle
