What Black People Actually Want from their Employers, Week 2 Recap
- Vanity Jenkins
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been sharing a series titled 28 Things Black People Actually Want From Their Employers. While each post focuses on a specific workplace dynamic, a consistent theme has emerged:
Black professionals are not asking for symbolic inclusion. We are asking for structural clarity, cultural honesty, and equitable access to power.
Days 7 through 13 focus heavily on the invisible systems that shape career advancement, workplace safety, and cultural belonging. These are often the places where organizations unintentionally reinforce inequity, not through explicit exclusion, but through ambiguity, unchecked bias, and fear-driven leadership decisions.
Here is a closer look at the institutional shifts Black employees are asking organizations to make.
Day 7: Promotion Pathways Must Be Transparent
Black employees want clarity around how advancement actually happens. Too many organizations rely on vague criteria, subjective decision-making, or inconsistent promotion practices.
True equity requires clear advancement criteria, multi-source evaluations, and salary alignment during promotions.
Day 8: Respect Black Language and Stop Cultural Extraction
Many Black professionals navigate multiple dialects and communication styles while being pressured to code-switch in professional settings. Meanwhile, organizations frequently adopt Black vernacular for branding and marketing without supporting Black employees internally.
Day 9: Microaggressions Are Small Actions With Massive Cultural Impact
Microaggressions remain one of the most common and normalized forms of workplace harm. Though often dismissed as minor, they create long-term emotional, professional, and health consequences for Black employees.
Day 10: Micromanagement Is More Than a Leadership Style Issue
Micromanagement often disproportionately targets Black employees, limiting autonomy, creativity, and professional growth. Trust-based leadership is not just relational — it is essential for performance and retention.
👉🏽 Read the full post to explore how surveillance-based management damages culture and productivity.
Day 11: Black Introverts Need Inclusive Work Design
Black introverts frequently carry the dual pressure of navigating racial isolation and extroversion-based workplace norms. Inclusive workplaces create multiple ways for employees to engage, communicate, and recharge.
Day 12: Equity Leadership Requires Courage, Not Panic
Recent legal challenges to DEI work have caused many organizations to retreat prematurely. However, fear-driven decision-making often weakens both culture and compliance.
👉🏽 Read the full post to explore why strategic rigor, not fear, should guide equity leadership.
Day 13: It’s Time to Rethink Professionalism
Professionalism is often used as coded language that enforces narrow cultural norms around appearance, communication, and identity. Expanding definitions of professionalism allows employees to show up authentically without compromising performance.
The Pattern We Cannot Ignore
These conversations all point to the same truth:
Workplace culture is shaped by systems.
Black employees are asking organizations to build environments where advancement is transparent, identity is respected, leadership is accountable, and inclusion is operationalized.
If you’re interested in exploring each topic more deeply, I encourage you to read the full posts and continue engaging in this series.
Because institutional change begins with honest reflection and continues through intentional action.
You can also follow this series on Instagram.
