Thriving While Black by Cori Jamal Williams

by Cori Jamal Williams
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Thriving While Black: The Act of Surviving and Thriving in the Same Space by Cori Jamal Williams

Thriving While Black sets out to explore the psychological and emotional consequences of being Black in corporate America. “Ain’t I an American?” the famous words of Langston Hughes, is a question every Black person unwittingly asks themselves. The playing field for Whites and Blacks is not equal, whether in education, science and technology, life expectancy, earning, or social strata. Blacks have been discriminated against and excluded based on their skin color, which creates the question of what their place is in America.

There exist persistent Black inequalities in the structural make up of America; inequalities not inherent due to the differences in the abilities of Whites and Blacks but instead, due to the differences in access to opportunities between the two groups.

Black workers in corporate America have to grapple with racial microaggressions in the workplace, which often involves White workers assuming that their Black counterparts are intellectually inferior to them. Thus, Blacks are passed over when important decisions are being made because of the belief that they have nothing intellectual to bring to the table; a phenomenon that is an obstacle to the upward mobility of Blacks in different organizations.

Thriving While Black portrays that Blacks are Americans too and should not have to be seen as less and unequal! Their humanity should not be reduced to mere negative stereotypes. If America truly prides itself in diversity, there shouldn’t be a forced need for Blacks to adopt mainstream White culture, hair styling, speech mannerisms, dress codes, etc., and neglect their own African-American identity just to fit into corporate America. The beauty of diversity is not gathering different and diverse people and trying to make them act the same way. Instead, it is bringing diverse people together and allowing their diversity to thrive. This is the focus of this book.

Book review:

Cori Jamal Williams essential non-fiction work, Thriving While Black, examines the forms and effects of black inequalities in the United States corporate world, which are advanced by systemic racism.

Williams’s cogent discussions tackle one topic at a time which makes the content easy to comprehend. Paragraphs and chapters are succinct and they remain focused on the topics. Thriving While Black explores specific themes regarding racial microaggressions towards black people present in the corporate world. African Americans’ contributions to the country, assumptions against them, matters relating to physical appearance, code-switching, corporate trauma, and imposter syndrome are included. The work shows how racial microaggressions have greater and far-reaching effects.

While some people dismiss black inequalities by relying on discriminative assumptions such as the assumption of intellectual inferiority, Williams debunks these misconceptions and proves the immense significance of institutional racism as an impediment to blacks’ success in the corporate sector. For instance, on why few African Americans venture into the field of science and technology, Williams shows how self-doubt and insecurities arising from existing biases concerning blacks’ intellectual capacity hinder more black people from pursuing careers in this field. Williams also provides possible solutions. The book’s discussions are guided by statistics. The figures included precede enlightening discussions about the impact of institutional racism. The statistics also provide a clear picture of the issues explored in the work. Historical and current accounts of black people who have been victims of racism and racial micro aggressions add depth to the work.

Thriving While Black by Cori Jamal Williams is very important as it assesses the extensive psychological impact of systematic racism and offers solutions for success. Cori Jamal Williams exemplary writing skills along with his in-depth examination and research provides distinct credibility to his work. Thriving While Black is a much needed book and is very relevant to our society and world today. Chick Lit Café highly recommends Thriving While Black by Cori Jamal William – a must read book for all! Book reviewed by Edith Emunah for Chick Lit Café Book Reviews.

                                      Buy Thriving While Black by Cori Jamal Williams today!
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