Women Matter
Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 85 – No. 26 | March 2-8, 2022
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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes History as First Black Woman Nominated for the Supreme Court By Danielle Sanders It only took 233 years. President Biden nominated DC Federal Appellate Court Judge, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she will make history as the first Black woman to be seated in the nation’s highest court. Biden stayed true to his campaign promise of nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson would be replacing retiring Supreme Court Justice, Stephan Breyer. The White House issued a statement regarding the President’s nomination saying, “President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law. He also sought a nominee— much like Justice Breyer— who is wise, pragmatic, and has a deep understanding of the Constitution as an enduring charter of liberty. And the President Ketanji Brown Jackson sought an individual who is committed to equal justice under the law and who understands the profound impact that the Supreme Court’s decisions have on the lives of the American people.” MORE THAN QUALIFIED BACKGROUND Age 52, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in government in 1992. She obtained her JD cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996. After graduation, she served as a law clerk under retiring Justice Breyer and others. She has experience in the public and private sector working in private practice and as a public defender. She also brings unique life experiences that shaped her law career. One family member served as a police chief in Miami, and another was sentenced to life in prison under the nation’s “three strikes law” for a non-violent drug-related offense. She encouraged a law firm to take that case pro bono and eventually then-President Obama commuted that life sentence. She is also related by marriage to former Republican House speaker, Paul Ryan. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated to the DC District Court by President Obama and was confirmed in a bi-partisan vote. She often wrote decisions in contrast to the Trump Administration. In 2021, she was nominated to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit by President Bident. She replaced Judge Merrick Garland who left the position to become the US Attorney General. While challenged about her rulings against the Trump administration she was confirmed in a 53-44 vote. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was previously considered as a Supreme Court Justice nominee by President Obama. Her nomination is supported by many civil rights and liberal organi-
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WHAT’S INSIDE
By Sherri Kolade This is the final story in a two-part series that discusses diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), how Black women as a double minority are operating at work in this space, and the challenges they face, especially in the corporate world. “We must reject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes that we hold of ourselves,” said the late Shirley Chisholm, former Congresswoman representing New York’s 12th Congressional District Her statement still holds true today in all areas of life, especially while working as a Black woman. Black women are a double minority, and the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) arena should have an intentional focus on including black women within its directive. More Than a Moment Angela Thompkins, vice president and chief diversity officer at Consumers Energy, said that their Jackson-based company feels that their DEI isn’t a moment but “a movement.” “We’re excited by all that we’ll learn together on our DE&I journey,” Thompkins said in a statement to the Michigan Chronicle. “We’re also inspired by a vision for the future in which the ideas and contributions of all are heard, valued and celebrated.”
opportunities because of one’s hair texture or protective hairstyles like braids, locs, twists, or Bantu knots. The Crown Act’s website states that Black women are 30 percent more likely to be made aware of a workplace policy, which are forms of microaggression. First introduced in California in January 2019, the Crown Act was signed into law the same year on July 3. Beyond wearing natural hair, some Black women and men have even learned to project a certain tone in the workplace (known as code switching) to come across as more professional, especially with working with other groups of people. Ashanti Bland, Southfield Public Schools’ Board of Education vice president, told the Michigan Chronicle previously that she code switches when she finds herself in more professional environments to adapt her communication style and/or vernacular and “to best fit the tone of the discussion” of her audience. “In meetings with team members from the corporate side I tended to speak with a more monotone inflection, using less slang, and perhaps the annunciation of my words [were] more defined and clear,” she said. “Quite frankly I’ve seen many professionals both POC and non-POC, men, women and CEOs alike adapt their speech and communication styles based on their environment.”
However, despite best DEI intentions, Black women in the workspace have still faced their share of challenges including discriminatory practices against how they wear their hair resulting in the Crown Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair).
Showing up to work as one’s full, authentic self as a woman, a Black woman at that, is something not always easy for an employee who does not feel supported culturally, even with diversity initiatives in place.
The Crown Act is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination — a denial of employment and educational
Beyond DEI initiatives, juggling multiple responsibilities like childcare, have forced many Black mothers to face
Missing the Mark?
tough decisions surrounding staying at work while handling childcare, especially during the pandemic. According to Washington, D.C.based nonprofit public policy organization, Brookings Institution, Black women have lost more jobs amidst the pandemic because Black mothers are more than likely to be raising children in school districts with online-only reopening plans. The organization also noted that Black mothers are more than likely less able to have a partner to share childcare responsibilities, take a pause from their employment, work from home or outsource childcare. Minda Harts, founder and CEO of The Memo LLC said in an article that diversity efforts are “missing the mark.” “It’s not enough for companies to have diversity initiatives for women when holistically most of those initiatives skew toward helping one group of women who tend to be white,” Hart said. “I believe the way we increase racial diversity is equipping our managers with the tools to manage a diverse workforce,” she says. “It’s less about having a certain number of women of color in a department, yet how is the company invested in their upward mobility?” Harts, who removed herself from corporate America over a year ago, to focus solely on her company says that if corporate America does not boost its diversity efforts for Black women, then the Black female talent pipeline could be reduced significantly in the future. “Many [Black women] are leaving nonprofit and corporate jobs because they aren’t having the same success as their counterparts,” she said adding that Black women are also becoming the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs among women, having grown by
Black Women and the Ever-Widening Pay Gap By Sherri Kolade
LaNeisha Gunn, diversity recruitment and partnerships manager at Novi-based HARMAN International, told the Michigan Chronicle that with Black women being a double minority, they are still fighting “across all levels.”
Black women who want to earn just as much as White men would have to work about an extra seven months to catch up to them to make the same pay in America.
COTS CEO Cheryl P. Johnson
Elected as First Black New Detroit Chair
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“Black women are [still] fighting equity and pay disparity, upward mobility and being noticed,” Gunn said, adding that they are even working above and beyond to be noticed and being “championed” by senior leaders. “I still see some of them have to work 10 times harder.”
According to the U.S. Census, typically, Black women were paid 63 percent of what non-Hispanic white men were paid in 2019. A typical working Black woman in 19 months is then paid what the average White man makes in just one year. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), an equity-based organization, women, especially Black and Latina women, were more likely to work in low-wage jobs. The pay and wealth disparities that impact Black women also negatively touch the fami-
lies they are raising, especially if they are the breadwinner. About 80 percent of Black mothers are the sole, co-, or primary breadwinners for their households,
according to the report. And a good-paying job could mean riding a fine line between struggling and living comfortably for a family.
According to the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.based nonprofit public policy organization, the overall Blackwhite wealth gap over the past three decades has increased. The median wealth of white
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