You Can Call Me Black

You can call me Black.

I prefer it over African American. It's probably just me, but I feel when people say "as an African American...," they've put too much thought into what my race is, and they are trying to avoid saying, Black.

I've done my best to make sure people that aren't black are comfortable with saying the word black people, black man, black woman...

However, there is a catch.

You don't need to use it every time you describe me.

I believe If the situation doesn't need the race to be explicitly said, then leave it off.

To test this out, try replacing the word, Black people with green-eyed people.

So if you are in a meeting and you say we need more green-eyed people in our company, and it sounds silly, which it does, stating someone's race isn't needed.

Here's the thing:

We need to be comfortable enough to talk about race and other identifying factors, but intelligent enough to know when it doesn't play a role in our day to day conversations.

That's it, that's all.

...

Charisse Fontes is a visionary, founder, author, educator, and speaker that brings the message of high-vibration and humanity to the work she does. In addition to being the founder of Culture Circle, she's founder of non-profit, Humanity Power and is the author of The Adventures of Humanity the Manatee.

About Culture Circle Humanity. Ubuntu. Efficiency. These key values create the foundation for inclusive and healthy workplace cultures. U.S-based Culture Circle, founded by Charisse Fontes, is the only Black-owned, Woman-run Culture Consulting Agency that transforms the employee experience through the lens of anthropology and humanity. Learn more and connect with us here. Our non-profit branch, Humanity Power is dedicated to ending the -isms and hosts educational workshops and community gatherings.