The Write Movement Presents:

Beyond the Stereotype: Black Women, Work, and What Real Merit Looks Like

After my conversation with coach and advocate Tamera Rowls, one truth rang clear: careers should be decided by the work—not by myths about who “belongs.” This piece pulls forward the receipts, the lived realities, and the practical moves that help Black women (and the leaders who value them) build fairer, higher-performing workplaces.

The story behind the stats

Black women show up with degrees, receipts, and outcomes—and still meet a tilted field. In the leadership pipeline, women hold roughly three in ten C-suite seats, and women of color hold a small single-digit slice of those top roles. The “broken rung” at first-level management continues to choke advancement for women—especially women of color—long before the glass ceiling even comes into view. McKinsey & Company

The climate for speaking up is just as uneven. Retaliation is the most frequently alleged workplace violation in the U.S.—for the 17th straight year—appearing in nearly half of EEOC charges. FY2024 saw 88,531 total charges filed. Those numbers explain why so many employees stay silent—and why allies and advocates matter. LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company+1

And the pay conversation? Depending on dataset and method, women overall earn about 80–84 cents on the dollar compared with men, with the gap often wider for women of color. Progress has been stubbornly slow. Pew Research Center+1

These aren’t abstractions. In Black households with two adults, mothers are breadwinners at very high rates, so wage gaps and stalled promotions ripple into school fees, health, housing, giving, and community stability. IWPR

What merit actually looks like

Tamera’s counsel to her clients is deceptively simple: lead with authenticity, evidence, and forward motion. The standard you didn’t set is the standard you’ve still surpassed—so document outcomes, not optics. In practical terms:

  • Receipts over rhetoric. Track impact by quarter—revenue influenced, costs reduced, time-to-value shortened, customer saves, risk mitigated.
  • Narratives that match the data. Pair metrics with a one-paragraph case study: the situation, the lever you pulled, and the measurable result.
  • Forward posture. Don’t just meet the bar; define the next bar. (Three-to-five-year skill maps and visible learning plans make bias less “explainable.”)

If you need to speak up: Here’s A 6-step personal safety plan

  1. Journal like an analyst. Dates, times, parties present, exact language, and business impact. Keep copies off the company network.
  2. Collect corroboration. Save emails/IMs, calendar receipts, and performance dashboards that align to your notes.
  3. Quiet consultations. Talk with a therapist (to separate emotion from strategy) and an employment attorney or clinic about options where you live.
  4. Assess timing. Know that HR’s job is to protect the company. If you plan to file, line up references, liquidity, and the next role first. LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company
  5. Escalate in writing. When ready, file a precise, fact-based report with the requested remedy.
  6. Protect your health. Trauma lands in the body; build a care routine (sleep, movement, nutrition, community) while you navigate the process.

What leaders can fix this quarter

  • Repair the broken rung. Publish promotion criteria for first-line managers; audit decisions by race/gender; add a calibration step with written rationales. McKinsey & Company
  • Measure time-to-trust. Fund interpreters, culturally responsive benefits, and trauma-aware manager training—because safety is a performance variable.
  • Pay transparency with teeth. Post ranges, run biannual pay-equity reviews, and correct gaps with back pay where warranted. AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881
  • Sponsor, don’t just mentor. Tie VP bonuses to advancement of underrepresented talent into P&L roles.
  • Stop idea laundering. Track contributions in docs and meetings; require credit to follow the originator into performance reviews.

Community economics is strategy, not sentiment

As Tamera reminded us, the Black dollar’s power is real. When Black women—who often steer household spending—redirect purchasing toward brands that keep their promises, the market notices. Build vendor lists that include Black-owned firms; rotate panels and partners; circulate budgets in your local ecosystem. (It’s also the fastest way to diversify your bench.)

A final word to Black women at work

You are not “a diversity hire.” You are evidence. Your outcomes, not their narratives, are the measure. Keep your receipts. Keep your joy. Keep your network tight and your options open. And remember: thriving is not a luxury—it’s the strategy.

If this resonated

  • Work with me: I help purpose-driven orgs design enablement, onboarding, and manager systems that raise win rates and equity.
  • Coach with Tamera Rowls: Brand, visibility, and advocacy support for Black women and small/minority-owned businesses (find her on LinkedIn at Tamera Rowls Resources).
  • Read: What’s Next For You: Living in Purpose—a practical guide to aligning passion with prosperity. Available on Amazon!
  • Follow the conversation: Catch this conversation with Tamera Rowls on The Empress Addi Podcast, Episode 10 on YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

— Adlore “Addi” Casseus, The Write Movement

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