Month: August 2023

Black Business Month Books

The books listed in this blog entry should be available at any public library that is not censoring and banning the books people can read and check out with library cards:

Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top & Stay There by Randal Pinkett.

Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider by Stacy Spikes.

Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business if You’re Not a Rich White Guy by Kathryn Finney. (I read this book at least 2 years ago and reviewed it here.)

It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage by Arlan Hamilton.

Twice as Hard: Navigating Black Stereotypes & Creating Space for Success by Opeyemi Sofoluke.

These books are geared to acing jobs the corporate world for those of us who aspire to the C-suite.

Though I’m not a fan of thinking a corporate office job is the only one you should get I understand and respect that for other people they want to excel in a traditional workplace.

The point is that these authors promote navigating the corporate life on your own terms with skills you can learn that they give you. Linked to how they got ahead from a job like film studio gopher to CEO and from food-stamp recipient to venture capitalist.

I say to you readers: Go for It if this is what you want.

Healing from PTSD to Succeed on the Job

About one or two years ago I posted here a blog entry on advancing trauma-informed career counseling. The link to that post is at the end of this entry.

The fact is if you’ve been the victim of racism you’ll be hypervigilant about that happening again. Going into the workplace BIPOC individuals don’t need this added stress.

In keeping with Black Business month I’m going to write about DEI topics here.

It’s not that I don’t think racism exists. It’s that I can’t believe this is still happening in 2023.

Along with reading other career books I think the above book The Pain We Carry should be required readings for victims of microaggressions which are hardly micro and for victims of any racial injustice.

Coming up in the future I will link to an article on gaslighting on the job featured at The Muse website.

Though I have a bias against working in a corporate office setting (based on firsthand experience) I understand that some of us want to work in traditional office jobs and succeed in those careers.

See here my blog entry on Advancing Trauma-informed Career Counseling.