Precious Stroud- founder or the Black Female Project.org
Precious Stroud- Gen X Black Woman from Berkeley
Importance of story telling in communications
Important to talk about race because everything is racialized. She says race impacts everything in her life.
Impacts how society was set up. If someone believes another person is inferior based on color of skin, they won’t promote that person.
Economics doesn’t impact how long Black people live but it’s the result of racism.
She has been a friend with people from different races and backgrounds since she was in elementary school.
Her first experience with racism that she remembers was people not wanting to sit next to her little sister at Marine World because of how dark her sister was.
Jim Crow was not that long ago. Her great grandmother was first generation born free. Coping skills for being Black in the US were passed down and Precious has had to unlearn some of the fears for survival sake that she internalized.
She is working on just being herself instead of having to feel like she needs to take care of “white women,” so she will be accepted.
Precious started the Black Female Project to help Black females tell the truth about their experiences in the workplace. She always felt pressure to navigate and code-switch at work, which took its toll on her stress level and health.
She was hired at her last job for her talent and creativity, and then was told she wasn’t
“measuring up,” and didn’t meet “their standards.” This is very common issue for Black women who are told they speak up too much, don’t fit in, or not meeting expectations. In addition, she later found out she was paid less than a white man at the same level.
It’s also common for Black people in organizations to not get feedback about their work, or areas for improvement until they get fired. When they ask why they didn’t get feedback before, their manager told them that they didn’t want to be seen as racist.
The Black Female project celebrates Black females in the workplace and to have them share their stories. Racism in the workplace contributes to autoimmune diseases and hair loss. Sharing their stories has been healing for all the women who participated. It is in-person, online and ongoing.
It’s important for Black females to speak up about racism and inequality.
Prccious talks about the myth of the “angry Black woman,” and how Black women are stereotyped that way any time they show emotion, disagree or speak up for themselves.
Her project is continues to grow. They are also starting the Black Teacher’s Project.
Check out BlackFemaleProject.org
