A Caged Bird's Song: DEI - An Authentic Truth

I know why the Caged Bird Sings – Poem by Dr. Maya Angelou

 “The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of the things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.”

This 1983 published work of Dr. Maya Angelou – spins off her autobiography same titled-work from 1969. Her description of two varying lives captures the essence of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). How so? The answer lies in the lens of understanding how our differences are shaped by the life we each live. I used to wonder as a teenager reading this poem, what were the sounds of the bird's song? As an adult, I now know what it sounds like, a symphonic disaster of booms, shrills of woodwinds, gongs, crash cymbals, and war-like disruption brass instruments. My hope is this article will begin to change the sound of this song into a big-band smooth jazz tune that would make Cab Calloway scat in a white-tailed tuxedo!

Let's rewire the mindest.

Systemic barriers preventing equitable advancement for all needs to be demolished and restructured. I have personally experienced captivity in a workplace cage because of my skin. I have been labeled by my ethnicity “a Black (fill in the blank).” Professional. Marine. Athlete. Drummer. Leader. Man. Executive. Entrepreneur. Writer. Neighbor. The list continues to grow. Each category always leads with “Black.” However, with that label comes a story. A truth. An authenticity. A reality. A human being.

To one bird basking in the freedom of the wind I cannot feel, riding a stream I cannot ride, playing in a water park I cannot dip in, laying under sun rays I cannot bask under – according to this bird, I should just “shut up and dribble” in my cage. To that same bird, my label cages me behind their perceived need for my silence. As a Black cage-labeled Professional, it would be better to hear my subject matter expertise by a free bird that doesn’t look like me, rather than directly from me. As a Black cage-labeled employee, I am good window-dressing on the employee website – in whom the imagery of DEI is met, yet the song I sing is devalued in the workplace. To some free birds, DEI looks like a compliance metric to document, “Yes, we hired one of those…,” as if the zookeeper is making sure they have a full display for the consumers.

To one bird basking in freedom, my Black caged-labeled skin checks the box to pad the free Executive birds’ pockets for bonus metrics of successful DEI programmatic hires. But the song I sing, in their perception, is that of an angry Black-caged bird that should be grateful for space within my cage – without hearing my song. It is the free bird floating down a barrier-less stream that cannot understand why I cannot stop singing of freedom. It is the free bird’s perception that I should learn to enjoy perceived freedom that does not exist for me. Freedom for the caged bird is littered with barriers with the growth capacity of a small circle. Barriers to prevent flight, drown out my singing for freedom and create a more difficult path for an opportunity. To the free bird, my cage does not exist because they are too busy enjoying the sun rays to notice.

This is the reality of DEI. Not everyone enjoys the breeze, stream, sun rays, dip in the water, and the fat worms to eat. You have employees in the workplace singing. Can you hear their song? You have employees not taking flight. Can you hear their song? You have employees unable to experience fat worms. Can you hear their song? You have employees that do not feel the breeze of equity, equality, and inclusivity. Can you hear their song? Are you listening? Do you see them? We bring more value than a box you have checked. We bring more than your metric. See us. Hear us. Listen to us. Engage us. Grow beyond an invitation to the party by asking us to also dance WITH you, not FOR you. We are not entertainment for you during the times of our National Recognition dates. We are the modern-day voices to be celebrated as we stand on the shoulders of our respective caged birds that came before us.

Our wings are not broken. The perception some have of our cages is actually the fabric of our greatness. The DNA of our resilience. The essence of our excellence. Guess what? We can float on the rivers of water too!

Other forms of cages are systemic practices and policies established in the workplace. They include dilemmas such as listening to your vendors providing you the exact same answer you didn’t want to trust hearing from your subject matter experts. Questioning natural hairstyles. Discriminatory dress-codes that could cause a person wearing religious or cultural attire to feel like they cannot bring their whole self to work. Failing to allow the existence of Employee Resource Groups where employees can have a safe place to be themselves among their peers. Suppressing the creative ideas of those who do not look like you. This list could go further.

 While I am unable to speak on the questions in the minds of my professional peers that are women, LBGTQ+, or ethnic groups different than mine, I can speak for myself as a Black professional. The one glaring question many Black professionals inherently contend with is, “Why do WE have to work twice as hard to PROVE we are WORTHY of our title, business, compensation, position, seat at the table - just for the same level of respect as our White peers (as if that is the standard of excellence to reach)?”

 Here is a challenge I have faced directly as a Black professional - it is my authentic and organic truth (respect my vulnerable space):

Here I  sit writing this article, a three-time Marine combat veteran with nearly 15 years of highly-decorated military service to my country, including travels to over 30 countries and four continents. I hold 23 certifications obtained over the last 10 years. I didn't realize it until a few weeks ago when I made scanned copies of them. I hold three well-respected continuing education designations in my career and industry. In 2014, I only had a high school diploma; however, I am now at the cusp of Doctorate Candidate in 2021, preparing to argue my dissertation in early 2022. I own two small side-businesses currently (EM3 Coaching and J.T. SALEM) and about to launch a third later this year. I am a father of eight children with one a college grad – Army soldier – and musician, two incredible medical professionals, one pursuing a college degree in music, with the younger four showing their passion for social justice, creative and performing arts, and STEM-ready intelligence. I am the recipient of almost 50 awards in approximately 25 years. I am listed in The 2012 Who's Who of Black Cleveland - thanks to a Black Executive in my organization being honored in that publication, and recently a Risk Professional of the Year Nominee in my industry – that was blocked by a previous employer from receiving the award. I was nominated to be on two national career professional affiliation Boards - also blocked by a previous employer. There are several other accolades and evidenced-based metrics of my success over the years. Yet, with all of that on my resume – several (not all) White professional leaders have put barriers to prevent my advancement and attempt to control the narrative of my character through minimizing my credentials, performance, or capabilities.

Now, for the sake of some of you graciously reading this, I do not list these things to boast, because it is my reality. Those who know me are aware of my level of humility. I am constantly learning from others and paying-it-forward to my mentees. However, if this were the resume of one of my White-male peers they would be lauded as an American hero, incredible father and family man, go-getter, C-Suite Executive, CEO, and red carpets lying at his feet everywhere he goes, rewarded a strong six-to-seven-figure income with bonuses. However, because I am Black FIRST, the narrative has been: there is no way I did all of this, or I am being ambitious, still not good enough, or other terms to minimize my body of work. There is an excuse to make these evidence-based results meaningless. There is always a “Yeah, but…” I have had my character slandered by some (not all) White professionals leaders for the singular-purpose to black-ball me or create systemic barriers to hold me back from success or advancement. Even one employer blatantly refused to provide any resources to support my department’s success from having human, technological, or financial capital. Meanwhile, my White peers received anything they wanted for their departments. I was labeled underperforming even though I constantly provided evidence or work-overload and justified the need for a few simple resources. Instead, more work was piled on to me and I was given six written warnings over 10-month period. Prior to this, I had ZERO performance disciplines IN MY CAREER. This type of story is, unfortunately, not exclusive to me.

This is the walk many other Black professionals have to take on our journey. This is the type of Racial Battle Fatigue Black Professionals have to carry. These are the challenges systemically-nondominant have to fight. Most of us are experiencing it and singing, but the free birds (systemically dominant) do not know WHY we sing. There is so much evidence in statistical data to support the challenges facing DEI issues in the workplace. For example, On my MaxCapacity Podcast, I shared that only approximately 25% of the U.S. lawmakers in Congress and the Senate are women. While this is occurring, only 8% of Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs and only four of the Fortune 500 CEOs are Black. In the aviation industry, there are over 5000 federally regulated commercial airports in the U.S.; however, the percentage the number of Airport CEOs, Airport Managers, and Airport Directors leading them that are Black (or other minority classifications) or female is in the single digits. I could go industry-by-industry and the numbers would be very similar. This is why the caged bird sings. Can you hear their song?

WE need all (not some) of our White peers in decision-making positions to support the removal of the Good-ol'boy/gal work environments and develop an inclusive WE-centric work environment where people can come do the most incredible work of their lives. The narrative needs to be re-told by the people on the journey, not by proxy from someone that is clueless about the cages. How do we allocate our dollars to small, minority, and women-owned enterprises (SMWBEs)? Do the percentages of the demographics of each state align with the percentage of funding allocations for SMWBEs? The solution-purposed dialogue needs to occur. As I mentioned to an Elected-Official recently, the most essential part of that conversation needs to be “the right people in the room, talking about doing the right thing the right way.”

To be continued…

EM3

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