When video footage of Amy Cooper, a White New York finance worker, calling the police on Christian Cooper, a Black science writer and birdwatcher, for asking her to leash her dog in was released at the end of May, Alicia Sanchez Gill and Shante Bacon pointed out on Twitter that the same patterns of behavior happen every day in the workplace.

In the weeks that have followed, Black women have taken to Twitter to share how systemic racism plays out in their own lives and workplaces, under hashtags such as #BelieveBlackWomen and #PublishingPaidMe.

In this month’s article club, we’ll be reflecting on these conversations and how we’ve seen the same patterns play out in our own workplaces and communities. We’ll be clearing the floor first for women of color to share what they’ve witnessed and experienced in their workplaces and communities, before opening up the conversation to all participants.

This is designed to be a space for open sharing, as well as deep, honest reflection on the way that systemic racism and white-centering play out in predominantly white spaces. We want everyone in the room, but especially women of color, to feel comfortable honestly voicing their experiences.

Finally: rather than just using one article to frame this discussion, we're providing two. We also recommend White and non-Black POC members read some of the stories shared on the Twitter hashtag #BelieveBlackWomen ahead of the event, if you're not following it already.

When Black Women Go From Office Pet to Office Threat, by Erika Stallings

Racism, Whiteness, and Burden in Anti-racism movements, by Paul C Gorski and Noura Erakat (Twitter thread with a summary of the study here)