Working While Black: A Woman's Guide to "Stop Being the Best Kept Secret!!" is highly recommended for business and women's issues collections. It shares the stories of black professional women who have tackled a system that works against them on many different levels.
More than a series of biographical business sketches alone, this collection is especially strong in offering different remedies and insights into these problems, strategies for furthering a career against all odds, and tips into how to get around that system's often-unspoken rules of engagement.
Ironically, many of the obstacles that black women face in the corporate world are the very reason why they start their own successful businesses, so there is an upside story about building success in the face of adversity.
That said, it shouldn't need to take prejudice to spark the extraordinary effort that entrepreneurship involves. This candid collection of stories of Black women from different backgrounds and experiences provides specifics on what happens to them when they try to move through the corporate world in the same manner as white employees.
From mentors and sponsors to "being the only one" to represent an experience of success, these stories enlighten, educate, and provide solid examples of just how oppression and prejudice operates in the workplace. But, it's the keys to overcoming prejudice and achieving against all odds which make this collection so eye-opening.
As Working While Black moves through executive worlds and workplace encounters, it captures different kinds of interactions, choices, and approaches to educate all readers about typical barriers to success and how to overcome them.
These stories expose secrets and routines, presenting lessons on growth (i.e. "[Michelle] advises women of color to figure out what will work for them and drive their individual career trajectory. One of the things that she learned is that membership in the corporate elite just doesn't come easy, and in her opinion, it requires more than just intellectual horsepower. Being a member will require grit, a keen sense of self-awareness, and the right mentors and sponsors.")
Working While Black should go beyond being added to the shelves of libraries interested in books about prejudice, business success, or women's issues. It should be given to every young Black woman aspiring to succeed.