Sisterhood Is Critical to Racial Justice

To push for a racially just workplace, white women must put in the effort to understand black women’s experiences. We talk about what has historically driven women of different races apart at work and about how we can stick together and support one another. Guests: Ella Bell Smith, Stella Nkomo, Tina Opie, and Verónica Rabelo. Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Work is among the many places where white people have long been indifferent to the hardships black colleagues face. One way white women can advance racial justice is by building trusting relationships with black women. This week, we’re revisiting two episodes from Season 2 that explore women’s solidarity at work: “Sisterhood Is Scarce” and “Sisterhood Is Power.”

We talk with professors Ella Bell Smith and Stella Nkomo about how race, gender, and class play into the different professional experiences and relationships white women and black women have. They explain how those differences can drive women apart, drawing from the research and stories in their book, Our Separate Ways.

Then we talk with professors Tina Opie and Verónica Rabelo about the power of workplace sisterhood. We discuss steps, as well as common snags, to forming deep and lasting connections with our female colleagues.

Our HBR reading list:

Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity, by Ella L.J.E. Bell and Stella M. Nkomo
“Even at ‘Inclusive’ Companies, Women of Color Don’t Feel Supported,” by Beth A. Livingston and Tina R. Opie
“Getting Over Your Fear of Talking About Diversity,” by Daisy Auger-Dominguez
“How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace,” by Maura Cheeks
“Toward a Racially Just Workplace,” by Laura Morgan Roberts and Anthony J. Mayo
“S. Businesses Must Take Meaningful Action Against Racism,” by Laura Morgan Roberts and Ella F. Washington

Sign up to get the Women at Work monthly newsletter.

Email us: [email protected]

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.