Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
International Experience
Once our off-shoring team in China came into our office and worked with us for several months. When one of the Chinese employees told my boss that they needed more time to finish a project he replied, "Don't you fucking tell me you aren't going to get it done.
When I was at a big firm in New York, the economy was great and there were a lot of activities in Asia.
I worked as an engineer for a manufacturing company in England where there were very few blacks. After I had been there awhile, I wanted to lead teams but I noticed I was getting overlooked.
