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.
Being Yourself
I was groomed to ascend to executive status in a fast track management program for an international financial institution.
If a white person in the corporate word uses language that you mostly associate with hip-hoppers, it's typically seen as urban and cool.
I remember getting the corporate job after graduate school and feeling like I had won the lottery. My mom was telling everyone at bridge meeting for a long time that I had gotten into the company. It was a feather in her cap.
I'm one of those rare people who have stayed at a company for 31 years. I think it was because I changed jobs internally about once every two years. I kept making those changes. I had some very great white male mentors.
