Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2021

Degree Type

Capstone - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Education

Instructor/Advisor

Audrey Falk

Second Advisor

Melissa Nemon

Abstract

Current standards and interpretations of professionalism have historically been rooted and sustained through the ideology and mechanisms of white supremacy culture. The irrevocable implications of white supremacy culture and the anti-black sentiments that stem from it generate complex, layered, and damaging standards of professionalism for African Americans. These standards as they exist, are a reflection of white superiority and deem the presence and contributions of African Americans in the workplace as subservient, causing contemptuous ramifications in all aspects of their lives. A two-hour virtual networking event was developed and implemented with an audience of black professionals and professionals of color from ranging career fields to offer a communal focused space in which they could actively and freely express experiences of racism and encounters of white supremacy culture and anti-blackness as it involuntarily occurs. The event goal sought to showcase visibility and determine if networking, story-telling, and communal collaboration amongst African American and people of color professionals could foster individual and community consciousness that would cultivate calls to action against white supremacy culture and anti-black sentiments in the workplace. Findings suggest that storytelling and open discussion is valuable and productive in increasing confidence, knowledge, and the likelihood of engagement in advocacy around the presented topics. The evidence reveals the necessity of increased intimate black focused spaces and dialogue amongst professionals of color to transcend and eradicate deep-rooted causes and effects of white supremacy culture; to redefine and re-establish value and power in black life and engagement in all levels of society.

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