Working While Black: The Black Person’s Guide to Success in the White Workplace

This guide offers practical suggestions for black Americans to develop mental awareness, a psychological game plan, and an increased level of business savvy in order to negotiate the minefield of the white work world. Included are commonsense scenarios and real-life solutions that will help every black American evaluate his or her options--from getting hired to getting fired, from adjusting one’s attitude to suing an employer. Tips are offered on how African Americans can fit their styles, mindsets, and history into the workplace, and insight is provided into how best to deal with situations, problems, and issues unique to being black in a white working world. This new edition has been updated to account for changes in social networking, the Obama effect, the economic downturn, and recent court decisions.

Michelle T. Johnson is a former employment attorney, public speaker, diversity consultant, and mediator. She is the author of Black Out and the ＂Dear Diversity Diva＂ column in the Kansas City Star. She has worked as a journalist for the Austin American-Statesman, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and the Philadelphia Daily News.