Cover Photo: A photo of a Black woman working at a desk with books, pens, and a laptop, in deep thought
Photograph by Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

No One Should Have to Ignore Their Grief, Yet It’s Long Been Expected of People of Color

For our communities, those missing and murdered, caged and dying, are not distant examples, invisible, or forgotten. They are our family and friends.

This is Exit Interviews, a column by Nadia Owusu on the experiences of women of color in the workplace.

Despite living in New York—the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in the US—much of my weekday morning routine is the same as it was before: I wake to an alarm, snooze for fifteen minutes, exercise, meditate, read a poem, shower, and dress. I eat eggs on toast and drink coffee. But instead of a ten-minute walk to the subway and forty minutes or so on the A and F trains, my commute has been reduced to just nine steps—from my kitchen table to my home office.

the current moment. This crisis, is laying bare inequities. the work of social justice organizations is more urgent than ever

laid bare

inappropriate unprofessional.

are

TheNew York Times

professional

We tried to tell youI am sorry you now know how this feels.

in thecurrent moment,

leave it at the doorI am trying to understand.

NADIA OWUSU is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, Aftershocks, topped many best book of the year lists, including  Vulture, TIME, Esquire, and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice.

Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times,  The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others.

She is Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned consulting firm working with social change organizations.  She  lives in Brooklyn.