Happy Black History Month!
This month, I found fresh inspiration at the Art Institute of Chicago's Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica exhibition. It imagines a supercontinent brought together by African cultures across the globe to create a future of solidarity, equality, and freedom. Some pieces were deeply moving, and others were heartbreaking but I noticed one thread wove them all together - authenticity.
It reminded me that reclaiming one's voice is a radical act, whether through art or at work.
At work, power dynamics and perceptions often dictate who gets heard, promoted, ostracized, etc. It's on us to learn about and amplify diverse experiences, challenge outdated norms, and embrace our authentic selves where we can - as much as we have the energy to.
Authenticity at work -- especially if it's one of your core values -- will help bring peace and joy to your day, knowing that you showed up as you today. It's a small but meaningful act of resistance in spaces that still need transformation.
To that end, this month's issue is all about power dynamics and communication strategies and how to show up for yourself and others. Let's take lessons from both art and lived experiences to discover how to assert our presence in spaces that weren't designed with all of us in mind.
Take care of you,
Lissy
A PEEK FROM THE PROJECT A BLACK PLANET EXHIBITION:
A Painting That Spoke to Me
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Starry Night and the Astronauts
By: Alma Thomas
1972
Acrylic on canvas
About the artwork
"Alma Thomas made this mosaic-like painting as part of a body of abstract works responding to the Apollo space program. It brings to mind the thrust of a rocket ship, a wide expanse of sky, or an aerial view of the ocean. Marcus Garvey's projection of a Black Planet in parallel to the dominant Western one had opened the door to dreams of establishing sovereignty elsewhere--including in outer space. In Starry Night and the Astronauts, vertical brushstrokes create shifting patterns of light that direct the faze upward and create an immersive experience, as if to call the viewer into the role of an astronaut. The shimmering patch of red, yellow, and orange at the upper right glows like the sun."
Power Dynamics and Communication Strategies from Around the Web
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Make Your Thoughts Known at Work
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βCorporate Speak Translatorβ
How to say what you need to say so you can protect your time and energy at work.
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Calculating Empires
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βAn Interactive Visualβ
Explore how systemic power dynamics shape our modern lives and technology
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Calling out Meeting Dynamics
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βNaming the Collective Experience β
Seeing a lot of aggression or defensiveness? People talking over others? Here's how to handle that.
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Pet to Threat Phenomenon
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βWhy Black Women's Success is Met with Resistanceβ
In this panel, Pet to Threat is discussed - what it looks like, how to get out of it, and how to help someone in it. This affects black men as well as other POCs, but this video looks at it from the lens of black women
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WHAT'S NEXT:
Say and Slay
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I've been playing this game I created with clients and it's been a blast!
Say and Slay is a game about thinking on your feet. In each round, you're tasked with describing a noun without saying the actual noun. But there's a TWIST! Your opponent decides how you deliver your message. Maybe you have to exaggerate gestures, speak only in questions, or pretend you're giving a TED talk.
I'm thinking about hosting a public game as the first ever HuMindWise event! I've also been considering another game where we take turns presenting slides we've never seen before - Surprise Slides? π€
Reply to this email and tell me which one sounds more fun!
"The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it."
β James Baldwin
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