Why do I — as the Black woman — have to fix that?
If you have been following the career and ventures of Bozoma Saint John, Uber’s Chief Brand Officer, you know sis speaks her mind and often does so while stylishly, exuding Black girl magic. So it comes of no surprise that @BadAssBoz would be the one to call out White men who sit on their own abilities to improve diversity matters.
“I want white men to look around in their office and say, ‘Oh look, there’s a lot of white men here. Let’s change this,'” Saint John apparently said Sunday at the SXSW festival.
She went on to further explain that people of color should not have to be the ones to fix diversity issues. “Why do I — as the Black woman — have to fix that? There’s 50 of you, there’s one of me. Ya’ll fix it. … Everybody else needs to make the noise — I want White men to make the noise.”
If anyone has room to make such bold demands, it’s Boz, as Uber tapped her in the midst of their own brand crisis last year. Boz left Apple Music for the executive position, as the company was being blasted for its lack of diversity and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, was resigning.
Uber is said to be the most valuable privately held startup in the world at $70 billion, but before “the force of nature in stilettos†came on board in June of 2017, only 3.7 of the company’s non-technical leadership positions were Black, 1.2% were Hispanic, and there were no Black or Hispanic technical leaders.
Many call Saint John’s hiring “strategicâ€, but she appears to live up to her fearless title, often times using opportunities to shine light on social injustices and other issues, perhaps making us within the Black community love her a little more, even if we are still undecided about Uber.  Go Boz!
-Fancy
