Because how could I not see that being the only Black girl in the room is a form of racism?

And maybe those things are true of us, but not because we're the only Black woman or man in the room.

Not because I'm a Black woman and should therefore feel "honored" to be in a room full of people who deemed themselves superior to me because they weren't blessed to be baked five times over before coming out of the womb with glistening chocolate skin.

It's sad that we can't truly feel we've achieved something in a room full of white people because the decision to have us is usually tainted with hesitancy based on a component we truly had nothing to do with: the color of our skin.

These companies may not know, or may not want to know, that our blackness is what fuels the undeniable skill and talent they overlooked our Black skin for.