The Only Black Guy in the Office
What a Year Writing About Being Black in Corporate America Taught Me About Race
When keeping it real goes right
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
A few weeks ago, I got my first whiff of celebrity status. And it was horrifying.
I got a text from my boy James, a member of the POC posse at a former job. We’d stayed in touch over the years, and he’s elevated to a meme swap acquaintance — basically a half-rung below what I’d consider a friend. It’s always good to hear from him, though, and when his name popped up on my phone, I was already prepared for a good laugh. His latest correspondence, however, wasn’t a silly TikTok video or Bernie Sanders Photoshop job.
It was a link to my anonymous column, The Only Black Guy in the Office.
Apparently, he got a kick out of an entry I’d written back in September, listing 2020-appropriate professional email greetings in lieu of the perfunctory “hope all is well” opening. He sent it along with the phrase “BIG MOOD” and a bunch of laughing emojis. I was shook. On one hand, I was hyped to see that he found humor — and a shred of truth — in a satirical piece that had already been a…
