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Showing that regardless of your race that we are all in it together.

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The urgency of intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw | TED

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BigLaw has few African American lawyers and the numbers are declining, according to a new survey.

Only 3 percent of the lawyers at large law firms are African American, and only 1.9 percent of the partners are African American, according to the American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard.

Though the percentage of all minorities slightly increased last year at the 223 reporting large law firms, the number of African American lawyers fell, the American Lawyer says. The New York Times reports on the findings, summarized in this press release.

The problems began during the economic downturn.

"The recession was a disaster for lawyers of all minorities at large firms; they were almost twice as likely to be laid off as their white peers," the story says. "Between 2008 and 2009, the number of minority lawyers at the nation's largest firms dropped by 9 percent, mostly associates. But while the numbers of Asian-American and Hispanic lawyers have since rebounded past prerecession levels, black lawyer head count has continued to slide. The percentage of black lawyers at the largest firms is now at a level not seen since 2000: 3 percent of all lawyers, down from 3.1 percent in 2012."

Asian-Americans are the largest group of minorities in law firms, amounting to 6.3 percent of the lawyers and 2.7 percent of the partners. Hispanics account for 3.2 percent of the lawyers and 2.3 percent of the partners.

The numbers were even worse in the American Lawyer's statistics on equity partnerships at America's largest 100 law firms. Out of 77 Am Law 100 firms that reported minority numbers for equity partnerships, 31 either had no African American equity partners or just one. Only one firm, Jones Day, had more than 10-it had a dozen, which amounts to 1.8 percent of its equity partners.

"What has gone so wrong?" the American Lawyer asks. "Pressures within law firms that began during the recession have made partnership both a more difficult and less attractive proposition for black lawyers. Meanwhile, the pipeline has narrowed. As firms keep associate classes smaller, fewer black lawyers are moving into firms; the black law graduates who are tapped by elite firms continue to be a small group of high-ranking students from first- or second-tier law schools. Finally, a mid-2000s push by corporations to compel their outside counsel to diversify has receded, displaced by concerns over law firm pricing."

The story also points to recent research that "paint[s] an alarming picture of the continuing presence of unconscious racial bias at firms."

Which firms had the greatest percentage of minority lawyers? According to the article, the top firm is White & Case, with 27.5 percent minority lawyers and 21.8 percent partners. Numbers 2 and 3 were Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith.

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Only 3 percent of lawyers in BigLaw are black, and numbers are falling

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BigLaw has few African American lawyers and the numbers are declining, according to a new survey. Only 3 percent of the lawyers at large law firms are African American, and only 1.9 percent of the partners are African American, according to the American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard.

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I believe privilege and oppression are large topics, that still are a huge problem today. Many people don't understand the privilege that they have, whereas others don't believe that is anything at all. Privilege pertains to many different things like race gender religion and housing. One that is a huge topic nowadays is white privilege. My personal understanding as to what white privilege is, is basically the privileges and social benefits that white people have over other races. For example, and this is something that happened to me in real life. Friend of mine and I went to a store and we're shopping together, he was white and I am black. What ended up happening was, I had just come from school and he came from school also. I went to private school and was wearing her uniform and he was wearing street clothing so in a sense I looked "proper." After shopping for some time, I was still followed around the store by the convenient store owner. When asked why he chose to follow me versus my friend because we both walked in at the same time he refused to answer a question but it was kind obvious as to what the answer was. That is an example of white privilege because my friend being white what's this privilege and because of that he wasn't followed around the store as I was because I am black. The video explaining all the different kinds of privileges below, and I believe that it does a pretty good job of doing an explanation and helping people get a grasp of what privilege is. After watching a video explaining all the different kinds of privilege

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White Privilege: (noun). The fact of people with white skin having advantages in society that other people do not have.

Monday afternoon in downtown Washington, D.C., and every one of the overhead office televisions is leading with NFL franchises responding to the 45th president of the United States, who called anthem-protesting players "sons of bitches" last week and implored owners to tell these kneeling men, reality TV-style, "You're fired!"

Then Gregg Popovich's cloudy-white visage filled the screen, making me feel like crap.

"We still have no clue of what being born white means," the coach of the San Antonio Spurs said in the middle of a three-minute, Check Your Privilege, Mr. President, scolding. "It's like you're at the 50-meter mark in a 100-meter dash. And you've got that kind of a lead because, yes, you were born white. You have advantages that are systemically, culturally, psychologically there. And they have been built up and cemented for hundreds of years."

My colleagues, almost all of whom are black, nodded approvingly because Pop "gets it," and some vowed to become Spurs fans simply because of his comments. I did the same.

But I also had this pang gnawing at me all day and into the night.

The truth: Many well-intentioned white people I know lose their minds when they hear about their "white privilege." It's not that we haven't acknowledged our ancestors' original sin - the dehumanization of a people, manifested in tragically being able to call another human being "property." We have.

But fully accepting that the color of our skin benefits us today is often too much to unpack.

When we hear, "Check your privilege," we feel ostracized from the people we thought shared the common purpose of equality with us. Further, if we are directly confronting racism in our online and physical worlds, we don't want to hear, "Thanks, but there is no extra credit for doing what is right."

We want an impossible validation: to be told that, unlike those Confederate-lovin' nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, we don't have white privilege.

And that gets to dissecting the meaning of privilege - separating the feelings of personal slight from a systemic inequity. Which is flat-out hard. We either a) don't believe it; b) don't think we are participants in it; or c) will engage to a point but ultimately decide, "I'm sorry, I don't share this outlook on the world."

It was only after hearing Popovich that I realized that we who continue to bullheadedly think that way represent a real obstacle toward achieving this elusive better place we always talk about.

Look, this isn't something Colin Kaepernick or Michael Bennett can fix alone, just as Tommie Smith and John Carlos couldn't fix it in 1968. This isn't something any person of color can change by himself.

This is a difficult white-person-to-white-person conversation that has to happen between white men and women of all classes for any lasting change to occur. Black and brown people already know this. It's not news to them that we have advantages bestowed at birth that they don't.

If you can't accept that white people have it easier, then you will never accept why someone would kneel during the national anthem. And until those two are reconciled, we shouldn't expect people to stand - especially those most adversely affected by society's unfair constructs.

We want an impossible validation: to be told that, unlike those Confederate-lovin' nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, we don't have white privilege.

The display of unity on Sunday, with some NFL owners linking arms with their players, was indeed an act of togetherness. But it was in response to the president crudely calling out their employees - not black men being killed by police. They were standing up for the NFL, not human rights. If Sunday was it, all they did was participate in a photo op that made everyone feel good.

We don't need to feel good right now; we need to feel uncomfortable.

It's a process. For one, hearing we have "white privilege" feels like it carries a stigma, as if we have been branded "racist" and don't know why. It's almost like a virus one needs to be inoculated from at a CVS pharmacy each fall.

But, of course, it doesn't work like that. We don't have a disease - society does.

Author and consultant Frances E. Kendall's 2002 essay Understanding White Privilege put it this way: "For me, the confusion and pain of this knowledge is somewhat eased by reminding myself that this system is not based on each individual white person's intention to harm but on our racial group's determination to preserve what we believe is rightly ours. This distinction is, on one hand, important, and, on the other hand, not important at all because, regardless of personal intent, the impact is the same."

In other words, hearing you have "white privilege" shouldn't carry an ounce of baggage, even if the language feels accusatory. I know it took me a while to get there.

I have, for much of my life, failed to acknowledge that privilege. I rationalized that I did not have it because my papa-was-a-rolling-stone father moved us to a rural area of Hawaii when I was 12 - and I faced ugly prejudice for being white. (Everyone, by the way, should be on the other side of the fence at least once in their life to see what it's like.) Given my own life circumstances, I reasoned it didn't apply to me, that my own broken-home, abusive childhood didn't involve any suburban cul-de-sacs or regular visits to the dentist, so what do I know about privilege?

But when you begin to think deeply about your own life experiences compared with your friends of color, it's harder to dismiss.

I've never had to educate my young sons to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection, to warn them of law enforcement officers who might not give them the benefit of the doubt.

I've never applied for a home loan and suspected that I was turned down because some of my prospective neighbors only want to live next to and around people who look and think like them.

Privilege is when a deranged racist murders multiple black worshippers at a church Bible study and, upon seeing the race of the individual who did it, you did not have to say to your friend, "Damn, now they're going to think all of us white folk are racist killers."

The biggest benefit of being white: Our problems are far less likely to be attributed to some racial/cultural failure. Our government will hear our cries and not tell us to get over it but rather, in point of fact, ask us how it can help (even if the help doesn't always come).

If Popovich is honest, white privilege is what allows him to make those statements in the first place. Meanwhile, coach Mike Tomlin, who's never had a losing season, has been to two Super Bowls, won one and has guided the Pittsburgh Steelers to more wins the past decade than any team except the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, is walking a tightrope at this minute, trying to keep his protest-torn team together while not being shunned by his boss and the team's customers.

"People get bored. 'Oh, is it that again? They're pulling the race card again, why do we have to talk about that again?' " Popovich said. "Well, it's because it's uncomfortable and there has to be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people - because we are comfortable."

I don't like hearing this. It forces me to confront truths I don't necessarily want to accept, because I don't remember any breaks given me or job opportunities offered because of my complexion. But I'd be in denial to not believe that in numerous situations my race has helped me - in ways I never even notice.

Popovich's statements are a piece of a conversation between white people that needs to happen more frequently. Whether there are enough people who look like me willing to engage in that conversation is an open question.

At least this week, though, his gruffness and often-annoying certainty about everything turned out to be good for more than just lighting a fire under Tim Duncan's tush:

"Many people can't look at it because it's too difficult. It can't be something that is on their plate on a daily basis," he said. "People want to hold their position. People want the status quo. People don't want to give that up. And until it's given up, it's not going to be fixed."

Anyone else white want to take a stab at it? It's the only way the work of everyone from Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick will ever get done.

Mike Wise is a senior writer and columnist at The Undefeated. Barack Obama once got to meet him.

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Gregg Popovich's speech about white privilege felt like a personal rebuke

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White Privilege: (noun). The fact of people with white skin having advantages in society that other people do not have. Monday afternoon in downtown Washington, D.C., and every one of the overhead office televisions is leading with NFL franchises responding to the 45th president of the United States, who called anthem-protesting players "sons of bitches" last week and implored owners to tell these kneeling men, reality TV-style, "You're fired!"

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The question at hand is whether or not gender is a social construct or not. I personally believe yes, it is. We coming to a world where we ask whether or not the child is a boy or a girl, that right there is a reflex question that we asked due to society. There are many other genders, out there in the world besides man and woman. How one chooses to identify themselves is there gender and they have the right to that. In the United States, people who enjoyed dressing as the opposite gender, or enjoyed doing things that wasn't considered correct for their "gender quote to do, was looked at as wrong and incorrect. And slowly as time has gone on people have become more open and understanding to people who choose to not identify themselves as the gender that they were born with. For example, as soon as a child is born if it's a girl they put pink on the child or if it's a boy they put blue on it why is it that because it is a girl they get pink or if it is a boy gets blue. Another thing is boys growing up they should play with things associated with masculinity and girls playing with things associated with feminine features. All of this is preset social constructs that we have set in place for gender. The gingerbread person is a diagram used to explain the spectrum is in which everyone can use regarding their gender. I thought that it was a good diagram that helped explain how people chose to express their gender, their biological sex, and their sexual orientation.

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Gender Roles in Society | Ria Chinchankar | TEDxYouth@DAA

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Have you ever felt like your gender limits you? This talk explores just that- gender roles. Be prepared to learn about the origins, effects, and solutions to stereotypical gender roles in the society around us. Can you imagine a world where we aren't restricted by gender roles?

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Is Gender a Social Construct? in 7 Minutes

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Intro Chapters And Definitions Of Feminism

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Intro Chapters And Definitions Of Feminism

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The concepts of intersectionality are somethings that I am sadly, too familiar with. The definition of intersectionality in my words would be where discrimination of gender and race come together. After looking up the definition online, the definition of intersectionality is : the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. The reason as to why I am very familiar with intersectionality is, because of my little sister. My little sister is going into college, with the major of Political Science. With a dream to later on become a lawyer. The reason as to why she falls into this conversation is because and if you remember I did a presentation about this last year in your English class. She graduating from college would struggle to find a job. Why?, you may ask, and the answer would be because she is both black and a women. Law offices in the United States in total has 3% of lawyers that are black. I after looking couldn’t even find  stat on black women. My sister being the minority in both categories going out into the Law world is an example of intersectionality as is. Past that I found a couple other examples and a video that I believed explained intersectionality very well. Along with that the video done by Kimberlé Crenshaw explained the importance and why we need to change the way people with privilege look at others and what we can do so that everyone has an equal amount of opportunity.

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We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much ... to be successful, but not too successful, or they’ll threaten men, says author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In this classic talk that started a worldwide conversation about feminism, Adichie asks that we begin to dream about and plan for a different, fairer world -- of happier men and women who are truer to themselves.

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song on empowerment for women

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Female Energy Lyrics: I just landed in another atmosphere / I'm just floating, in a stain steel sphere / I bet you have questions like, "Where did I come from?" / I know,I come from that planet that hit

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Upon writing this padlet entry on what feminism means to me, many examples and situations that I have found myself in, donned on me. The situation being both positive and negative, with the association on the word feminism, and for everything it stood for. “Feminism,” the word is simple, yet and a concept some people struggle with. Women suffrage has fought for women to be treated equally, and to have the same amount of opportunity; to get paid the same amount as their male counterpart. When I told people that I considered myself to be a feminist and that I support feminism, I got a lot of mixed reactions. Many people said, “oh are you gay?” or my favorite “So do you want to be a girl?” These negative reactions, are simply a reflection of ignorance and the lack of understanding. That people don't, and haven't taken the time to learn and understand that men and women genuinely aren't treated the same and that a change needs to happens soon. These changes need to happen both within the male community and their mindset, but also with How culture, and social expectations View women. Society's expectations on women can be very harmful, from body image too what women are expected to do. Society always will have their input, almost in a sense intimidating men from either becoming feminists or women truly expressing themselves. Two examples would be that women are expected to have this long thin yet busty appearance, is not only harmful but degrading. Another thing saying how women are expected to stay in the house and help with the kids, versus going out and getting carriers. One of my favorite activists and artist Willow Smith wrote a power song speaking on women empowerment. (listen to the song I hope you like it!!) Another speaker that really got to me was the TED talk you showed in class. The speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, not only did she convey her message elegantly but she sent a message out on how things need to change. My favorite parts were when she said how we need to change how we raise our girls and boys. How we need to raise our boys to cherish women and to not be so afraid to be in “soft.” Then again for women how they should be stronger and not to be afraid on rising above.