From what I see, people of color are being called on in a different way. We're being heard in a different way - louder. And I think it's such an exciting time. The power structure is being redefined, and we're redefining beauty with the stories that we're telling and the women we're showing on our covers.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the shifting power dynamics and representation of people of color in media and society.
Elaine Welteroth highlights a significant cultural shift where voices and stories from people of color are gaining prominence and being recognized more loudly than before. She emphasizes the excitement of this moment as it not only challenges traditional power structures but also redefines beauty standards through the diverse narratives being shared and the representation of women on media platforms, such as magazine covers.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion about diversity in media during a panel.
I read everything, but particularly, growing up in a household where my mom was black and my dad was white, I remember really loving 'Ebony' and 'Essence.' Those magazines were the only place where I could see images of women who looked like me or my mom.
If you don't like who you are and where you are, don't worry about it because you're not stuck either with who you are or where you are. You can grow. You can change. You can be more than you are.
You can’t mandate [cultural change], can’t engineer it. What you can do is create the conditions for transformation. You can provide incentives. You can define the marketplace realities and goals. But then you have to trust. In fact, in the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.
It seems to me that women have made an awful lot of progress, but they probably remain underrepresented at the highest levels of most organizations, for a variety of reasons. And it's probably going to take a long time to change that.
As a black and as a woman, I didn't think that I would really want to live in any of the eras before this, because I would inevitably be worse off. I would have spent more time struggling just to prove I was human than doing my work.
Rather than getting nostalgic...embrace the new opportunities and challenges available to you now.
I feel like the sixties is about to happen. It feels like a period in the future to me, rather than a period in the past.
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