One Rouge Community Check -In - Week 146

Did you know that wo men have gained more jobs than men for 4 straight months in 2023? It is amazing because Coronavirus deeply impacted women-dominated jobs. Although women have made gains in “male-dominated” roles, those gains have not meant equality. Male-dominated means the occupation is comprised of less than 25% or fewer women. We know areas like mechanics, construction, and IT are male-dominated. We also know that women are making gains in fields like law, veterinary medicine, sports, and even sales. But what does it cost and is it even worth the trade? Women are responsible for putting their co-workers at ease and pay a social price for consorting with women, not of the same professional echelon. Despite the plethora of advice that is available to women on how to thrive in a male-dominated workspace, women who “make it” are branded as difficult or worse. And the pay gaps happen to be the largest in several of the occupations where women are making gains even though gender-specific jobs seem to be diminishing. Join us Friday as we hear from our featured speakers:
Tracie L. Washington, MPA, JD, MBA - Director of Title IX Compliance and Title IX Coordinator, Southern University Law Center
Amanda Stanley - WIOA Chief Administrator, Board Director Workforce Development Board 21
Morgan Miller-Udoh – Walls Program Coordinator, Public Art & Placemaking, Artist, Creative Entrepreneur
Enlight, Unite, & Ignite!
Quick Links: Notes, Zoom Chat, Community Announcements
Notes
Amanda Stanley: Hey, I am Amanda Stanley. I am the area of director for East Baton Rouge Parish for Workforce Development and Employee BR so we serve the most underserved population with regards to employment opportunities and further educational opportunities to get that high wage, high demand employment. And then Pepper can I'm going to discuss, so Pepper reached out to me. One of the areas in that high demand, high wage employment is the construction industry. And when we look at women's participation in the construction industry, a lot of research this past week went down a couple rabbit holes and what we're at is we are at about 10.3% total women in the construction workforce. However, most of that figure is still women doing administrative work. So the number of women actually in trade positions, which would be like your welders, pipe, fitters, mill rights your actual on the job heavy duty industrial work is still significantly. then when we look at still in 2000, what, 2023, the number one issue that women have in the construction industry is still discrimination and sexual harassment. The needle still hasn't moved from where we were 20, 40, 60 years ago as far as what women face when they're out in the field with, in these male dominated industries, especially construction. And then another thing and a lot of this I've actually seen in my former role in higher education designing training programs for heavy industrial programs is that there is a lack of mentors and role models for those trades women to model after to move up. So for example, when I was at the local community college, we did an initiative with Dow called Women and Welding. So we had a selection process, but we did two classes where it was all women focused on welding to get these women into the construction field, high demand, high wage. However, we couldn't find a female welder to be the instructor for that class. So we had women in welding program, but we still had to rely on a male instructor to do the instruction because we could not find a female welder to be the instructor for that. And I reached out to other institutions. I reached out to our industry partners. I tried to reach out to different women in construction networks. And I was at that institution for 10 years. We've had one female welding instructor, and all that time we have had no female pipe fitters mill rights. Electrical N D T instructors at all. And then enrollment in those programs for women is very low. Even though that was a goal of mine when I was there, I wanted like women in welding, for example, and men in medical assistant, because at the small campus I was at in New Roads, women would typically enroll in our medical assistant class. Men would enroll in the welding and then I would try and say, Hey we can broaden both of your horizons. You don't have to go this track or this track. Let's discuss it a little more. And it was always interesting in that there was always some other influences as well that impacted where those guys and gals would end up. And I know I'm not going to go too much longer. Pepper, I don't want to take all the time. But even in my language, when I was at my community college, when my instructors or different administration would talk, they would always talk about the guys, oh, our guys this and our guys that. So I started saying guys and gals just to at least include the females in what we're doing. And even now, it's hard to change that. I still will always say guys and gals, even though that might not be the most inclusive language at this point, but only because it seems so focused on just the men the guys. And what we're doing is there's a huge need for tradespeople in the state, in the nation, but the trajectory is we're cutting out women from this high demand, high wage potential to the detriment of the state of us, our economy, and to these women that could be accessing these opportunities for higher pay, more flexible pay, and a trajectory that they might not get if they were just a medical assistant. Because that's what's expected, because they're women. That's my soapbox.
Traci Washington: Once you hit the prime age of 59, how many hats do you get to wear? My name's Tracy Washington. My big title around here is Lili, because that's what my grandkids call me. I am the, I'm trying to get a little bit of glare off that. There we go. I think that's a little bit better. Now, I am currently served as the director of Title IX compliance slash Title IX coordinator for Southern University Law Center. I'm trying to make all of the popups stop coming up when people join in and chat. So I have that sort of, as I call it the daytime gig, right? and I'm sorry, they're just so many things that pop up on your computer and the chats keep popping up and I'm trying not to make that a distraction. I'm also the executive director of Louisiana Justice Institute, which is a nonprofit, civil rights legal advocacy organ organization and law firm. And we foster support and advocate for black and brown communities in the state of Louisiana. And then various other things, including a consulting firm called Higher Brown Consultants Square. I consult with school districts and particularly charter school organizations to try to keep them compliant. And educating our kids. And finally, my most favorite thing in the world to do is I'm staying in my kitchen and baking and catering. And so, I think I'm here today to talk a little bit, however, about a big issue of important, especially last year after we celebrated our 50th anniversary pepper, which is Title IX. Even up until last year, which was the 50th anniversary guys, and it was big rollout, 50th anniversary of Title IX, we still get questions about what is Title IX right? And I have to tell folks, because it's been of so much important for so many people who didn't even know that it existed, especially women in higher education. And when I share with them that it's simply 37 words, right? And I always say it's 37 words and I used to have it memorized. I don't have it memorized anymore, so if you'll excuse me and I will pop up with them just so that folks here spec specifically what it is. And it says, no person in the United States shall on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. So if I'll piggy back just for a second off our last speaker, one of the reasons why there's been so much and there was such a put in so much funding out there for a while for. Women who needed to, or we wanted to push into the welding industries or into any of the trades industries, plumbing carpentry things at our community colleges is because of Evan by a junior who pushed forward title IX in 1971 and 1972. Final fun fact. Why was Evan Va this Democrat so interested in and jazzed on Title IX? He recounted this story and I happened to be in his presence once, just serendipity, where he counted the story of sitting at the breakfast table with his dad, who was the superintendent of public not public education, physical education in Washington DC at the time. And this was in 1940s. and he was going to testify before Congress about funding for girls PE for the Washington DC area. And Evan Junior said to his dad, what are you going to tell 'em? And he says, I'm going to tell them that women, little girls need to be, have strong bodies so that they can carry their strong heads and big brains. This was in 1940s, guys. Come on. 1940s. And that stayed with Evan by, until he got to the Senate, and he made sure that we got this law passed. Now we've had tons of amendments to it, right? And we've, yeah, we got to keep lifting up these big old heads and brains and we've had to fight a lot as you can probably imagine, to keep. Title nine relevant. We hear about it now though. And you tell me Pepper, if I start to go along, we hear about it now much more and sadly because of sexual harassment and sex discrimination and not so much on that positive side of getting women into sports, getting new programs where women were untraditionally underrepresented. But we still need to fight those areas, right? And we still need to get women's brains strong around the fact that their bodies are strong for a reason and they have to, and they have to be out there. They, we have to be out there indicating, I'm around. I'm right now. It's so funny because these students will tell me, they'll never guess. Or they'll say they never guess your age. And I don't have a problem telling how older, they're like, you, professor Washington, I'm at the law center, professor Washington. They're older than my mom. And I'm like, okay. I'm not going to find in your favor for the sexual harassment. You'll get harass and you'll get harass. No. Tease me. The we got to get these students, male and female and non-binary, understanding this vessel needs to be respected. And that's and that's at the core, that's at our core of titles IX, respecting our bodies and demanding equality regardless of gender. So, guess what? If you are a guy and you want to do synchronized swimming at your college and there's just a female synchronized swim class, you put on that suit dog on it and you hop in that pool. You get every right to synchronize swim. I use that example. I'm also in the PhD program at Southern and I talk about policy now a lot more than I talk about law when I'm there in the program and they're like male synchronized swimmers. And I said, Hey, I attended Carlton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and we had male synchronized swimmers.
Morgan Udoh: Hello everyone. I am Morgan Udoh. I am a general tinkerer, creative and small business owner and a gentle parent, conscious parent to two, three amazing little girls. And I'm sorry, I'm just taken aback by what Professor Washington said at the end. Yes. Respect this vessel, period. That's it. No binary needs to be attached to it. But yeah. On the small business side, you are your only protection. I my body's ability to produce labor that I can exchange for capital is my sole protection as a small business owner. And because we do not have robust public support systems around childcare kinship care, food security, affordable housing an F M L A system that extends beyond just the birthing parent and extends beyond W two status generally. It is, it's hard out here really and truly. And as we think about how we can create a system that works better for all of us because when you lift up women and lift up birthing parents, you lift up economies, period. Because we are the bears of culture, we are the ones that maintain community cohesion typically. We are the ones that maintain the family bonds typically. And those. Smaller bonds lend to our larger systemic bonds within a nation. I'm sorry, I'm just, I want to get right into what's going wrong and what, how we need to fit. Can I? Okay. So all of this, all of these frustrations that we are having around gender inclusivity and Title IX and these small little battles that we keep fighting are a symptom of our refusal to accept gender theory, gender queer theory until our society is willing to let go of its bigoted view of the human experience. And willing to let go of our patriarchal way of structuring society from our language to the way we write our job descriptions, to the way we set up payroll, the way we set up the workday, nine to five, and how that coincides with a school day. We're fighting these little battles that could be mitigated from birth in the way we socialize the next generation. As someone who is a conscious parent, the way I speak to my girls assuming they're girls at this point is gender expansive at all times. When I'm around the house, I, mommy's not just cleaning. Mommy is doing carpentry. Mommy is working on her car. Dad is cleaning, dad is cooking, dad is doing the dishes. The books that we read talk about a wide range of professions, a wide range of interests. They talk about the, a wide range of the human body, what it can look like, your body, my body, their body. All of them are good bodies, and how we function inside of society is expansive. And we have to change the way we socialize this generation so that they are more willing to go out for those jobs that they historically have not been included in. And they are more likely to advocate for others who are not in those spaces, to be in those spaces. When they get in a position of hiring, they're not just going to look for Joe and Brad and Chad. They're going to look for Amy and Xavier and X. That's what has to change. We have to start from the very beginning if we want to see systemic change or we're constantly going to be fighting against ourselves.
Pepper Roussel: One of the questions that I had, let me turn off my timer. And one of the questions that I had is really around the legality of the Acts that have been passed, and what have we gained, right? So we have black women in particular that are the most over overeducated and overqualified, but the most underpaid. Has Title IX helped? We've got we've got moms who can't necessarily get to these jobs, right? As Morgan just mentioned, because jobs are nine to five, or either if you're doing shift work how can moms manage these moments of y Just, there's nobody there in the middle. And at the very least we've only had the ability to be entrepreneurial to street legal entrepreneurs since the seventies, right? When you could have credit without your husband, when you could have a bank account on your own, right? So all of these things that we have done in order to move women forward from a pl from a place where we didn't have, what, where are we now? What have we gained? Go ahead, Tracy. I'm, yeah, you are Morgan over here on the same side of my screen.
Traci Washington: I'll relay this very briefly. My mom started working in as a teacher in January, 1964. Now, she graduated Dillard University guys in the spring of 1963. I like to always say that I walked the oaks with my mom. She and my dad were married in December of 1962. But the point of that story is that she could not begin working until January of 1963, right? Because back in 1963, if you were showing your pregnancy, you could not work as a teacher. I don't know how the kids, they didn't want kids to see pregnant women. I guess they wanted kids to just think that, I don't know where they popped from. at that time, 1964, I found documents in old contracts that she kept, that showed women were paid $2,000 a year, listened to me, $2,000 a year, less than the male teachers doing exactly the same thing regardless of how your ranking in college, right? My mom came out and she was in that first class, recruited for the Peace Corps. Her parent her aunt told her, Uhuh, Geraldine, no Uhuh. You going to marry that man first because you already 21 years old and you don't have a husband. Now, why am I relaying that story? There is a point. Yes, we have come far, but I had a mom who was a cheerleader. She was like, you'll go ahead and get those degrees. I don't know if she'd be like, okay, Teresa, if you working on your fourth graduate degree, but go ahead and get those degrees and you'd be a cheerleader. And I always saw her as a cheerleader in her positions in education. I never saw her as a person who said I had it this hard. And so you are going to have to have it as hard as I do coming up the ladder. And unfortunately, I see Morgan far too much of that. I struggled with my daycare for my child and therefore I'm not going to have childcare resources here on my job. I opened Louisiana Justice Institute. I said, bring your children and your dogs. They can entertain each other. I don't care. Get your work done. You got to get your work done here. You got to get it done there. I've got some time to watch your kids. I don't care. We, my point is we have to rely upon us. And I don't mean just women I even men, non-binary who are with it. To bring us up because if we're going to rely upon that, what I'm seeing in society right now is this horrible trend to want to revert to the good old days. And I'm like, guys, good old days. What good for black women? Watch the help. Why? I'll never clean it. Like my grandmothers were domestics never going to happen. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Cause you pay your housekeeper well, she's doing well, we got to do this right. And for the small business owners, finally, for the small business owners and with Nola Goodies, my catering company, I'm a, I'm an entrepreneur. You got to pay these people. And I tell folks all the time, and Morgan, you better be demanding it if they're getting it on Magazine Street, if they're getting it on St. Charles Avenue and on Canal Street, you best believe you better be able to be paying that artist in the Lord Ninth Ward. The exact same thing, if not me. And I tell young entrepreneurs, young artists, yeah. When they say, oh, I get this. Oh, miss Tracy, I'm a discharge. I said, no. I'm going to pay you what the going rate is. Final thing. I promise I won't even speak for the rest of the time. Promise. I heard this a lot this week. I don't know if I want to file a complaint because I don't want to mess up his. I'm emotional about this because they always say put on your mask first. And I'm just concerned that we've got a generation of young women in their twenties right now who are not thinking that way. And we just got to make them, we got to make them do it kicking and screaming. I'm a trial lawyer. I talk.
Pepper Roussel: Yes. To a comment in the chat. Yes. I wanted all the smoke this morning. That's why these three ladies are here. All of the smoke, all of its,
Morgan Udoh: It all goes back to how we are socialized from birth, and we are, we social. I have all the smoke. For my men folk because I love y'all and you can do better. But I also very often feel such sadness for those who identify as cis men in society because you are truly locked out of so much the human experience and so much of interpersonal relation because of how we have set up our society and this very thin margins that we allow you to operate in. And that does not include nurturing. It does not include a heavy focus on community outside of being the singular leader of that community, not from a care supports perspective, but being the leader of that community. And that is a heavy load to bear, and it is an individualistic load to bear that does not produce. Societies that are moving forward together. And just creates these silos from which we all are trying to work towards our own individual successes when we could be moving forward together. It's very sad. I'm sorry, remind me of the question again.
Pepper Roussel: I took my mute too soon. That was my fault. Completely my fault. We were just talking the games, right? So, we've got these we've got laws that are in place for some arenas, so workforce and academia. But we find that in many ways we have not made a lot of strides, right? You as an entrepreneur would not have been able to get credit or even a bank account and within the last 50 years, right? What should we be doing? How can we move forward? It looking strictly from a very solution-based answer. I'm seeing a lot of loophole abuse. And it can be, it's similar to how when you consider like government contracts or large scale contracts, how they now have to make sure that they are offering a certain amount of contracts to marginalized groups.
Morgan Udoh: It was racial, now it's gender. But the way in which we're meeting that expectation is you have these large male and non iPOC led industries that has historically been at the top. Now what they're doing is that they're just subcontracting through a business that has a an owner operator from a marginalized group and that meets the need. They're still getting the primary bit of the contract, but they've tossed on some representation and that's where we're seeing in all the industries, we're seeing a whole lot of empty representation. Yeah. Which, every range of the human experience, color, creed, sexuality, gender, et cetera, in the space. But they are not going to lead it. They are not going to have any true power in that space because at the end of the day, those who have been in power want to maintain that power. They'll shift with the optics to look better, but they have to be in charge. They must stay in charge by any means. And if we do get one or two up there in the top ranks, they are socialized in a way that they will maintain that same structure going forward.
Traci Washington: We had that when I was general counsel at capital Metro in Austin and when we were contracting, and this is something that you always should be, can be looking out for. And this was, let me see my, it was 30 years ago when I was doing that General counsel work. and husbands would put wives into quote businesses that would then be subcontracting. Amanda's shaking her head, she knows. And so, then they would be the owners of the of these smaller businesses that were subcontracting. Say for instance, now you own the company that does the upholstering for the buses, but they weren't actually doing it. And so, it took my investigators going out and looking. But you have to have a conscious procurement director and a general counsel and whomever to then make those people non-compliant and then get them taken off lists. And it costs money to have that done. But if you have the type of people in those organizations, who will do it? Jesse and Morgan, those are the faces I'm seeing up. It can be done. But you're absolutely right. It's been going on. I just wanted to share for a very long time.
Pepper Roussel: That actually brings me to Amanda, I think we sent this out. and the reminder that women have become responsible for the culture of the work flip place, right? So especially if they're in male dominated spaces, that they're responsible for making everyone around them comfortable, that they get punished for consorting with the enemy, right? So, talking or having relationships with women who are not on the same professional level. And there's also there was a note that was left by, left in the chat about the contractors association in the early nineties and how women, young women like the salary, but they didn't like the climate, right? So help the Can you provide a little context around what it is that we are seeing now? I think most of us know where we've come from, but what can we be doing going forward? Especially since we are still excited about women and welding.
Amanda Stanley: Yeah, women in welding, women pipe bidding, women in welding has that alliteration everybody likes. So as far as and a lot of this is anecdotally what my students who have, my former students that were women who have gone out in the field, a lot of 'em don't stay. And they'll tell me they just cannot either. They can't manage their childcare because of the shift work. When there's not a set schedule every week or what have you and the hours that are there. Especially if you don't have family support, that is a big barrier. And then a lot of times it's still a good old boy network, which is still documented in a lot of the research I just did. And that's still a main barrier. I think Jen just put in, heard the chat. She found that even just in a doing some sculpture work, which is more of an artistic field, there's still a lot of discrimination where women can't even be included in the job sites, in the conversations that men have that will bond the team together and then also read to those higher positions. The other thing that we I think really needs to be done is there is a lot in high schools. So I'm out in Pointe Coupee, a lot of the high schools there will have welding and carpentry shops. They'll have a class for that. When I've gone and spoken to those classes or had them come onto the campus I was at, there was never any girls that came with those programs to see the interest. And when I would ask the principals and school administrators most of the time it's they're just not interested. and I'm like why? But how do you know if you're not inviting them to the space to see, because you don't know what you don't know? Especially when we would have a simulator that our guys and gals could try to just even see if that's a skill that they could do, especially with hand eye coordination. Women are better generally with hand-eye coordination. Welding's a very hand-eye coordination skill. But if I were to do an open house for medical assistant, all the women would be there so it really is exposing the girls, young girls to construction, to mechanics to, to just those basic skills that boys get just by virtue of being boys we've explored when I was at the college, like doing a women's only or a girls only mechanic class so that the girls, local high school girls or whatever could come and learn how to change the oil. How to change a tire, how to check all your basics. And it seemed basic oh, why do you need a class for that? My dad didn't teach me that. I'm a single parent. I'm not teaching my girls that. However, they should know that because they shouldn't have to rely on somebody else to do it for them. So that's one of the ways, is really pushing our secondary schools to get more women, more females involved in those non-traditional fields. It's beneficial for them too, especially if they get Perkins dollars, because those non-traditional fields can lead to more federal funds through your Coral Perkins and other avenues. So you can make it a win-win. And then not only that is when we're looking at flexibility, childcare I feel like these big organizations, these big companies, can figure out childcare. I feel like they could have some big care on site. or vouchers or I don't think that this is the heavy lift that we assume it is because if you have a whole those plants are a whole city. When they're fully staffed, you can't tell me you wouldn't, you can't put a childcare center on site and not have it be successful. So those are just some of the things I would hope we move towards as we're moving into the next 30 years.
Traci Washington: If you can have a restaurant, you can have a childcare. That's what I tell folks all the time. That's what I tell my clients. If you can feed us, then you can take care of our children. And guess what? Less employees and actually less liability exposures. Because food poisoning is real taking care of kids is taking care of kids. And Amanda you're absolutely 100% correct with regard to. that and may I add something for Morgan, because you asked a question about protections for small business owners. One of the things I like to promote is that small business owners I'm a small business owner. If you can get into an association, when I was a sole practitioner and I knew I was going to need health insurance because I'm a single mom and needed it for myself and my son, I made sure I was I got my insurance through the Bar Association because that was the only way where I could find insurance that was affordable because they were buying, obviously for a group, a lot of smaller practitioners. And so to the extent Morgan and Amanda there, you can tell folks that there may be associations, trade asso, trades associations out there that they can join. Yes, there's a fee, but the benefits that you may be able to receive from being part of one big group Could provide some relief for being a small business owner. Thank you, ma'am.
Pepper Roussel: Esperanza, before I get to the next question in the chat, you had something that you wanted to say. Where are you?
Esperanza Zenon: Yeah I don't know if my comment came through in the chat because the signal kind of got what I was what I posted was, someone spoke a moment ago about the good old boy network being thriving. My experience has been a lot of times that there's a good old girl network thrive that's thriving too. In a lot of instances when females are at the head or at the helm, they can be just as difficult and unwilling and uncaring as males and less supportive of other females that are trying to move their lives forward. I know that this is a progressive group and I'm grateful to be able to listen and learn from you this morning, but we can't just say automatically that when we get these women in these positions, everything's going to be better. I wonder about that sometimes. Cause they can take on the characteristics of them. Good old boys, sometimes better than them.
Morgan Udoh: That is the difference between representation and actual change. It's not just about putting people that look a certain way or fit a certain bill in position of power. They have to be outside of the structure. They have to be socialized different. I cannot tell you the amount of times that a woman in charge of the workplace has told me not to discuss. My pay has told me not to talk about certain things, but my coworker. To not discuss my bonuses, to not ask about certain payroll structures. Boy, do they close ranks when they get to a position at the top. I don't know if it's a hurt people type of deal, or if it's just a, I had to work this way and so you're going to do it as well. But it is caustic, it's plastic.
Pepper Roussel: I've always thought it was really just about socialization, right? So you in order to get along, you go along, right? So you learn how things work and then you see that's the way to move up the ladder and instead of changing the system that you work within the system thinking many of them have, and I, when I say them, I do mean anyone who has bought into the system of assimilation. Many of them have said that they can only make a change. By being within the system. You can't change something from without. You have to change it from within.
Traci Washington: But let me say this to you, Morgan. Now let me say this, because I've been in that position where I'm always going to be that outspoken one. Anybody who knows Tracy Washington knows I'm ask my best Rya Trinity. Now I try, I can't. But you've got to have the people who are still climbing. They're supporting you when you come out and you're outspoken for them. Because let me tell you something, they're not going to fire all the black women or all the black and brown women, but if y'all are scared, because Tracy is trying to say, you're not paying, you're not paying my sister's. Right? And then everybody goes scatters like, oh no that's happened to me. I cannot tell you Esperanza how many times that's happened to me. And yes, Morgan collective bargaining, I'm 100% for it. But until such time, because there's a lot of movement reverting, reversion, not wanting collective bargaining and collective bargaining raises all boats. We got to stand together guys. And that's my point. We just have to stand together. And sometimes with that, when that woman is up top and you're thinking, she's not trying to help let her know. She doesn't have to be scared that we've got our back. Hey, you are the chief financial officer now, we still got your back. As though you were wearing an account. Executive lonely at the top. Yes.
Pepper Roussel: so much that, and so I, before we start getting too short on time, I want to make sure, and I did see your question, Amanda, and I agree with you. I think that that it is a matter of being mentored and not, I'm not saying it's right, so you don't gimme the tisk finger that they take on those characteristics even though they shouldn't. I Do you want to, the, there's been a couple of points public moments in the chat where they're. where we've circled to our new neighbors, right? So immigrant women, whether they are working in non-traditional or even traditional roles, how vulnerable they end up being. Whether it's because they don't have the same protections or maybe it is a matter of not having the capacity for collective bargaining. And I would like to start with this idea of of the working in construction. And the question the one that I see most recently is, industrial construction's been harder on women for several reasons. Are there more women in housing or commercial building jobs?
Amanda Stanley: So from when I was doing this research this week, it, I didn't find really any figures on commercial and residential at all. It really was. Focused mainly on large scale industrial jobs. So I really don't know because even in the college, I was still very focused on industrial petrochemical field. And we move that way because based on our labor market information, we felt that the high demand, high wage was really focused on that petrochemical field for South Louisiana. So we, when we did try and explore commercial and residential, we didn't find that there was such a good fit.
Pam Wall: I would say the salaries are a lot higher in industrial construction. I also know from just my experience, and it could be different now because a lot, several years have passed, shall we say, is that, An industrial construction company gets a contract for a big project, let's say it's shell, and they hire a lot of people, they get it done, it's over, and then they lay off folks because they don't need 'em anymore, and then they go to another industrial construction company that might get the next contract. But it's always occurred to me that there are a lot of jobs that women could move into their own businesses if they worked in residential construction. Now, my experience in the last several years in living in relatively new developments in Baton Rouge is that Hispanic workers are the huge, there's big, a huge influx of Hispanic workers in housing because of the new, sort of the styles for stucco, for tile, for granite. They're just masters at this and maybe there's, there are fewer women because of that. But things like wallpaper Sheetrock finishing Sheetrock painting, there are a lot of jobs that women could do easily in home construction. There's a lot of home construction. But then also you all should know this if you don't, the largest barrier for employees in new employees in industrial construction is they like to hire a lot of these young men, but they can't pass the drug test. They don't understand that marijuana is a drug and it's going to show up. So that is a huge thing that we don't talk about a lot, but a huge percentage of people who apply. I'm not sure how many home and commercial construction companies, because they're usually a lot smaller, more of mom and pop, maybe. They may not do these drug tests just to comment. Because I really think that an easy way, easier way to get into construction would be the carpentry and the building. These houses that are in a lot of demand that are going up all around town. And those are usually family owned, kind of mom and pop types of businesses. At least that's how they start. But I don't know where the recruitment, if the, because I know there's an association here for those types of construction companies. I don't know if that's ever been on their agenda though, to look at how to hire more women because they usually do work nine to five. Types of jobs because of light and all those things.
Morgan Udoh: As someone who has now taken a very different avenue, a different path in the workplace I come from a family that's 80% military involved in like I have every branch in my family. That was the way in which my parents' generation found success within those structures. And then my generation found success by entering largely office-based workforce clerical, et cetera. And my father is a general tinkerer carpenter. He can drive anything. He can fix anything. I'm pretty sure he's had the same washer and dryer that my grandparents had way back in the sixties. He just keeps fixing that thing. And it's, I think about that dichotomy there where my brothers were encouraged to be tinkerers to work with their hands to try things out and fail. You can have all of these little small jobs where you are just a general laborer, but we don't encourage that with our girls. And I, I have this sneaking suspicion that it's because expect at the end of the day, if anyone's going to go out there and be innovative and try and possibly fail, we are much more comfortable with men doing that than we are with women because the soul position that we place women childbearing or not in this society, is that they have to be the ones to maintain the family unit no matter what. And so, there's that fear that's instilled from jump that I can't take too many risks. I can't try new things and fail because I have to make sure at the end of the day that this family is taken care of. And that family can be your own children. It could be your aging parents, it can be your siblings. Just think about when generations enter nursing homes and long-term care facilities, who is caring for them. You can have a family structure where there are only two girls in the latest generation and they're the ones taking care of every why do we socialize our family units? Why do we socialize society in that way? And then expect women to go out there and rah rah and you can do it all. No, I can't do it all. That's not good for my mental health. Why do I have to be the sole caregiver for everyone, but also the sole innovator to push things forward? How's that going to work? Why can't our men also be the primary caregivers? So that I have this space to innovate. I'm just tinkering.
Pepper Roussel: No, that sets up the a question that's in the chat. How can women navigate being given women's work, like hosting parties, getting supplies for the office, setting up rooms, et cetera? For anybody who's anybody on the panel this morning? You got thoughts,
Traci Washington: Ms. Pepper? I actually, I'm sorry, just one more time.
Alicia Richbourg: To piggyback off of Ms. Pam and Morgan. In the early two thousands, I had an all women construction company, Paul Painton and Plaster Services, and how I got in that particular industry, I found a development that a contractor had and was building houses. And actually it was development that I actually built my house in. And I started off as they needed someone to come in and clean after they build the homes. So when I got that contract with Jacob for Curry, which is one of the biggest con, one of the biggest contractors here in Baton Rouge, he allowed me to do that. But then I saw where there was a, in cleaning, there was other things that we can do. So I actually found a female carpenter, I found a female electrician. I found a female plumber I found, and I found a, I had a whole crew. And what we did is we went in and got the con. He would allow me, every development he would get, he would allow me to come in and paint and fix. Because some of the guys who weren't able like she said, they wouldn't show up. They get paid. And that was that. But coming from a military background as well, my parents always my dad always you have to do this and you have to know how to do that and you should know how to do this. And it basically taught me that you have to be multicultured and multistructured. You have to know how to do everything without a doubt. And. it almost cause because my mom was the person that stayed home. She was the homemaker and the nurturer and this, and dad was the provider. But he also saw that it was a need and a generation that didn't know how to do industrial things. That hey, the men sometime don't do or won't do, and you still need to know how to do that. In case he always said, what if I walk out the door? I need you to know how to do this. What if I your husband walk out the door? You don't know how to change attire. Hey. So those things, and I actually implemented those things in my daughters, and sometime it could actually be a harm because now they're so independent. So they I have to pray and tell 'em, you know what, Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. But because I, in. And I started that and say, you got to do this and you got to do that as well and know how. But the construction industry was a really good industry for me. But it was also when I went to other developments and they had other contractors along with the person who allowed me, you can feel the tension like what's she doing here? She'll know what she doing. I don't trust that because I was a female but didn't know. I had taken continuing ed classes through LSU to learn and know how to do a thing, but because I am a female, you don't know. They just automatically think you don't know.
Pepper Roussel: true words. I fully admit I don't know how to change attire, but I do have roadside assistance. Morgan.
Morgan Udoh: I just wanted to piggyback off what Alicia started. I feel like in the. Boomers raising millennial generation. We had a really great shift in our male parents ensuring that their girls, and I'm just going to word it the way they would had the skills of a man taking care of cars, et cetera, general carpentry or whatever. But that has just led to us now taking on multiple roles and being, and not being respected for either one of them. Where is this large-scale effort to teach our male presenting children, those who identify as male, the value and the skill of caregiving, of nurturing, of family care. I worry that we keep focusing so much on, on women and girls and fems and making sure that they have access to the binary male space without giving the opposite side of the coin. There's a lot of talk right now in society about all the women are so independent and whatever. And there's no, there's, it's hard with relationships now because there's a lack of social cohesion because women don't need us and they're doing everything themselves. We do need you assuming we're heteronormative. And, but you're not giving, you're not being given that same level of intention and expansion in your duties. We don't. Thank you. We don't even let boys play with dolls. How can they learn to nurture their children? How can they l learn to nor nurture their nieces and nephews? Where is this concerted effort to push men into home ec? Where is this concerted effort to make sure that they know that if the mom left the house, because we talk about, oh, what if the man left the house? What if the lady left the house? Do you know how to feed yourself? Do you know how to garden? Do you know? Are you confident in your toolkit of mental health resources to be able to handle grief? Can you handle grief care? Do you know how to set up a funeral? Do you know how to care for your elders through their end stage of life? Do you, are you confident in advocating for your family members in the medical space if something were to happen to them? Are you are you prepared for those types of skills? That typically we force women into
Traci Washington: Morgan, let me ask you something now. And it's not a pushback, it's just a, an ask. I was at a wedding I'm sorry, I was at a funeral wedding. A funeral. I was at a funeral last year and my oldest grandson, who was two and a half, almost three at the time, was playing with another kids there dolls. She just happened to be sitting on the floor. All the kids are playing. And then my cousin's grandson who's also the same age, she and I are the same generation. Her daughter is younger than my son. And their son came and was also sitting in the circle and she ripped him up and. And said, Uhuh, you don't play with dolls. That's how this all starts. And you would be surprised the number of women who were in that 25 to let me say 35-year-old age group who are at that funeral with kids who agreed with her. And I was mortified. So here it was, my son and daughter-in-law felt like what's wrong with us? Toys and toys at our house first come, first serve catches, catch can. I hadn't even thought about this. My racist plaintiff say we've got to also correct and feel comfortable and you more so because you are a that childbearing age. I'm not of correcting women who are doing this. And we are sitting around like it doesn't happen with young women and it is. It does.
Alicia Richbourg: Yes. They're all, and that's cause they're so afraid of, they have this social thing where, oh, I don't want him to play with dolls because I don't want him to be gay. But they taken the wrong, they've taken it the wrong way because I have a son. And of course he's the baby boy and he had three older sisters. So his father would say, oh, he can't be in there when they fixing they hair. He can't be in there when they make putting makeup on. And I was like he's just watching. You, but the male a man would be like, oh that's just, that's a no-no. You go in the other room, go find a football or something else to play. They just think that because. When you introduce a boy to something that a female does, it thinks they have this, they're going to be gay and not thinking this is a way that, hey, a mom has a baby. They nurture them, they hug them, they hold them, but they don't think that away. They think if he play with a doll baby, he's going to be gay. And that's with that age group. They don't even want their sons to cry. If they fall they don't want 'em to cry if they fall. That hurt they don't want them to show any type of emotions. But now understanding they actually are hurting them when it comes to their mental state because you are confusing them and not un they don't know what to be currently people tell me my son is gay. So they was say how do you feel about that? I said at the end of the day, he's still my son and I still have to love him. His life is his life and I don't condo him. But it is like, Hey, what can you do? When they choose to go another way and you train or teach them to do certain things, it's like at the end of the day, they are so wrapped up into society and what's going on in society and what they should look like and what they should be. It is just, we just in a sit, we in a world now where everybody is just doing what they want to do really.
Pepper Roussel: My personal opinion is that we spend far too much time being concerned about who is in somebody else's bed than our own.
Morgan Udoh: Oh, look there was a lot there. Yeah, I can I, and it's to the detriment of men because the patriarchy hurts men too. But yes, we have large swaths of female society that are, thank you. Consent is the only informed consent is the only thing that matters. Adults can do whatever they want. We have large swaps swaths of fem society that uphold these patriarchal norms in the name of bigotry. Bigotry and patriarchy go hand in hand. We cannot have feminism with bigotry. I it is, it's cognitive dissonance because how can you value womanhood? How can you value femininity and say there is strength in it and there and women can do whatever they want and them see those same feminine characteristics in men and shun it at the base of it. You don't actually value femininity, you are just giving. It is just talk. It's BS that when we actually value fems in all their forms, male body, female body, in between body, whatever, we won't have this division in the binary where in which we're struggling to get women in male spaces because there will be no different seen a male, a female, intersects non-binary. It won't matter because we won't be focused on gender. There will be value seen in both and we won't be trying to push one gender into these. Little puzzle pieces in the other, into other puzzle pieces because humanity in its the vessel itself will be respected. It's that simple.
Pepper Roussel: Respect the vessel. All right. Oh, we are, we've read a little bit long before y'all have to go on and live your lives that don't include me. I want to make sure to say a deep and heartfelt thank you to our panelists and for all of y'all for showing up this morning. This was a great conversation. It's one of the many that I've been so looking forward to in this month mainly because we are. Let me reframe that. I am learning to look at the same issue through a different lens. I am learning that there are different sides to this argument around women in workforce as well as the expansion of women through academia as well as entrepreneurship. So thank y'all so much for being here. There are a couple more questions in the chat. I will ask that y'all check out. There's one that I thought that was terribly interesting and that was really around the inflation reduction act and how that might improve or increase jobs. Amanda, if you've got a really quick answer to that, I'd love to hear.
Amanda Stanley: We're looking into that as well. I know that there's going to be some funding put through, like to the colleges and there's a real big push with that for apprenticeships right now. I haven't seen where there is a push for diversity in those push in the funding that's coming down, but I can certainly reach research it a little bit more and send it back to y'all.
Pepper Roussel: Fantastic. Is there, excuse me, is there anything that I might have missed? Is there anything if y'all want to come off mute and say or ask a question that you might have had that I didn't get to? May I just add one thing? Yes. If you if you have a male or female someone not conforming to this the gender norm, I don't care.
Traci Washington: A student who feels that they are being sexually harassed, or experiencing sexual discrimination in a K-12 setting or in a university setting, be it community college, any program. Let's do it this way. Any program receiving federal funding, right? Any educational program, there must be someone there who can direct them on how to file a complaint under Title IX. That is their right. And and I'm seeing this particularly with my clients in the K-12 setting where they're like, what's Title IX? And I'm going, oh my gosh. So we've got some really pushback. The colleges know about it. In the high schools I'm seeing and hearing about a lot of discrimination and sexual harassment. Bullying also comes under Title IX stalking. Huge, right? So that's my last thing. Really encourage them and always regret saying, and you can always get in contact with me. But , I always say it. You can always get in contact with me at Tracy.washington.esq@gmail.com or at Southern University Law Center, Tracy.Washington@sulc.edu.
Pepper Roussel: If memory serves, there was a whole movie dedicated to, on the basis of sex and the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how she used IX. A who Casey did you have any last words? Nothing to say. Fine. Just listening and learning as a cisgendered man should do. Bravo. Bravo.
Zoom Chat
08:31:00 From Lyn Hakeem_1Touch Ministry to Everyone:
Good morning to all
08:31:12 From Aimee Moles to Everyone:
still in my PJs
08:31:14 From One Rouge to Everyone:
Good morning, OneRouge!
08:33:51 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Love a good rabbit hole
08:35:20 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
I remember Women in Welding!!
08:38:20 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
There's a huge need for the trade PLUS, there is research for why women are highly sought after, right Amanda?
08:39:01 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
Yes - team oriented, safety conscious, and detail focused
08:39:24 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "Yes - team oriented,..." with 💜
08:39:29 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
08:39:45 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
great white paper from NCCER about women in construction and some of the issues faced
08:42:24 From Mia Ruffin to Everyone:
Reacted to "https://www.nccer.or..." with ❤️
08:42:32 From One Rouge to Everyone:
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/title-ix-rights-201104.html
08:42:52 From Pam Wall to Everyone:
I worked at Associated Builders' and Contractors in the early 1990s running a basic workplace literacy program. The owners wanted women to attend the training program out on Highland Road and enter the trades. But my observation then was that young women were supposed to adjust fully to the male dominated industry, which wasn't suitable for many young women who liked the salary but not the climate. Is anyone familiar with industry planning to appeal to women, especially for careers in stick welding, sheet welding, and even pipefitting done in the "shop" and then taken into the field. Just my 2 cents.
08:43:10 From jennifer Carwile to Everyone:
Is there anything in Title 9 that could have affect on sexual harassment ( thinking of LSU football department)
08:43:21 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
An Indiana great!
08:44:06 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@Jennifer carwile keep that lifted up
08:46:07 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
THIS VESSEL MUST BE RESPECTED
08:47:32 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
MORGAN!!!!!
08:47:53 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
MORGAN!!!
08:48:52 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
🤌 *snap*
08:49:38 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
INVISIBLE LABOR
08:49:49 From One Rouge to Everyone:
^^^ SO much that!!!
08:51:39 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Pepper, you wanted ALL the smoke when you invited Morgan as a featured speaker 😆
08:51:52 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with ❤️
08:51:54 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with ❤️
08:52:14 From Ashley Jones to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with 😂
08:52:34 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with ❤️
08:53:06 From Pam Wall to Everyone:
Who is doing night shift child care?
08:53:26 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@Pam yes! Because we are TIRED
08:53:32 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Who is doing night s…" with ‼️
08:53:33 From Lyn Hakeem_1Touch Ministry to Everyone:
Reacted to "Who is doing night s..." with 👍
08:53:54 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A…" with 💯
08:53:54 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
and why don't men ever worry about night shift child care...
08:53:59 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
(most men)
08:54:02 From Marcela Hernandez, LMSW (Louisiana Organization f to Everyone:
We face great issues with our immigrant and refugee women in this regards. Believe it or not, we have a lot of female construction workers and because of the immigration status, they are vulnerable to all kind of violations to their rights as women. And this is not including the issues related ro cultural beliefs and roles of women in certain communities
08:54:17 From One Rouge to Everyone:
The stork! Everybody knows that
08:54:27 From One Rouge to Everyone:
Reacted to "Who is doing night s..." with ‼️
08:54:30 From Ashley Jones to Everyone:
Reacted to "The stork! Everybody..." with 👏
08:54:33 From One Rouge to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with 😂
08:54:35 From Ashley Jones to Everyone:
Removed a 👏 reaction from "The stork! Everybody..."
08:54:41 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
We socialize men to be so limited in their opportunities to engage in the full human experience. To engage in all of society. Everyone loses under the binary.
08:54:49 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
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08:54:50 From Ashley Jones to Everyone:
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08:54:51 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
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08:55:35 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@Marcela thank you for lifting that up! I imagine that they also have even more barriers to enter the workforce due to their status
08:56:38 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
It takes a village to raise a child, yet we try to always keep it segmented for some reason 🙄
08:56:48 From One Rouge to Everyone:
the good old days weren’t good for a lot of people IJS
08:56:53 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
We care more about the optics of work than the work just getting done. Which is why childbearing workers existing in the work space and taking up space is disdained.
08:56:54 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
"Good Black Women"
08:57:03 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Yes Helena!
08:57:16 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "It takes a village t..." with 💜
08:58:22 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
And we are socialized (to our detriment) to think of everyone else first
08:58:51 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
Yes Morgan yes - and trying to break that cycle for our own girls is really really hard
08:58:53 From Aimee Moles to Everyone:
I have heard this sooo many times. It breaks my heart. They think theyre nothing without a man..
08:58:55 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
I have to work on it every day
08:59:02 From jennifer Carwile to Everyone:
Replying to "I worked at Associat…"
Pam- I have done done metalwork in the sculpture arena. Women enjoy the work, can do the work… but I’ve been at metal casting events where the men still act like pigs- very misogynistic and derogatory language, not wanting to listen to the women etc. the atmosphere is more frustrating than the work
08:59:13 From TC Nash to Everyone:
Come on!
08:59:26 From TC Nash to Everyone:
Reacted to "Pepper, you wanted A..." with ❤️
08:59:57 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone:
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09:00:27 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Yes Morgan
09:01:12 From TC Nash to Everyone:
I genuinely appreciate that last statement from Morgan about the margins cisgender men have been placed in. That is good perspective.
09:01:52 From One Rouge to Everyone:
30% FYI
09:02:04 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
Say that Morgan
09:02:50 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
All you have to do is look at how the contracts are written.
09:02:51 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Morgan, you are on my BLOCK, Baby!
09:03:09 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
Exactly.
09:03:36 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
On paper only.
09:05:04 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
But you also have to have advocates monitor for accountability and transparency in contracting, both public and private.
09:05:29 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
I want to learn how to weld!
09:06:04 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
Me too @Morgan
09:06:11 From Pam Wall to Everyone:
Amanda, are women entering the profession we used to call "operators" in the plants?
09:06:15 From jennifer Carwile to Everyone:
Pam- I have done done metalwork in the sculpture arena. Women enjoy the work, can do the work… but I’ve been at metal casting events where the men still act like pigs- very misogynistic and derogatory language, not wanting to listen to the women etc. the atmosphere is more frustrating than the work
09:06:36 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
^ those caustic environments are a huge barrier
09:06:48 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
We also have to advocate without apology getting on the oversight boards and fighting actively for a different voice.
09:07:09 From Esperanza Zenon to Everyone:
Replying to "I worked at Associat..."
There is a good-ole-girls network too
09:07:26 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Replying to "I worked at Associat..."
^^And they close ranks HARD.
09:07:31 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
The interesting thing as we are having this conversation, many of us well meaning folks I'm the social sector are also participating in these structural barriers for women in the workplace. Not even us social justice warriors are immune!
09:07:50 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Side-note, There are only around 7 men on this call right now :( Would be great to have had more here to “hear” what is being said.
09:08:00 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "Side-note, There are..." with 💜
09:08:03 From jennifer Carwile to Everyone:
Reacted to "Side-note, There are…" with 👌
09:08:07 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
Absolutely, Sherreta.
09:08:21 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Replying to "The interesting thin..."
*in not I'm
09:09:05 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@sherreta truth. Language matters. What we say builds what we value. I have to fight my programming everyday. It helps when you have a partner also willing to police their decolonization as well.
09:09:16 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
Thank you for noting who choose not to in this conversation. It does indeed speak volumes.
09:09:30 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Thank you for noting..." with ❤️
09:09:32 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
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09:09:32 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
In the workplace, how can women navigate being given “women’s work” like hosting parties, getting supplies for the office, setting up rooms, etc.?
09:09:37 From Mary Stein to Everyone:
There is also a lack of sufficient, quality child-care providers
09:09:48 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
HELENA!
09:10:02 From Pam Wall to Everyone:
Industrial construction has been harder on women for several reasons; are there more women in housing/commercial building jobs?
09:10:19 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
I just went to a mixed income housing community yesterday that built out a day and night day care center along with reserving 25% of the housing for city workers to be able to live near their jobs downtown. Brilliant and the right thing to do.
09:10:21 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Thank you for noting…" with ❤️
09:10:34 From jennifer Carwile to Everyone:
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09:10:50 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
Where @casey?
09:11:33 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Yes!!!!
09:11:40 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
🙌🏽
09:11:50 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Toxic
09:12:11 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
gatekeeping
09:12:14 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Because usually if we've made it to a certain level it's because we've played the patriarchy game well.
09:12:14 From Tracie L. Washington, Esq. to Everyone:
PEPPER ESPERANZA BROUGHT THE FIRE!!!!
09:12:27 From Mia Ruffin to Everyone:
Are there ways to guide femme folks to this work after their early youth? I think there are a lot of people who may feel like they've missed the chance to launch into more tangible, body filled work if they hadn't made the decision at or soon after 18-21.
09:12:32 From Kim Mosby to Everyone:
YES YES YES!!! Thought I had found my work home when I got hired at an org founded and lead and staffed by Black women. WAS I EVER WRONG!!!
09:12:43 From One Rouge to Everyone:
They have to be ABOUT THAT LIFE!!!
09:12:46 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
It's also about all the lenses that impact inequalities; gender, race, class, age
09:12:47 From Kim Mosby to Everyone:
Most repressive place I've ever worked.
09:13:06 From Lyn Hakeem_1Touch Ministry to Everyone:
Word up @ Esperanza
09:13:14 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
The system changes minds
09:13:17 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Ebony, it is a Matthews Southwest development at 2400 Bryant St. in Dallas (The Galbraith)
09:13:19 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
I'd love to talk about this. As a new Co Executive, there have been lessons, boy!
09:13:33 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
Anytime tax dollars are involved citizens need to demand policy be inclusive. We don't have to give tax benefits to developers that don't include childcare or make it mixed income.
09:13:34 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Say more sherreta
09:13:38 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
Reacted to "Ebony, it is a Matth..." with 👍🏼
09:14:36 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Collective bargining
09:14:42 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
bargaining
09:14:51 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
is it that the women that are in leadership are mentored mainly by men, so then take on those characteristics as they move up?
09:15:45 From Kim Mosby to Everyone:
Fear of losing what they've built. Trauma from past experiences...
09:15:50 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
@morgan, we've talked about how pervasive harmful structures are. And just because folks have "made it" doesn't mean they've got it all figured out.
09:16:34 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
^we need to consider what success is. Is making it in a caustic space, really something to be celebrated? Is that the end goal?
09:17:19 From Marcela Hernandez, LMSW (Louisiana Organization f to Everyone:
I have to jump into another meeting. I really enjoyed today's topic! Thank you very much for bringing this in consideration for all. Awesome as always!
09:17:41 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
This is also an issue for those struggling to enter or maintain a foothold, like the disability community.
09:17:54 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Some interesting articles:
09:17:55 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
There's a heavy, heavy burden for the first ever, only folks. And some of it is personality, but a lot of it is also systemic. Can you imagine trying to do a new job and create radical change while also remembering that you are the breadwinner for you WHOLE family?
09:17:55 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:18:07 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "^we need to consider..." with 💜
09:18:11 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@Rev ableism is the base
09:18:13 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:18:50 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
@sherreta the STRESS of being the trailblazer.
09:18:50 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "This is also an issu..." with 💜
09:18:54 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:19:19 From Mary Stein to Everyone:
The days versus nights shift work schedule in many industrial construction and operation jobs is really impossible for a single household parent.
09:19:59 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
And sometimes we suffer from the Obama affect... now that we have "One of us in charge" we ought to be much better off. Baby, they can't fix 100s of years of disfunction in 1 contract cycle.
09:20:05 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
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09:20:08 From Mia Ruffin to Everyone:
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09:20:39 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Something to think about: How can the Inflation Reduction Act create jobs that are accessible and inclusive for women?
09:20:42 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:21:07 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
And admittedly I'm biased maybe because I'm living this right now. But I also consider myself objective and a creater of access, so I spend a lot of time exploring this.
09:21:12 From Karla King - concerned citizen to Everyone:
Pam, thank you
09:21:24 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
When we continue to treat those most impacted (low and no wealth communities) as if this isn't their struggle we fail to take into account what needs to change in terms of workforce barriers.
09:21:46 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:22:33 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Perhaps something like this exists in Baton Rouge - https://www.new-nyc.org/
09:23:00 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone:
Thanks y'all - headed to the next session.
09:23:06 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
The backbone....
09:23:09 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
We raise our boys to be brave. We raise our girls to be perfect.
09:23:18 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "We raise our boys to..." with 💜
09:23:18 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
Yes Ebony!
09:23:20 From Mia Ruffin to Everyone:
Reacted to "We raise our boys to..." with 👍
09:23:27 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Come through, Ebony!!!!
09:23:56 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone:
When power wanted legalized gambling they advocated for legislative changes. When we finally realize that things like drug testing are artificial barriers. The drug testing scandal at CATS is a classic example.
09:24:00 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
With their half salaries, Morgan!!!
09:24:29 From Verna Bradley-Jackson One Touch Ministry to Everyone:
Yes Ebony!
09:24:38 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
The "emotional labor" that women carry greatly impacts their ability to participate in a diverse labor market
09:24:58 From One Rouge to Everyone:
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09:25:16 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
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09:25:30 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
The #girlboss narrative is putting us in early graves because we are encouraged to be everything on the male side of success AND still be the sole caregiver
09:25:45 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
Reacted to "The #girlboss narrat..." with 💯
09:26:00 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
To a conversation I had with Mrs Pam Wall this summer RE: gender bias around “office housework” - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/09/they-feel-guilty-why-women-should-say-no-to-office-housework
09:26:11 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "The #girlboss narrat..." with 💜
09:26:52 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
I’ve known many men that also feel that way. That overwhelming pressure of having to provide financially and stay strong for their family as protector. Like Morgan was speaking on, that pressure for both sides to live up to the expectations of what a “real man is”
09:27:10 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
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09:27:19 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
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09:28:39 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
https://19thnews.org/2023/02/black-environmental-justice-activists-leaders-mentors/
09:29:00 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
UGHHHH YES
09:29:41 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Yes yes yes
09:29:45 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
(She says as holding a child while on a panel speaking to people doing multiple jobs)
09:29:46 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
"doing both roles and not being respected to either one if them" - indeed
09:29:59 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
They won't even let boys play with dolls or kitchen sets in make believe. Why would they teach em to caretake or cook?
09:30:06 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "(She says as holding..." with 💜
09:30:08 From Pam Wall to Everyone:
See you all next week! Great passion, lots of knowledge!!
09:31:08 From Ebony Starks-Wilson Foundation to Everyone:
As a mom of two boys, I think about this often and try to be intentional about this--skills like cleaning, cooking, providing emotional support, active and compassionate listening
09:31:13 From Esperanza Zenon to Everyone:
Talk to y'all next week
09:31:28 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Had a conversation with my sister as my nephew was talking about moving out years before it was to happen. I asked, girl can he even cook?
09:32:07 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
There's pushback; anti-queerness enters and shrieks that modern society is making male children "effeminate" when teaching them hygiene/domestic labor/manners.
09:32:41 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Like not a chef, but can he use an oven? Cuz I knew a grown adult who had never used a microwave cuz his mom prepared every meal for him from birth to 20
09:33:04 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
How many of us are children of Single Moms? Once of age, I was taught to be self sufficient, not about being gendered…
09:33:28 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Anti-queerness feeds into the patriarchy
09:33:34 From TC Nash to Everyone:
This is so good!
09:33:36 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "This is so good!" with 💯
09:33:42 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
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09:33:44 From One Rouge to Everyone:
RT @sherreta, that bothers me on a fundamental level! It is a necessity to be able to feed yourself. It is not a flex to say “I can’t cook” 😒
09:34:01 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "How many of us are c…" with 👍
09:34:21 From Helena Williams to Everyone:
When I was raising my son and had a tight income, I would buy the cheapest version of the toy…sometimes in pink or purple. I taught him that it doesn’t matter what color the item is, it is still the same thing. And growing up he would tell his playmates that same thing when they would comment on it.
09:34:36 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "Anti-queerness feeds..." with 💜
09:34:37 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs = basic level - can your children groom themselves? Because grooming is essential before you go in the kitchen. Dirty nails can't be used to cook.
09:34:38 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
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09:34:48 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Reacted to "How many of us are c..." with 👍
09:34:59 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Reacted to "How many of us are c..." with 👍
09:35:01 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Removed a 👍 reaction from "How many of us are c..."
09:35:03 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
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09:35:05 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Removed a 👍 reaction from "How many of us are c..."
09:35:13 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Why does it matter
09:35:18 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Reacted to "When I was raising m..." with 💕
09:35:53 From Kim Mosby to Everyone:
CONSENT is the only thing that should matter!
09:36:37 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Remember when men wasn't supposed to kiss their sons??? 🙄🙄🙄
09:37:59 From Dr. Epps to Everyone:
Demeaning diverse consenting relationships between adults (minus all grooming) = health risks + mental anguish.
09:38:32 From Karla King - concerned citizen to Everyone:
Thanks everyone for most important session today. Thanks for giving a platform that is safe for people to talk their truth.
09:38:42 From iPhone (2) to Everyone:
Reacted to "Thanks everyone for …" with ❤️
09:38:53 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
Thank you - this was great
09:39:03 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Sorry I was late! I can only imagine how powerful the conversation was based on what I did hear <3
09:39:07 From Kim Mosby to Everyone:
Thanks for the great convo as always! Happy to share space with all of you and happy to have my path cross with Tracie's again! It's been a long time since our POC/organizing days. Hope you've been well.
09:40:29 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:40:44 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $175 Million in Internet for All Grants to 61 Minority-Serving Colleges and Universitie
09:41:01 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
09:41:58 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
My final word: If you cannot see the value of femininity at its core… it doesn’t matter if those characteristics show up in a male body or a female body. You’re just paying lip service to gender inclusivity so long as you require that gender expression be binary. When we destroy the binary, we remove the barrier for vessels of all variety to naturally show up in the workplace as they best more productive selves. Bigotry and the Patriarchy go hand in hand. Sit with that until you see the matrix behind it all.
09:42:18 From TC Nash to Everyone:
Can I get a copy of the chat?
09:42:43 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
TC, the Zoom chat is always included in the Saturday meeting notes. Thanks for sharing space with us today
09:43:41 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Amanda, do you all still drug test the youth for summer employment?
09:44:13 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
@Casey - yes, as employees of the city, all youth with go through a background check and drug test
09:44:40 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Thanks…and goes without saying, that policy needs to change unless they are operating heavy machinery
09:45:10 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
That is definitely something on our radar -
09:45:12 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
^agreed.
09:45:32 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Capitalism strikes again!
09:45:37 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
especially since a failed drug test can make the youth ineligible anywhere from 1 year (THC) to 3 years (all others)
09:45:49 From Amanda Stanley - LDWB 21 EBR to Everyone:
and is a huge barrier
09:45:55 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Amen
09:46:29 From Casey Phillips to Everyone:
Thank You Powerful Speakers!
09:47:37 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
https://downtownbatonrouge.org/discover-downtown/events/holi-festival-1
09:47:37 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Artspreneur Conference this weekend. https://www.artspreneur2023.com/
09:47:47 From Morgan Udoh (She/Her/They) to Everyone:
Its free!
09:47:48 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
09:47:55 From Manny Patole to Everyone:
South Asia represent ;-)
09:48:01 From One Rouge to Everyone:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/03/07/holi-2023-what-is-hindu-festival/11414287002/
09:49:04 From Sherreta R. Harrison to Everyone:
Great convo!
Community Announcements
Amanda Stanley: So the Employee BR we are doing a youth roundup tomorrow from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the MLK community center for our summer youth program. So that would be our youth ages 14 to 24. We place them at different organizations and work sites around the city. For their summer program. They we you do have to be deemed eligible based on income barriers, different things like that. So we're looking about a hundred percent of poverty or if that person receives TANIF or SNAP benefits, they automatically qualify. So if you know of any youth that are looking for summer employment, have them come out tomorrow, MLK Community Center from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM or they can always come by our office.
Rev. Anderson: Good morning. Several announcements. One, just a reminder to everybody that the change in SNAP benefits is really crucial that impacted folks get that information. The reduction to pre covid numbers and then also the reporting requirements for Medicaid. The impact of that is going to happen as of March 30th, but people are starting to get notices even as we speak. Early voting starts on Saturday, and I am super excited because we are hosting it's group of community organizations are hosting as usual a judicial candidate form. It's a virtual judicial candidate form on Sunday, which is also when the time changes. So it's at three o'clock, which will be different on Sunday than it was on Saturday from three to four. And it's going to live stream on three website, on three Facebook pages, which is Power Coalitions page preachers page, and then also the East Baton Rouge Parish Prisoner Reform Coalition page. And of course, it'll be available after the live streaming. But that's going to be on Sunday, March 12th from three to 4:00 PM And as usual We will be hosting the 19th J d c Family First Appearance, family Support Center down at the River Center Library every Tuesday from 12 to 12:55 PM to assist anybody that may have something going on in the court.
Pepper Roussel: And to put a point on the time change that's coming up. Y'all, this is the one that hurts because you lose an hour of sleep. Just going to share a little bit of what I used to do when my boys were little, which was just to start moving their bedtime up by 15 minutes and waking 'em up. But that same 15 minutes earlier the course of the week leading up to it, it makes it a lot less painful.
Helena Williams: The Future Fund is hosting a hackathon training event tomorrow at Southern University TTL Lane. We are sold out for the youth tickets, but if you're an adult who wants to just stand and observe, you're always welcome to. This is leading up to our Jolt Con happening on April 22nd, which is going to be partly a hackathon competition, which is what we're training them for, and also a bunch of workshops for teens to learn more about the tech industry and the creative arts industry and what the futures fund has to offer.
Jesse Watson: One more announcement. Sorry, just one more announcement, just FYI. Baton Rouge Joshua Discovery will be tabling at two events this weekend. One will be the Holi Fest, as well as another Louisiana Leadership health initiative that's going to be taking place over Baton Rouge. Hope to see individuals out and we're looking forward to being at that event. So just wanted to add that in. Appreciate, again, specific, that event is called Health Leadership. Yep. I'm give you a little bit of information about it. It's actually going to be at repentance. If anybody's familiar with the culture around Holi Festival, I would say actually celebrating colorful it's celebrating actually a Hindu religion, but it's you may want to just of look it up to see a little more information about it, but this is something that's celebrated in a lot of spaces around, around the world. But we're looking at being a part of it. We're trying to really expand within the area of Baton Rouge and not just looking at, obviously like one demographic. We want to make sure that we are really being representative of the community. So our thing is to make sure that we are in various spaces to really get a, and hopefully have our, I guess our student population. Hopefully it's really a snapshot of broadband rouge. So thank you. I think someone posted the Some information about the Holi Fest.