Marginalization isn’t something that goes away just because you get older and wiser. Music executive Janisha Jones realizes he experiences as a child prepared her for the challenges she faced in her career just as she prepares others.
"Growing up in a black community and attending a predominantly white institution from age 5, I was introduced to tokenism early. For most of my life, being the only black girl among my classmates or social circles held a weight of responsibility. As a representative of my community taking up space in someone else's, I couldn't show up fully and authentically and this caused me to have some real identity issues. One of them, my need for overachievement, led me to excel academically and use my musical gifts to stand out. This allowed me to become less invisible, to exist in their world until the veil of underestimation threatened to hide me again.
Gratefully, as a pageant girl I was surrounded by other young black girls from my city & other states whose parents instilled in them a level of confidence to conquer an unfair world; one that was never built for them to succeed. Nonetheless, we've persevered, often leading the charge to be the changes we wished to see.
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20 years later as a music executive, I realize that not much has changed except that my upbringing prepared me to be a career token. I've never been one of the cool kids, my roles were never front-facing; however, my unique ability to understand data analytics and to drive business decisions offered me a competitive advantage in an already hyper-competitive industry. It's isolating at the intersection of racial and gender biases in the music+tech space; I am an anomaly and sometimes it's lonely.
This experience is shared by a majority of women of color in this industry who, while often over-qualified or -educated, not only find themselves alone and without support, but stifled by lack of career advancement opportunities. Just yesterday, in a call with a new connection, a black woman who led a long career as a music supervisor confided in me about being overlooked for a project that she is uniquely qualified for, but that was ultimately assigned to a white male counterpart because of his ongoing relationship with the agency. This bottlenecking of opportunities correlates to the number of black women opting out of the corporate world to start their own businesses. Studies show that black women are the highest rate of entrepreneurs in America. It's not coincidental, and my experience proves it.
Recently, I made the leap into entrepreneurship working alongside my former employer who is now a client. Leveraging my value add, unique skills, and knowledge is what afforded me this well-earned opportunity. While I celebrated my independence, a chance to present my services as a full-time business owner was requested and I showed up confident in the work I produced. To my dismay, I was floored when a corporate head requested that I forward my work in a version they could copy for company-wide use. In other words, they wanted me to assist them in plagiarizing my work to use as their own. I realized the strides I had made towards autonomy could never be fully achieved in this system.
The data research I conducted on intersectionality in the music business shows that discreditation ranks as one of the biggest obstacles women of color face in this industry. As a leader, my responsibility is to practice what I preach, to advocate for myself in these situations. I noted this request with apprehension as I believed it was an attempt to discredit or take ownership of my work. However, I was soon reminded that as an independent contractor, the work belonged to the company. I felt degraded, but what else could I do? I rest in knowing that my power lies in my ability to manifest what I imagine creatively and authentically.
Though, to think of it, it's a tale as old as time; America has a history of discrediting black inventors whose work ends up patented by and profiting white men. It's the combination of entitlement and privilege that enables some to take ownership of ideas they didn't create themselves. . This needs to end.
My hope in sharing this story is to empathize with anyone who has been marginalized. I understand how exhausting it can be to feverishly run towards a goal post that continues to move further away. The more you play the game, rule by rule, the more you realize the game has been rigged from the start.
To my sisters in the battle for equity, the glass ceiling may be bulletproof, but this is the fight of our lives. We bring the culture and nothing moves without us. Women of color are the future so here's to knowing your worth... then adding tax!"
This is the time for virtual community and sharing. If you would like to contribute to this ongoing narrative, please send an email to esherberg@bizjournals.com.