A new tool to track Latinx inclusion in the Fortune 100, George Clooney is sad, the Marines ban the Confederate flag, and a viral video highlights the disproportionate punishment of Black kids in school.
But first, here’s your week in review, in Haiku.
“Call me Harry,” he
smiled, becoming the hero
we didn’t know we
needed. In a world
of Hot Pockets heiresses,
always Be The Good.
If you can’t be good,
at least try to be sorry,
and at the very
least, wash your hands. In
a world of hate and fear, hope
can be hard to find.
Take a breath. Look up!
We’ve a new moon in tow! Let’s
name her Katherine.
Wishing you a hopeful and stellar weekend.
Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com
On Point
George Clooney “saddened” by Nespresso’s alleged use of child labor The actor, who has been the face of the coffee brand worldwide, was reacting to a media report that alleges the company had been sourcing coffee from Guatemalan farms using child labor. Nespresso said they have stopped all coffee purchases from the entire region until they can confirm that child labor isn’t being used; Clooney asked the British investigative documentary program Dispatches to stay on the story. “Having grown up working on a tobacco farm from the time I was 12, I’m uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labor,” says Clooney. “That’s why I joined the Sustainability advisory board of Nespresso seven years ago along with the Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade International, and the Fair Labour Association among many others with the goal then, as it remains to this day to improve the lives of farmers.”
People
The Latino Corporate Directors Association is putting corporate boards on notice The group that’s dedicated to improving Latinx representation on corporate boards has launched a new tool to highlight the issue. It’s new, interactive Latino Board Tracker shows that of 1,000 largest companies in the Fortune cohort, some 75% have no Latinx board members, seven have more than two Latinx board members of any gender, and five have more than one Latina board member. The list is current as of year-end 2019. The company with the highest representation are based in Puerto Rico and Florida, not surprisingly. But one retail titan is a true standout. Can you guess which one?
Associations Now
The Confederate flag is banned from all Marine Corps installations The order issued by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger appeared online yesterday, the directive requires senior staff to ensure the removal of all symbols of the Confederate States of America from all Marine installations. All branches of the military have struggled with the cognitive dissonance of unresolved history now amplified by the modern white supremacy movement. One example: Ten Army bases are still named for Confederate generals. In the past few years, Marines have been investigated or discharged for their associations with alt-right groups, including one Lance Corporal who was dismissed following his arrest for assaulting counter-protesters at the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Task and Purpose
On Background
Today in Black History… As we say goodbye to the best month of the year, I stand in tribute to Phonte, one half of the rap duo Little Brother, and a damn funny man. Every day this month, he tweeted out an “unsung hero” of Black History, based on the kinds of down-home trailblazing behavior that helps you understand exactly where you come from. “Today in Black History we celebrate David 'Sonny Boy' Pettiford, recognized as the first father to shake up water in an empty bottle of Tussin,” he tweeted on Feb. 23. “Today in Black History we celebrate Stanleyetta Hawkins, the first child to be named by a petty Black father who wanted a son,” came on Feb 20. This one —“Today in Black History we celebrate the life of Kenny Ray Littleton, the first man to be brutally murdered for drying his hands on a decorative towel”— slayed me. A hilarious reminder that I truly am the dream of my ancestors, and so are you.
@Phonte
Predicting conflict on diverse teams This case study on conflict and negotiation focuses on “the faultlines” that occur between people when diverse groups split themselves into “homogenous subgroups according to demographic characteristics,” like race. Researchers observed strong faultlines (and dysfunctional conflict) between a negotiation role-playing team made up of two white men in their 40s and two African-American women in their 20s. But when demographic diversity was broader—as observed in a team comprised of one white man, one Asian man, one Hispanic woman, and one African-American woman, all in their 30s—conflict diminished. But what really made a difference were groups comprised of people with distinct “information-based” diversity, such as work experience or subject matter expertise.
Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation
The hidden history of racism in atomic research European scientists fleeing Adolf Hitler’s rise flocked to the U.S. in the 1940s. Many joined the Manhattan Project and the quest to create atomic weaponry. African-American scientists were welcomed by the refugees in facilities up north, but when the Oak Ridge, Tenn. lab was constructed in the Jim Crow South, black scientific talent was no longer allowed to do the work. Says a University of Chicago professor, the European scientists were shocked. "Many were foreign-born and so the whole idea of discrimination against Blacks was repugnant.” Click through for the inspiring story of J. Ernest Wilkins Jr., the Black prodigy who worked with Enrico Fermi at the famous Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, before his research moved south without him.
Knox News
Tamara El-Waylly produces raceAhead and manages the op-ed program.
Quote
“We’ve had comments on our posts...saying ‘I have been bullied at work because I wear hoops or because I am too Latina.’ For people who thrive in the corporate environment, I would say, find that community that you’re lacking within your corporate job outside and find mentors who will help you show up every day of being unapologetic about who you are."
—Ana Flores, founder of the #WeAllGrow Latina Network
