We’ve Come A Long Way

Kai

EL’ Zabar Editor In Chief

Terri Winston

Vice President

Darnell Pulphus

Art Director

Editors

Danielle Sanders

Managing Editor

Dr. Mila K. Marshall

Cannabis Corner Editor

Staff Writers

Dr. Sharice Braford

Liz Lampkin

Marcus Bouldin

David Pierce

Tammy Gibson

Theresa Horton

Shaneen Murray

Marti Worell

Contributors

NNPA Newswire

Mare Evans

Eric Grant

Cover Photography

Worsome Robinson

Cover Make-up Artist

Melanie Weaver 8348

Vol.

One day years ago, my friend, mentor, and publisher, Thom Rivers, and I sat across from Mr. John H. Johnson who was behind his desk in his Michigan Ave. office discussing our publication, Elancee’, of which he was an investor. At some point, I asked him, “Mr. Johnson, why didn’t you hire me? I applied twice. You even commented on my sample writings.” He answered unapologetically, “No one’s going to read a magazine whose editor has some “oogabooga” name.”

His response reminded me of my very middle-class mother. So, I smiled laughing quietly inside, and responded, “Mr. Johnson, I hear you, but they have, they do, and they will.” Twenty years later as I directed the cover photo shoot of him on the balcony of Ebony/Jet Magazine offices overlooking the glorious Lake Michigan, I smiled and asked the 82-year-old, “Mr. Johnson so what do you think now about the girl with the oogabooga name?” But this isn’t about me but more about women in 2023. My name was just one thing in the litany of challenges to break down barriers that barred women from the table and out of the boardroom. When I began my stint with Elancee’, I came on board as a writer, young and enthusiastic. We were working out of New York; the magazine was called Elan at the time. Things happened. To make it short let me say, Thom Rivers bought the magazine and moved it to Chicago. When Thom offered me the editor position, I accepted the challenge.

Back then, I wore my hair natural and wildly free all over my head, accented with an arm full of silver bangles with African beaded bracelets and dressed very fashionably avant-garde. One day, Thom said, “Kai, you been to the bank lately?” I answered him in the affirmative, ‘yes.’ He went on to complete the question, “You see how the bankers’ dress, . . . you think you can do that?”

What I didn’t know is that he and Mr. Jackson had flipped a coin to decide who was going to have the uncomfortable talk with me about my style of professional dress. Well, Mr. Jackson was the fated one. Both were warriors that had gone out and conquered the white corporate world when they were the only ones. Thom had cut his teeth at ESSENCE and the New York Times and Mr. Jackson at The National Law Journal and its sister publications.

Mr. Jackson informed me that he was taking me to lunch to talk. After ordering, he began with, “ As the Editor now you have a big responsibility, including establishing an image for the magazine, and being an example for women. I kept listening waiting for what was coming. And so, it did-- “You know, right now, you dress like the boss’s wife.”

“What? My expression was filled with indignation, yet the words never left my lips, when Mr. Jackson, said, “let me finish. What I mean is you dress outside the uniform. And every corporation has a uniform.” By then I was cross-eyed. My lips could not remain shut, so I objected, “No they don’t!” and he said quite matter of fact, “Yes they do.”

I agreed that yes, doctors, nurses, postal workers, pilots, flight attendants, sports players, police, firemen, and the armed forces did but not business types.’ Right?

And that’s when I got the lesson of my life. He said, “Uniforms serve to identify what team you’re on. Then there are the standards, polished shoes, starched shirts, tucked-in, etc., so when your team is looking at itself, they are unified, and everybody is on the same page—identifying each as a team player. But let me

Kai EL’ Zabar Editor-in-Chief

tell you something, that brother who comes to the table with a flashy diamond pinky ring on his finger to express his individuality is stating that he’s not a team player. He thinks it expresses him as unique. The issue is that it’s a distraction. What makes you unique is your performance.”

He had my attention, so he continued, “Having women sitting at the table once occupied by men only is challenging. Why do you think the designers created clothing that mimicked the man’s suit? Because we want you to look like a team member. Women just being women sitting at the table with hair out, red lips, and red nails in a sexy dress, exposing their curves is totally distracting to men. We immediately picture you . . . head on the pillow. It may be unfair, but it is real. It’s going to take a moment for the male species to become accustomed to you sitting at the table with us on equal footing.”

And there it was! That’s why Thom had asked me about the bankers. I got it and chose to be a team player because I was in it to win it! So, the following week when I met Thom at Burrell Communications for a meeting, I was dressed in a Burberry trench, Brooks Brothers suit, Bruno Magli pumps, and a fresh Lisa Bonet short shortcut.

Today women in business are baring naked arms, sporting bare legs, long flowing hair, but some things remain the same. The business culture overall still has a uniform, and uniqueness in those settings is still considered relevant and serious based on your performance. Being a standout, means being a standout performer, not necessarily standing out as unique because of what you wear, clothing wise, hair color wise, fingernail colors and lengths, tattoo wise or otherwise. People who own businesses, whose blood sweat and tears are poured into making sure that you are paid for what you do, are just not interested in someone’s unique tastes in style. Those things can detract from what it is you are ultimately trying to convey. Some things have not changed yet and may never change as long as you are looking to someone else to finance your job, then you must take into account what they have decided their brand image is and embrace it. You represent them, and they have a right to say what is an acceptable representation of the brand that they built.

If we insist on being taken seriously when in the gladiator arena, then we must dress the part, but we can still rejoice that we are in fact, in the arena . . . “We’ve come a long way, Baby!”