This episode is recognizing today, Friday, June 19th, 2020, Juneteenth or otherwise known as Freedom Day. This State holiday, which is now observed by 46 states, originated from June 19, 1865, commemorating the day the remaining black slaves in the Confederacy were made aware of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation - which was an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln, on January 1st, 1863, changing the federal legal status of black slaves in the confederate states, from slaves to free people. Almost 2 years after the signing of this document, black slaves in Texas, where confederate sympathizers fled to from other southern states to evade the Union armies, the black slaves were finally made aware that they were indeed free.

Today's episode is a series of (3) LIVE interviews taken from the February 2020 BAM conference, or Blacks at Microsoft conference. BAM is Microsoft's oldest employee resource group, just over 30 years old, dedicated to supporting the continued growth and development of black employees.

We talk about everything from how BAM is helping to create a more diverse future workforce, to the real nature of identifying unconscious bias, we hear from a white ally about things they are working at to get better as a leader, and we talk about how to deal with additional cultural stigmas that people are challenged with in today's workforces.

Ways to contact Guests:

Sonya Weaver-Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonyaweaverjohnson/

Sean Bittner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanjbittner/

Jason Bradley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bradley-3a520a16/

Black Nonprofits and Organizations Mentioned:

Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated: https://jackandjillinc.org/

100 Black Men: https://100blackmen.org/

National Society of Black Engineers: https://www.nsbe.org/Home.aspx

Resources:

Juneteenth: http://history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

Learning more about BAM: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/programs/blacks-scholarships.aspx

BAM Conference Video Interviews: https://youtu.be/OsBQGrTpg98

Satya Nadella Blog with ways to support black lives: https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/06/05/change-in-ourselves-helps-drive-change-in-the-world/

Causes I continue to Support

Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/

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Upcoming Events: Exploring the Realities of Racism Through Virtual Reality (VR), Thursday, June 25th, 2020

https://www.linkedin.com/events/6678637748611620864/

Interested in starting your own podcast? Some candid advice here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-start-podcast-3-step-gono-go-beginners-guide-derek-russell

Learn more about the Data Binge Podcast at www.thedatabinge.com

Connect with Derek:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekwesleyrussell/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN1c5mzapLZ55ciPgngqRMg/featured

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Medium: https://medium.com/@derekwesleyrussell

Email: [email protected]