You may have read Cindi Bright’s thank you letter to Tabor 100 in the March issue of The Langston. She received a BBEF grant to assist her while she was writing her book, ‘The Color of Courage.’ The following is a thread of her life from clerk-typist to entrepreneur and author.
Cindi Bright says she ‘fell’ into her mission as she typed her father’s homework when he was studying to be a paralegal and when, at seventeen, she worked as a clerk typist cum personnel advisor taking notes on labor disputes, grievances, and employee hearings. “I started to see that these disciplinary actions were always Black people. Why is it always Black people, what is the issue here?” That question began her grounding in labor issues.
She left her Vallejo, California, hometown, got a job at Weyerhauser, and started to climb the corporate ladder. She was a human resources manager. From there, a vice president at SAFECO insurance. “Then, I was recruited by Russell Investments” for a higher level HR directorship. “Again, I was in traditional white environments.” Along the way, she received her MBA. Bright was an at-will employee and Russell fired her. “What they did to me was what they do to every Black woman who has the audacity to defend herself.” She prevailed in court and the settlement was enough to propel her into her own business. Aside from her book, Cindi Bright has a radio show and podcast, ‘HeartBeat Radio.’ She speaks locally and nationally about her mission to “…crush racism in corporate America. Corporate America does not want to hear it. Black people have to demand it. I’ve been doing all this to build an enterprise to move the ecosystem that is tearing Black people down. That’s why I do what I do.”
Bright says it’s time for Black women to lead across the United States. “Black women are the ones who should be prospering in this society. We have to get Black women elected and in key positions. Traditional recruiting methods have failed. Those in charge don’t know who we are.” Bright says we need a version 2.0 of diversity and racial progress. Her advice for success to Black women? “Build your own empire.” In other words, don’t put your future in the hands of the oppressors.
Contact Cyndi Bright:
[email protected]
425-213-3265
