Maurice Cherry
What in the article resonated most for you?
Near the end of Dorothy’s piece, she says that their chances for achieving a career in this field are considerably better than they were a few years ago (in the mid 1960s). It’s heartening to know that the push for change in this industry has been going on for at least 50 years, but then again, here we are in 2020 talking about the issue because it’s still present! That is wild to me.
What has changed?
Technology has created new entry points for Black designers to gain experience in this industry outside the path of attending art school. This helps with bypassing negative experiences from design educators and grossly Eurocentric curricula at top design schools that could dissuade Black designers from continuing. However, because design and technology these days are so intertwined, that has led to dozens of different disciplines of design which didn’t exist a decade ago (let alone during the time of Dorothy’s article). There’s more that you can do with design knowledge now, and that’s changing at a rapid pace.
What remains the same?
Early on in the article, there’s a description about how Black designers encounter embarrassing and humiliating situations while just trying to find work. It seems this is a shared experience, whether you’re self-taught or you go to one of the top art schools in the country. I can tell you this from the hundreds of designers I’ve interviewed over the years, as well as from personal experience. I started my studio in 2008 largely because finding work was so difficult; and even when I ran my studio, I would generally end up with the same leads that William Wacasey described in the article: “the smaller jobs or those with practically no budget”. Even worse, when I did start looking for full-time employment in 2017, the work that I did with my studio ended up being dismissed and overlooked by companies and recruiters, because I wasn’t working for an agency or a larger company. You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.
It’s going to be up to White agency owners and design educators and tech CEOs to cede their power, positions, and pocketbooks to make change happen.
Do you see signs of future change?
That’s a good question, but you’re asking the wrong person. Ask the White agency owners and design educators and tech CEOs if they see signs of future change, because it’s going to be up to them to cede their power, positions, and pocketbooks to make this happen. Black designers have showed up and showed out in each facet of the design industry in the midst of everything mentioned in this article for decades. The amount of excellence we have achieved in spite of this adversity has given us a superpower that is undeniable. And yet, we still encounter these same roadblocks mentioned in this article and more. It’s chilling how much of what Dorothy wrote about over 50 years ago still rings true today.