Breaking Barriers: Honoring the Legacy of Black Women in Public Safety and Human Services

As I sat down with the application for a crime scene technician role in hand, I never imagined the sting of rejection I'd soon feel would lead to a profound discussion on air. Today's episode is that very conversation, where we peel back the layers of history and personal experience to honor the legacy of pioneering black women in public safety and human services. We pay homage to trailblazers like Georgia Ann Robinson and Penny Harrington, who not only broke barriers but also built bridges for future generations. Their stories of triumph and the challenges they faced set the stage for a candid exploration of the discrimination and stereotypes that sadly still echo in the corridors of law enforcement today.

In the spirit of those who have courageously walked before us, we tackle the uncomfortable truths about the unique obstacles women of color continue to navigate in these professions. Together, we discuss the need for systemic reform and the cultivation of a workplace that not only acknowledges but actively celebrates cultural diversity and inclusion. By sharing experiences—from my personal brush with bias to the daily realities for women of color in law enforcement—we shine a light on the invaluable contributions of these professionals. This episode serves as both a testament to their resilience and a clarion call for a more equitable future, all while nurturing the well-being of those who dedicate their lives to serving our communities.

Email: publicsafetybywomen@gmail.com
Website: https://womeninpublicsafety.com
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Stay路. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to the Women in Public Safety Podcast. This is the podcast where we discuss women issues regarding those who work in public safety and human services, the challenges and also the triumphs. So I want to welcome you to another Saturday, to another episode. This is episode 11.

Speaker 1: 0:52

I wanted to clarify a little miscommunication, if you will, before we get started to this week's episode. Last week was my first segment of Case Chronicles. That is a separate segment of the show. It's not considered an episode with the other episodes that I have already recorded and uploaded. So if it was mentioned in the description as episode 11 last week, that's actually incorrect because it's a separate segment. So I'm going to be doing Case Chronicles twice a month, so it'll have its own entity, so to speak. So this week is considered episode 11. All right, I just want to make that clear just in case, you know, there are a little bit of confusion and people would say well, wait a minute, I thought last week was episode 11. No, it was not. It's a different segment and I will go ahead and name it another format so that everybody can stay, you know, can keep up with what's going on. All right, just want to put that out the way, all right.

Speaker 1: 2:25

So today's topic is about celebrating diversity in women in public safety and immune services for women of color. It is Black History Month, so I wanted to celebrate that and talk about that and kind of talk about the brief history of women of color who were one of the pioneers in coming into these type of professions and what they had to go through and bring it up for it to current of what we still have to go through. Has there been a lot of changes? Of course there's been a lot of changes and different strategies to, you know, help challenge and discard the discrimination and racial disparities, but it's still there. So I wanted to recognize those, the pioneers who have started, and also kind of talk about what we're going through now. So I had to do some research and if I'm looking down, I'm looking down at my notes, so forgive me.

Speaker 1: 3:43

I wanted to know who was the first known Black female law enforcement officer in the US and it came about that a officer, female officer named Georgia Ann Robinson was noted as being the one of the first female Black officer who was actually given a badge number and she was hired by Los Angeles Police Department. So LAPD opened the door for other female women of color officers, and this was way back in 1916. I never would have thought it would have been that far back, I don't know. In my mind I thought, well, maybe in the 20s, maybe in the 30s, 40s or 50s or even in the 60s, but it was way back in 1916. And she was the first female recorded black officer by a Los Angeles police department who was given a badge and actual a title as a police officer. Her badge number was 2244. And she served in different, various positions within the department, such as being a traffic officer, and she was also a jail matron.

Speaker 1: 5:16

She obviously, we all know that she had to face discrimination, not only two-fold, not only as a female but as a black or women of color, female. So that's intersectionality, racism, and but you know, she persevered. They had to give her her respect because, I mean, she persevered. She could have easily, you know, just quit the department, but she, you know, trudged on. She, you know, trudged on, she took, she took whatever that was given to her and she did her task and she did it well. Although, you know, she was considered a police officer for the department, she was, you know, still being restricted in certain areas of duties of the cities because of her gender and probably although it's not mentioned probably because of her, her race. But again, despite the challenges, she did forge forward and was considered one of the pioneers of women of color to go into the women of public safety profession.

Speaker 1: 6:49

Now I also wanted to find out who was the first female black chief of police in a major city. And that was Penny Harrington. And she was the chief of police in the city of Portland, oregon, and this was from 1985 to 86. So she only served one year. She was appointed by the to the position, by Mayor Bud Clark. Again, chief Harrington faced many, various challenges during her tenure, which include efforts to reform the department in issues that you know, addressing the racial divide and issues in the gender discrimination. She tried to address those issues but she was met with a various amount of resistance within you know, because she was fighting against not only the city but she was fighting against her fellow officers and within the department. The department themselves were fighting against her. So I guess one year was just enough for her. So she resigned in 1986, you know, citing the pressure for the police union and other departments, but despite that, she another person that was groundbreaking, of opening the door for other black female officers to become chief of police in a major city.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Now let's switch to human services. Now the first female black social worker is. We all, and those of us who was in the social work field, know the name of Jane Edna Hunter, who was born in 1882 and she faced significant barriers due to her race and gender. But she was the pioneer person who was a community activist in social services. By providing services for the poor and, you know, children with abused children, women who were single, women who were dealing with various issues within the home. She created services for the poor, created services, social services, to provide those resources to help these type of families. She was met with resistance of finding resources, finding funding to, you know, be able to provide the necessary resources to help families who are in need of any type of social service, social services needs. So you know she organized and persevered by being a organizer, community organizer and social civil rights activists.

Speaker 1: 10:20

As I mentioned, she founded the Working Girls Association in Cleveland, ohio, in 1911 to provide housing and support for African American women migrating from the South in Northern cities. You know they're the great migration, there were a lot of African American families who wanted to leave the South because they was so oppressed down there at the time and they, you know, thought that coming to the North would be, you know, a better life. In some ways it was. In some ways it wasn't. There's still, despite what everybody wanna, you know, believe there still were was a lot of discrimination in the North, just as, you know, much as it was in the South. So, ms Hunter, she provided try to provide resources for housing for people who were coming up from the South because they were discriminated against in neighborhoods. And then you have children who were in vast needs of resources clothing, education, healthcare, medical care. So she tried to provide that. So she was the pioneer of social work.

Speaker 1: 11:48

So I definitely wanted to recognize these women of color who paved the way for all of us to be in these type of professions that were mainly dominated by men. So let's talk of, let's fast forward to current, let's talk about some of the things that we're still dealing with for women of color in public safety and human services, and it's one of the main things that I know for a fact, and I know a lot of people can relate to is the recruitment and hiring. Women of color often encounter barriers during the hiring process because of certain racial bias. Organizations may have a preference candidate who fit their mode. They're not looking at the qualifying skills that we may have. That we do have, that we're applying for a certain position or a certain rank in within our departments. Automatically there's already a bias there, so we're pretty much not given a chance.

Speaker 1: 13:21

I'm going to tell you one personal incident that I had. I was working for I was in the records department, I was a records clerk and this was for a major city police department and I applied for a crime scene as a crime scene technician. Now, for this particular police department, you didn't have to be an officer, you didn't have to have a law enforcement degree, so to speak. I mean that would have helped. At the time I was going to school for law enforcement, I was taking criminal justice type courses, but it wasn't required and, matter of fact, it was a civilian type of they categorize it as a civilian type position. So I applied and I had to take a test, and one of the tests was you had to. I had to look at a crime scene, an actual crime scene and you had to write everything that you see in that, within that crime scene. And I wrote everything that I saw. I mean I was very detailed Things that you would not think about Adding as part of a crime scene when you're going to a crime scene. I did it. I felt that I was over giving more information whether it was needed or not, I didn't know, but I knew that I wanted to be as thorough as I possibly can, even in the color of the scene itself, the angle of the body, the body, the clothing of the who the victim was wearing. I mean, I was trying to be as detailed as I can.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Well, you know what I didn't get the position Another individual within the department. It was a female, a white female, and I knew the female personally. I knew of her well, I shouldn't say personally, but I knew of her. I knew, you know of her, as a you know colleague and I know for a fact this in this particular female, as far as personality wise, she just wasn't, it was, it was you. It was one of those situations where you have to scratch your head off. Well, how does she get that position? And I know everybody understands what I'm talking about Not only because of the fact I'm not talking about because of race. I'm talking about, you know, a individual as a person, their, their personality, their, you know what they're capable of doing, of their skills and everything, or lack thereof. And in this case it was more lack thereof. But you know, I was told later by someone who you know actually worked, worked, worked crime scene that said that you know, you did everything that you were supposed to do, you did great on the. You know the scenario.

Speaker 1: 17:21

It's just that the hiring, the person who is the supervisor of that, of that unit, of the crime scene unit, he was looking for someone particular, of a particular um, who had a particular type of personality, not necessarily in it. It could have been race, could have been an issue too, but in other words, he wanted someone that he could uh, all right, do you want me to say it? Okay, I'll say it. He wanted someone that he can you know pretty much have a closer relationship with. Obviously, I wouldn't. I didn't fit that bill. I wasn't anybody that I could be manipulated or be. You know, to flirt with someone that he can flirt with. I wasn't that type of person. I was about my business and the other young lady that you know that got hired into that department. I mean, she was. It wasn't because of her scale, it was because you know she's, she was flirty and you know that he, you know this particular supervisor wanted.

Speaker 1: 18:49

So again, that's a prime example. That's a prime example of uh, discriminatory, you know discrimination. Um, also unequal, unequal opportunities. Again, it goes back to you're not uh, uh, uh, giving leadership roles because of um, you're the, the opportunity is not being presented. It, um, it goes back who you know, who you're close to and you know, and a lot of times we don't have that. You know, we go by our skills and what, our qualifications. We don't have a close relationship with a lot of our supervisors and in any way, you know you shouldn't be having that type of relationship anyway. So that's another barrier, so we don't even have a chance.

Speaker 1: 19:53

We also face microaggression and stereotype. That's a huge one. Stereotyping, you know, women of color, especially black women. We're stereotyping as being loud and, you know, obnoxious and acting, unprofessional or whatever, and so they're already. You know, when you go in for an interview, you're already, they already have, you know, stereotype in you, thinking that you're going to be this loud. You know, with attitude, type of individuals, and that's not. That's not always the case, that's not. You know, over 50% of the time, or 60% is not the case, that's not. You know, if we're here to be a profession, professional, and if we're going for a position that we feel that we're qualified for, that we should be given that opportunity to apply like everybody else. But you're already you know being pegged. You know, because of my culture or what you deem as my culture, that we're already you know typecast as being, you know, just difficult to work with, or loud, and you know, with attitude, and that's not true. It's not true.

Speaker 1: 21:22

So what are some of the things that we can do? Or what is you know what? Each department, what can we do to kind of address these type of issues? Well, one thing for us personally, to start with us as a person of color that we are dealing with again, is go back to we have to take care of ourselves emotionally. You know we are, we as women, black women or women of color, particularly. You know I'm speaking about black women because that's that's what I am, I'm an African American, you know, black woman in law enforcement. We cannot hold, we cannot carry the burden of everything on our on our shoulders, and I think that's another stereotype that we're strong in which we are, but at the same time, we also have emotions and we carry everything on our backs and on our shoulders and this can lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. You know, it affects us mentally as well as emotionally.

Speaker 1: 22:41

So organizations and this is across the board, not only for African American women, but women or anybody across the board, you know our organizations and departments we need to have provide resources and support systems that will address these type of challenges. There specifically needs to be a resource for us as black women, that addresses these types of burden that we carry, because we carry it on our backs all day, every day, with not only in our profession but within our, you know, in our personal life and our families. You know, there there has to be a culturally diverse type of a resource for not only for women in public safety and human services, but you know you can have a choice if you are Latino female that are in public safety. There should be resources for the Latino community as well as in the African American, african American community as well as the Asian American community and so forth. You know, because our needs, our culture, someone who has to understand our culture. There needs to be a resource for that. That. We can, you know, comfortably seek the help that we need emotionally and mentally and, you know, talk to someone who understands us culturally.

Speaker 1: 24:37

Also, you know these departments in these organizations need to recognize and embrace the cultural diversity. You know they're doing it, a lot of it is doing. Now it's called the DEI Diversity, equality and Inclusion, or Equity, either Equality or Equity, I'm sorry, I think it's Diversity, equity and Inclusion. A lot of departments are now recognizing the importance of embracing the cultural diversity and that's something that we have to, you know, address and continue to build upon that DEI concept. It's a hard subject. It's a hard, it's been an ongoing issue for, you know, generations after generations after generations.

Speaker 1: 25:48

Policies need to be put in place that definitely addresses the discrimination of and the racial disparities and the biases within the public, human, human service professionals, and there has to be accountability. These agencies are going to have to be in departments, have to be accountable, for you know the type of behavior that they're portraying upon their employees and staff. And you know it's a start, but it's going to be an ongoing process and we have to call it out. You know we can't. A lot of us will just say well, you know what, this is the way it is. You know I'm going to have to do the best that I can. No, it's time to call this out and start making people accountable for their actions. This is the only way that we're going to get over this.

Speaker 1: 26:47

And you know you may not, not, you don't have to accept me, you don't have to like me. It's not about. You know we're not going to be friends if there's. You know you may have your own personal bias against me because of who I am and in my culture, same I can. You know it goes both ways. I could feel the same way about you, but at the end of the day, it's about Working together and respecting each other.

Speaker 1: 27:19

As a colleague, um, I know the main, the main thing, when I was a corrections officer in a prison. In the prison, you know there are plenty of people that I wouldn't consider. You know, for instance, I know a lot of them. You know there were Individuals that you know they didn't care for me because of you know what I am and who I am. Same thing I could say about them I didn't like the way they are. But at the end of the day, if there was something going down as far as an offender um disrupting, uh you know, something going on in in a pod or a cell, uh, individuals, if, uh there's being disruption with in the offenders, all that goes Out the window.

Speaker 1: 28:14

It's about aiding and coming in to help your fellow co-worker. We should have mutual respect on that part. You know. The rest is our own personal bias. You know we leave it at the door. So at the end of the day, the whole Point of this is to come home to our families, the way we came into when we came into work. So I wanted to, um, make sure that I mentioned, you know, this top type of topic, because it is, it's definitely the topic that has to be an ongoing discussion, ongoing process to kind of, you know, define ways to get over Our personal, leave our personal bias at the door. You know, because we are all as a unit, we all have to work together because we're working for the public.

Speaker 1: 29:13

It's bad enough that we have to deal with the public Issues and there's a lot of public. You know the public are throwing that discriminatory type, discriminatory type practice or whatever their issues. They're going to put it on us anyway. But to come into work and have to deal with that with your fellow Colleagues, it's just too much and it you know it has to. You know you've got to kind of Take a step back and say, look, it's not about me and how I feel about this person. Um, and it's, it's about, look, this person needs help. At the end of the day, if he's on the radio and this person is in a distress call, I have to do my job, and you know, and come out and to assist. So what? That being said, that was episode 11.

Speaker 1: 30:13

I wanted to pay homage to the trailblazers of women of color who became the first to open the doors for the rest of us, and to Thank you for their Tenacity and their bravery of you know, you know, facing the challenges and the discriminatory Uh relations that they had to endure, which was a lot worse than what they well, what a lot of us have to endure now. But you know, they did it because they really, really believed in their job and they wanted to be a service to their community. So I wanted to salute them and honor them. So thank you for listening for another episode of episode 11. But before I go, I wanna do a public service announcement, and this is totally off the subject, but it is important for those who need or searching for or haven't have any type of life insurance.

Speaker 1: 31:31

You know, life insurance is very, very important for our families. Even you know a single family, or our, you know families in general. You may have a loved one who is terminally ill or needs long term care and you don't have any type of life insurance. I urge you to inquire about getting some life insurance. And the reason why I'm bringing that up? Because you know, despite of me being a parole officer, I am a qualified, I am a licensed independent life insurance agent and I do care about families who you know don't have any life insurance.

Speaker 1: 32:25

If there's ever a time where we need some kind of protection for ourselves, our children, our family, is now. Things are so crazy now and things are so expensive Hospitalization, medical expenses. You know, just even bearing unfortunately bearing our loved ones is very expensive and you need the protection and the coverage that you need to have. You know those expenses, final expenses paid for, with God forbid that you know someone in your family unfortunately passes away and there's nothing worse than, you know, having a loved one pass away and don't have life insurance to pay for their final expenses. So I, if you are interested and would like to talk to me further about the options of affordable life insurance, that could you know, that will cover you and your kids and your family as a whole at affordable rate.

Speaker 1: 33:39

That's another thing. I'm not the type of agent that you know, will, you know, try to get you to or sell you different products. That's, you know, just not necessary. It's about being having the affordability, the afford to get the coverage that you need and then what you deserve on your budget, because you don't want to be able to say I have to, you know, drop this policy because I can't make the payments. You know I can't make the monthly payment. That's, you know, at this point it's not that's you kid. Don't do that Because, god forbid, something's going to happen and then you're going to be without any type of coverage.

Speaker 1: 34:26

So I will put in the show notes of where you can. I will do a free consultation, call or book a consultation and we can go over what you need and if there's something or a policy or anything that I can help you with. Or sign you want to a different, different insurance company that is a well affordable for you. I will be more than happy to do that. So, but you guys take care of yourselves. Again, reach out to me at public safetybywomenatgmailcom. If you have a story that you would like me to talk about for my case chronicles segment, please do that. Please reach out to me at that email address. Also, go to the website at womeninpublicsafetycom and you can read the blog that is. I turned my podcast and I just added as a blog and I just, you know, highlight some things that we've talked about in the podcast. So, with that being said, be safe, you guys, be blessed, and I will talk to you next week. Peace, thank you.