This episode officially kicks off our season two theme — Looking Back to Look Forward. In this episode, we are joined by researcher and historian Dr. Crystal M. Moten. Dr. Moten is the curator of African American History in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History where she specializes in African American business and labor history. 

In this episode, we learn about the legacies of some of our Black Woman Leading ancestors, and Dr. Moten helps us to extract powerful lessons from their experiences that we can carry with us on our leadership journey.

Dr. Moten speaks the names of these powerful women, and shows the history that illuminates enduring themes of radical collaboration, using personal influence to pull others up, community building, and self-advocacy that are STILL assets that we draw on today as Black women leaders.  She highlights the then-and-now aspects of Black women’s work and advocacy for their own economic justice, independence, and autonomy; including some of the challenges that still persist for Black women leaders.

Dr. Moten also shares her powerful insights on the double-edged sword of being the only Black woman leader in a space and the “glass ceiling” metaphor from a historical perspective. 

These historical narratives from our professional foremothers give us the courage to keep going, keep advocating, and keep leading on our professional journey today. 

Guest Bio 

Dr. Crystal M. Moten is curator of African American History in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History where she specializes in African American business and labor history. Previously, she has been an assistant professor of history in small liberal arts colleges on the east coast and in the upper Midwest. Her current research centers on the intersection of race, class, and gender and specifically Black women’s economic activism in the civil rights era Urban Midwest. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Civil and Human Rights and a special issue of Souls, which focuses on the Black women’s work, culture, and politics. She has a chapter in The Strange Careers of Jim Crow North (NYU Press, 2019). At the National Museum of American History, she has co-curated an exhibit: The Only One in the Room: Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success Her forthcoming book is entitled Continually Working: Black Women’s Economic Activism in Postwar Milwaukee.

Resources:

  • Connect with Crystal:
    • Web: https://www.crystalmoten.com/
    • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cmmphd
    • LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmmoten/
    • Podcast: https://www.blackherstory101.com/

Credits:

Learn more about the Black Woman Leading™ learning experience at http://blackwomanleading.com/

Learn more about our consulting work with organizations at https://knightsconsultinggroup.com/

Email Laura: laura@knightsconsultinggroup.com

Instagram: @blackwomanleading

Podcast Music & Production: Marshall Knights 

Graphics: Olayinka Ajibola

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