BLOG: QUIET STORM — WHEN PATTERNS REPEAT, PAY ATTENTION
- Marie Mills
- Dec 6
- 2 min read
Today I read a post by Jermaine that hit so clean, so direct, it didn’t even touch my chest — it went straight through it.
He talked about the cycle Black women face in professional spaces:
Brought in as the change.Praised as the solution.Then labelled “too disruptive”when the change actually begins.
I’ve lived that storyline more times than I can count.And here I am again — not shocked, not broken, not confused.Just aware.
There’s a moment where you realise the issue isn’t you.It’s the system you walked into.
A system that wants innovationbut panics the moment it sees what innovation really looks like.
A system that wants inclusionbut can’t hold the reality of it.
A system that says “we value your brilliance”but needs months to recover from the impact of your presence.
I’m not upset.I’m not emotional.I’m not explaining myself anymore.
I’m observing.
I’m documenting.
I’m building.
NavigateHER exists because this dynamic is not new.It’s predictable.It’s textbook.And it’s exhausting to pretend otherwise.
Being the only Black woman in a space isn’t the problem.The problem is what happens next.
The misreads.The delays.The fragile interpretations.The sudden shift in tone.The guilt that shows up dressed as “reflection.”The “let’s revisit this in a few months” response to work that was ready today.
Jermaine said it clean:Companies hire fixers then fire them for trying to fix things.
My version?
Systems recruit unicornsthen panic when they realise unicorns weren’t built for stables.
So here’s my Quiet Storm moment:
I’m not leaving anywhere.I’m not shrinking.I’m not dimming.I’m not waiting for permission.
February is their timeline.My timeline started years ago.
NavigateHER will rise because it has to.Not out of anger.Out of necessity.
Some of us weren’t born to fit into systems.We were born to expose them.
Thanks, Jermaine.You spoke for a lot of us today.
— Marie MillsNavigateHER | CO-101
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