That said, I agree that, as Bell and Nkomo write, "even in the year 2001, black women remain in the shadows. Whether subsumed by the category of 'women' or the category of 'blacks,' they are invisible." Black women can identity completely neither with white women nor with black men. They must feel incredibly isolated.
And that's important. As both Our Separate Ways and Tempered Radicals make clear, organizations become more effective when they allow their employees to act in ways that are true to their identities -- that "make that part of their selves 'real,' " as Meyerson writes. Such employees more likely will think critically and creatively, driving productive change through their BWG organizations.
Keith H. Hammonds (khammonds@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor.
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