As you can see by the name of this blog; this is well covered territory for me. I have been in this role a while. Here is a photo of me about the time this situation became typical – the rocking’ acid washed 80s.

Sadly I am not wearing my INXS shirt in this picture. Their Kick tour rocked and it was at that concert that I noticed, “I am the only brownie in here! Wow!” And that show was at the Atlanta Omni and that place was huge! And sold out. That is a whole lot of salt with only one grain of pepper y’all.

For your laughs,giggles, and reference here are twelve things that happen to the only black girl in the room….

1. You probably don’t want to sing while playing Rock Band and people act surprised when you go for the bass or the drums. Not all of us sing like Jennifer Hudson.
2. People will ask your opinon on any current event that is racially charged. At that moment and in that place you are the voice of all black people
3. People ask if you drink Malt Liquor when they see you enjoying craft beer, fine wine, small batch spirits, or anything that isn’t sold in a 40oz bottle
4. You’ve been set up with the black friend of one of your white friends based on skin color alone. ” I thought you guys would hit it off. You have so much in common!”
5. You think Fitz and Jake are both hot and find Olivia Pope’s romantic situation completely plausible. Well maybe not the presidential part, but you know what I mean.
6. When white people say, ” My best friend is black” you know that it is possible they are not referring to their garbage man given the fact that your closest friends are white.
7. When you meet another “only black girl in the room” you bond over your shared love of the Pacific Northwest and craft beer.
8. You’ve had a white colleague look at you and say, “Wow! I didn’t know we had so much diversity in our company” when you are the lone person of color employed with the company.
9. After a beach vacation you’ve been told, “I didn’t know black people could tan. You are really dark!”
10. You have stood in silence for a undetermined amount of time after hearing the prior statement.
11. You have Muse, Foo Fighters, Naked and Famous, Arcade Fire, Matt & Kim, Manchester Orchestra, Neko Case or Florence and the Machine on your workout or road trip playlists.
12. Lastly…You understood comedian Ron Funches when he said “I’m too white for the blacks and too black for the whites.”

Welcome to my world…