Angry Black Woman.
Burnout, Bias, and the Reality of Corporate America
Today, I was called angry. Not because I was yelling, not because I was lashing out—but because I was burned out and sad. I’ve been carrying the workload of three people since my coworker left and my original boss was fired. For months, I’ve been saying, I need help. For months, no one listened.
Instead, I was reduced to a stereotype: the angry Black woman.
Meanwhile, other teams had five new employees hired to support them, while I was expected to endure, simply because I’m a Black woman in corporate America. The expectation was that I would “handle it,” no matter the personal cost.
Burnout in the Workplace Is Real
I broke down last week—crying in the kitchen because the stress was too much. I barely had time to eat. I was glued to my desk from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM, often working nights and weekends. I skipped lunches, and when I tried to schedule one, I’d get a call from my manager.
This isn’t just exhaustion. This is workplace burnout—a toxic cycle too many women, especially women of color, are forced to endure.
Corporate Culture Wasn’t Built for Us
I now realize that corporate culture was not designed for women—or for Black people—to thrive. That intersectionality meant I was set up to fail from the start. My mother’s story proved it: she once was in a position where she was doing the work of three people, created a process that saved her company, and they patented it—without giving her credit.
History repeats itself, and it’s devastating.
The Breaking Point
After months of asking for help, I finally snapped. Yesterday, I learned another person was hired—not to support me, but because he was a friend of the CEO. Moments later, in a meeting, my manager had the audacity to say, “I know you’re frustrated and angry.”
That broke me. Not only was I overworked and ignored, but now my feelings were invalidated and reduced to anger—a stereotype Black women know all too well.
The “Angry Black Woman” Stereotype Is a Corporate Weapon
Being labeled angry is a convenient way to dismiss Black women in the workplace. It silences us when we advocate for ourselves. It masks the truth: we are overworked, undervalued, and burned out. It protects companies from accountability while placing the blame on us.
Final Thought
So what have we learned? Honestly, it feels like the lesson is to “shut up and eat my food,” because the only way for me to exist in corporate America is to take on impossible workloads, overwork, and stretch myself thin—all while being reduced to the stereotype of the angry Black woman. That feels so wrong, but it’s the reality many Black women face in corporate culture today.
The truth is, the corporate workplace was not built for black women, and that has to change. Until companies recognize the emotional labor, burnout, and systemic bias placed on Black women in the workplace, this cycle will keep repeating itself.
By: Bria
