The Other Black Girl

On July 23, 2018, at elite Manhattan publisher Wagner Books, editorial assistant Nella Rogers recognizes the smell of Brown Buttah hair grease wafting past her cubicle. Brown Buttah is a natural hair product used by Black women, but Nella is the only Black white-collar employee at Wagner. She realizes there must be another Black woman in the office and wonders whether “all of her campaigning for more diversity at Wagner [has] finally paid off” (10).

Sophie, a white woman and notorious “Cubicle Floater” who takes advantage of the office’s open floor plan to gossip, interrupts Nella’s thoughts. Sophie confides that a Black woman is indeed interviewing for an editorial assistant position. She remarks that Nella must be “so excited” and attempts to get on the “social awareness” train by bringing up a recently published op-ed written from the perspective of a Black employee in a mostly white workplace.

After Sophie leaves, Nella reflects on a performance review during which her boss, Vera Parini, refused Nella a promotion because she was putting too much time into “extracurricular” diversity meetings. Nella doubts Wagner will hire more Black employees but is hopeful when she sees a stunning Black woman with ombre dreadlocks, a “Harlem sense of cool” (14), and an “Erykah-meets-Issa” aesthetic stride through the office (15). As the woman begins her interview, Nella crosses her fingers and wishes her luck.

On August 6, Nella and Vera meet to discuss white author Colin Franklin’s Pins and Needles, a novel whose characters include Shartricia Daniels, a “less than one-dimensional” Black character whose voice reads “as a cross between that of a freed slave and a Tyler Perry character” (19). Horrified by this caricature of Blackness, Nella vents to her best friend, Malaika, with whom she shares “Black Female Experiences” (21), including hair care regimens and an appreciation of radical social media blacktivist Jesse Watson.

Nella feels wary about discussing Shartricia with Vera. They begin with positive feedback, but Vera ends the meeting before Nella can voice her concerns and suggests they continue their critique with Colin directly. Maisy, another senior editor, interrupts to introduce Wagner’s newest editorial assistant, Hazel-May McCall, whom Nella recognizes as the Black woman from the interview. Hazel charms Maisy and Vera by gushing about Boston, where she used to work. Nella notices that Hazel carefully tailors her descriptions of Boston, which Nella views as a “shitty, racist city” (27), to what Maisy and Vera want to hear. When they’re alone, however, Hazel asks Nella, “How do they feel about Black people in these parts? […] You can be real with me’” (39). Nella replies that “they don’t ‘see’ color” (39), implying that Wagner subscribes to diversity and inclusion in policy but does not acknowledge racial difference and bias. The two women smile knowingly at one another.

After work, Nella excitedly briefs Malaika on everything except her anxieties about Shartricia. The friends joke that even though Nella has an afro and Hazel has dreadlocks, one of the white employees at Wagner will eventually confuse them.

On August 20, Nella and Hazel bump into one another in the office kitchen. Nella again smells Hazel’s hair grease and notes that it seems more pungent than Brown Buttah.

Nella starts to leave to take an important phone call, but Hazel stops her, exclaiming that they have “twin” Zora Neale Hurston mugs (45). The women discuss their love of literature, in particular Diana Gordon’s novel Burning Heart. Nella confesses that the book, which was written and edited by Black women, inspired her college senior thesis, and its editor, Kendra Rae Phillips, is the reason she sought a job at Wagner. The two women muse briefly about what happened to Kendra Rae, who disappeared after the book’s publication. Nella realizes she has likely missed her call, so she makes a lunch date with Hazel and rushes away.

When she reaches her cubicle, Nella confirms she has missed her call. She also notices Hazel hovering near her desk, gazing at Nella vacantly. Nella feels disconcerted and assures Hazel that all is well, promising they’ll talk more at lunch.

The following day the women meet for lunch. They exchange work stories, and Hazel asks Nella about Colin Franklin. After insisting that Hazel keep their conversation private, Nella shares her concerns about Shartricia’s character in Pins and Needles and explains her reluctance to call out Colin on his racist portrayal: “You know how white people get when they think you’re calling them racists” (52).

Hazel empathizes and passionately echoes Nella’s thoughts about Shartricia’s character and white fragility, startling diners at another table. Hazel shares that her grandparents were civil rights activists and that her grandfather died in a protest in 1961. Hazel’s conviction causes Nella to wonder if she should voice her concerns, but she worries doing so will jeopardize her future at Wagner. Hazel then suggests that perhaps Vera is “one of the good ones” and might be more empathetic to Black experiences than Nella thinks (56). Nella is confused by Hazel’s pivot “from her inner Bakara to her inner Barack—from confrontational to compassionate” (56), but she thinks Hazel might have a point. By the time they finish lunch and return to the office, Nella is convinced she should speak up during the author meeting.

On the morning of August 28, Nella prepares for the author meeting by meticulously crafting an iced coffee for Colin, who is notoriously fussy. As she enters the meeting, Vera and Colin fawn over a video of Vera’s dog dragging a paintbrush across a carpet. Nella registers Colin’s eccentric outfit and steels herself for their meeting.

Vera praises the book effusively, making Nella feel anxious about offering a critique. She begins again with positive feedback before, at Colin’s prompting, shifting into a discussion about Shartricia. Vera interjects to praise Colin, emphasizing the importance of including diverse experiences in the novel. Nella’s anxiety deepens as she explains that Shartricia feels “a bit off” (66) and she anticipates “a lot of Black readers will find her unsatisfying” (66, 67). Colin and Vera ask for more details, at which point Nella lists a series of exaggerated Black names and stereotypes that she found offensive. She finishes by asking Colin whether he couldn’t have been “a little more creative with [his] one Black protagonist” (67).

This comment shocks Vera and Colin. Colin believes Nella is calling him a racist, demonstrating the white fragility that Nella described to Hazel during their lunch. After ranting about Nella aloud, Colin storms out of the office. Nella attempts to explain herself to Vera, who hisses at her not to speak.