Sysop's blog

​In February 1973, I was hired by the telephone company as a janitor. I was told plainly that people like me weren't hired for "technical" roles like Telephone Installer. At the time, that wasn't just a company policy; it was a systemic reality.

​But 1973 was also the year of the landmark AT&T Consent Decree. After years of federal investigation into discriminatory hiring practices, the company agreed to stop blocking minorities and women from advancing. By November of that year, the "technical" door finally cracked open, and I was offered a transfer to become a Telephone Installer.

​Was I a "DEI Hire"?

​Today, people use terms like "Affirmative Action" or "DEI" (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) to imply that someone was a "charity hire" or "unqualified." They suggest that the position was "given" to us.

​My career tells a different story.

Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834–1905) was a remarkable Aboriginal Tasmanian (Palawa) woman whose life and voice became the cornerstone for the survival of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture.

She is most famous for being the first Aboriginal person to have their voice recorded, providing the only known audio record of any original Tasmanian Aboriginal language.