Aren’t there any black women firefighters?

I can remember Smitty asking me that question like it was yesterday – and that was more than 32 years ago. I was assisting with putting together a conference opening slide show set to music with pictures of women and men firefighters working together from all over the country. It was to be an inspirational video for the Women in the Fire Service (WFS) conference. The theme was “Diversity & Common Ground. I previewed the final draft of the presentation with my co-workers after a fire department training session we all attended. I asked for feedback and everyone said it was great and congratulated me on how inspiring it was. One firefighter stayed in the room after the presentation and said, “Chief, aren’t there any black women firefighters?”. I remember being confused, then uncomfortable, and then apologizing. As he spoke, I suddenly remembered a previous WFS conference where a few black women firefighters were upset that we were not listening to their concerns. It was also the first time I remember realizing that I lived in an all white neighborhood; that I went to a predominantly white school; and that all my friends were white. What is worse, is that I had viewed myself as someone who valued diversity. I had even taught a few classes about the value of diversity. I was humbled to the core with learning about how much I didn’t know that I didn’t know. Thankfully Smitty, the only black firefighter in our fire department, had the courage to teach his boss something she desperately needed to learn. I quickly reached out to fire departments across the United States and received many more photos of women firefighters of color to add to the presentation. I mistakenly thought as a gender minority in the fire service, that I understood other marginalized groups. How wrong I was! I even remember feeling upset and angry when I attended the Fire Chief’s annual conference the previous year because their opening slide show had no women fire officers pictured, just men. I learned a very valuable lesson from Smitty and have spent the last 30+ years being intentional about learning what I don’t know that I don’t know about many things. I hope I have helped others do the same.