So I've gone back and forth with how I wanted to share this information. I've debated doing a video and just letting my emotions come across raw and unfiltered but I believe the best way to share is to write how I feel.
I worked at Microsoft for 2 years starting in 2017. In 2018 I relocated to Seattle to work on the Mixer team. I was beyond happy and anxious to have the ability to finally work in the gaming industry. The flip side to all of this is crazy, this experience was the worst I've ever had professionally and it's all due to RACISM.
#1 - I was one of the only black people working at Mixer during my tenure. While at a conference I was pulled aside and told that the only reason I was hired is because I am "street smart". The first thing that popped into my head at the time was affirmative action. I believed I was only hired to meet a diversity goal because I was black. Anyways I decided to brush it off and let it go.
#2 - Time goes by and we are in an internal meeting discussing projects we wanted to execute. My manager decided to give us an analogy, that analogy was "I'm in between a rock and a hard place. What I mean is all the partners are my slaves, I own their content. I control their success on our platform. For me I am the slave master, I own partners". Immediately I got angry, pissed off and honestly I didn't want to work at Microsoft/Mixer anymore. My manager saw my mood was not the same and decided to have a 1:1. Within that meeting I told her why I was angry and why her using that analogy was NOT okay. She decided to defend her statement and even had the nerve to google that analogy to prove why it was okay. After Google showed her it was NEVER okay to use that analogy, she told me I need to work on myself. If I wanted to go far in this industry I need to work on my emotions and feelings to similar comments. After this meeting I knew I was leaving.
#3 - I reported my entire experience to a skip level manager, I also included examples when my ideas in meetings were passed on. When said ideas were the exact same from my white colleagues. The skip level NEVER reported any of the slavery comments to HR. So when I spoke with HR they were surprised and said this has never been communicated. After that meeting I resigned a few weeks later.
#4 - I spoke with the legal team to start an investigation with my manager. This investigation would continue even though I decided to terminate my employment. Months go by without a verdict. One day late last year I get a call from the legal team with their final findings. That finding was not guilty! The reason my manager was not penalized and the reason she still has her job today is because she CANNOT be racist. The reason she CANNOT be racist is because she hired a black person.
- Update- The Racist person still currently works at Microsoft even after Mixer got shut down and another former employee has brought proof that it was all known and ignoredThis is why you haven't seen me in any streams. These four points are the reason I do not and will not support Mixer. Now I have a lot of close friends at Mixer and I don't want you to think they are all bad. But one of the main people calling the shots has zero respect for any partner not their platform. She believes you all are slaves and she owns your future and content. I stood up to her because I refused to let anyone be classified as such and I hope no partners feel bad I did so. I do not care about how big a company is or their market share. If we do not have the same values, if you cannot be intelligent enough to know racism isn't tolerated then I will not work for you or your company.
All in all this was my experience!
-Update 2
She no longer works at Microsoft
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