by Phillip Jacob (Author)
Derek Blain is a young, up-and-coming Black executive hired to deliver the keynote speech at a corporate summit on equity. Things get... complicated.
Derek experiences perilous death threats, mind-opening conversations, and unexpected microaggressions at the summit. He also discovers a new set of opportunities, hazards, and plain awkwardness surrounding racial conversations in the workplace. His fellow facilitators - each a respected DEI practitioner - reveal their own wisdom and limitations as they examine hot button topics like reparations, Black Lives Matter, and Whiteness. Meanwhile, just outside, a notorious White supremacist group forms an armed protest.
A parable in a power suit, The Elephant in the Room reckons with present-day workplace racism. The story provides opportunities for professionals to practice navigating the intricacies of racial difference.