Speaking tapes

When I was a teenager, my aunt gave me speaking tapes to teach me to disguise my accent. Much of the Black Chicagoan accent is due to our families being broadly from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. I didn’t love the idea of these tapes. It felt like she was saying that my natural voice wasn't good enough. As I got older, I understood that my aunt thought she was helping to ensure that I was given the same opportunities as my white counterparts.

Code-switching is something that many of us Black folks learn very early in life. I use my “white voice” most often over the phone on important calls and for interviews. However, I am usually most comfortable speaking in my natural voice around other Black folks in my friend/family group and the few white friends in my life who have done the necessary work to dismantle anti-Black thought and do not expect me to cater to their whiteness.