Our Separate Ways

 

EPILOGUE

We plead to each other

We all come from the same rock

We all come from the same rock

Ignoring the fact that we bend

at different temperatures

that each of us is malleable

up to a point.

Yes, fusion is possible

But only if things get hot enough—

All else is temporary adhesion,

patching up.

—CHERRÍE MORAGA, THE WELDER

OUR SEPARATE WAYS began as a vision of three African-American women: Stella Nkomo, Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, and Toni Denton. We dreamed of telling the stories of the women who walked, talked, and fought their way up the corporate ladder of some of the most prestigious companies in America. These women were the first generation of their race to hold managerial or executive positions. Yet their stories remained untold. ...