They say it ain’t real until you post your boo on social media or, in this case, flaunt them on the red carpet. Lizzo hit up the red carpet for her Amazon Prime Series Watch Out for the Big Grrrls with her boyfriend Myke Wright by her side. She shared photos of the twosome on Instagram with the caption “Ima boss ass b–h, b–h, b–h, b–h, b–h, b–h, b–h💅🏾 #FYC” which are lyrics from the 2014 song by PTAF. The “Good As Hell” singer looked pretty in pink while her beau looked dapper in an all-black suit.
But who is Myke Wright? Before confirming their relationship, Lizzo would tease photos of him on social media being sure not to show his face and paparazzi have often caught them together dining out. In April, she stopped by Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM radio show Radio Andy where she confirmed she was in a relationship.
The couple met in 2016 when they both were co-hosting MTV’s Wonderland music series. Keep reading for more of what we know about Myke.
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Myke’s a Designer
Myke has shared many of his designs for his company on social media. In a June 2020 post, he posted a concept for abandoned gas stations for the Detroit fashion brand EMLE. In the caption, he wrote, “I would love to transform abandoned gas stations into experimental, convenient shopping experiences for the community✨ Introducing the EMLE Shop: Quick Kiosks + Store Front | designed by Myke Wright for @emle_87 |.” According to VoyageLA, he also founded a design and innovation company called ümi.
Myke Was In an All-Black Rock Band
In the same VoyageLA interview, Myke revealed that he and his friends formed an all-Black rock band in high school called They Grey Level and later an alternative hip hop group called Phresh Heir. “We didn’t feel like our music was Black or white. Our music was a mix of everything we liked and had fun sharing with people,” he said. “It was authentic and people connected with it.”
Myke is a Comedian
Lizzo’s boo is also a stand-up comedian and has appeared on a few TV series and shorts such as Tell Me What You Know About Cyrus, Adam Devine’s House Party, We the Internet TV, and MTV’s Wonderland. He actually moved to Los Angeles from Detroit in 2012 to pursue his comedic career. Comedy Central has a few clips of his stand-up on its YouTube page.
Myke Seems to be a Private Person
There’s not much information about the comedian besides his IMDB page and a VoyageLA interview. He’s also not that active on social media, especially in comparison to his famous girlfriend. His Instagram posts are scarce but he has recently begun sharing images of himself.
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Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
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How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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