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The best HR advice comes from people who’ve been in the trenches.

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I Hate it Here is your insider’s guide to surviving and thriving in HR, from someone who’s been there. It’s not about theory or buzzwords — it’s about practical, real-world advice for navigating everything from tricky managers to messy policies.

Every newsletter is written by Hebba Youssef — a Chief People Officer who’s seen it all and is here to share what actually works (and what doesn’t). We’re talking real talk, real strategies, and real support — all with a side of humor to keep you sane.

Because HR shouldn’t feel like a thankless job. And you shouldn’t feel alone in it.

YORUBA WORDS AND PHRASES

This is something new, folks. If you do not know I work within a framework of spirituality called Ifa. Ifa is a West African, specifically Southern Nigeria, parts of Benin, and parts of Togo. Ifa is a divination system that focuses on destiny, and alignment with the divine, amongst many more things. I am initiated and am a child of Osun and Oya.

Ifa,, the word, means something like the wisdom of Orunmila. Quickly (because this write up, on its own, would be thousands of works.) I am not doing that b a long stretch here. Let me break it down, and please remember, this is a cursory introduction to Ifa and the hierarchy of Gods/Orisa and such.

The hierarchy.

Olodumare (Olurun) - Supreme Creator

Irunmole - 801 in total. Highest ranking primordial divinities. They were sent by Olodumare to create the world and establish order.

Orisa - Deities that may be Irunmole who took form. They may be considered ancestors who lived an exceptional lives and were bumped up to divine status.

Ori - A person’s personal spiritual head. Ir must be aligned with the Orisa of the person.

Ancestors (Egungun) - Departed family members.

Humanity (Aye) - the physical world.

Oya

Osun

I will continue to delve further into my spiritual practices, both before Ifa, and in my own structure. I took a winding road to get where I am now. It has been enriching, but sometimes frustrating. Ifa can be like that sometimes. It is a lot of information. A lot of it is oral. Most rituals, initiations, and, praises, and divination takes many years to learn. Like I said, spiritually enriching. I can talk about pagan studies. Deities from several systems of study and other stuff I might pull out of my ass too lol.

Main point—I hopped off the Christian-church bandwagon at 16 (the soonest I could with a religious family.) I am, and was back then, the proverbial black sheep of the family. You know what I say to that?? Two middle fingers. Throw em up real high. Touch the sky!!

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Okay Yall, I had banked this newsletter and scheduled it for Tuesday. I was tired and frustrated when I was writing and trying to pull information for content. I was discouraged, and sad. I feel a little better now, so I figured let me open an email. I wanted to fuck around and find out lol.

An article from the online political website, Politico. Booker, Brakkton. “‘This L is on her’: Black lawmakers and strategists dump on Crockett.” Politico, 3-5-2026. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/05/jasmine-crockett-loss-critics-00813180

The crux of the article is that Jasmine Crockett, running for Senate in the abysmal State of Texas. She was running against the seemingly affable Rep. James Talarico.

Democratic leadership all agree—Crockett’s platform was thin, a single, torn out piece of paper from a notebook.

“People who don’t understand politics will be upset because Jasmine was their hero,” said Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Democrat. “But for people who understand politics, [Crockett] literally had no ground game.”

She added: “This L is on her.”

Taken together, Crockett’s campaign shortcomings doomed the upstart Senate bid of the two-term congressmember who entered the contest with broad name recognition and hopes of showcasing her firebrand personality and penchant for viral moments to help Texas Democrats end their nearly 40-year winless streak in Senate races.

Okay, so she ran a poor campaign and has to take the L for that. But underneath the surface; actually, wide open, is the fact that, while Crockett is popular in her district, overall, the State of Texas is not ready to allow a Black woman to shine. They gerrymandered the state so bad ugh.

Her opponent, whom she lost to by single digits, is a white, pastoral type of a guy who built his reputation with a podcast, backed up by a strong grassroots campaign. He built up a statewide infrastructure. He raised money, a lot of it, and quickly. He was able to create an online presence, bringing with it a message of someone, if elected, would be the person to bring down high costs.

Buuuuttt—we have to address the elephant in the room. The democratic party understands that without Black, women, voters they would get nothing done. We hustle. We get out the vote. We hold parties at local levels. We phone bank. We make our voices heard. Fuck, we put in a lot of work, the democratic party enjoys all the labor, both physical, and emotion/mental. We, as Black women, are tired of having to be the voice of the party while not getting a seat at the table. Democrats want us to do the heavy lifting, while their milquetoast Muppets get all the credit.

It is a pattern. It is repetition. It is purposeful. And it is racist.

The End.

ORGANIZATIONS HELPING TRANS FOLK AND RESOURCES FOR ALLIES

Relocation sevices:

Help for queer people:

For local help and support look on socials and search the internet for local support groups. Often private, and for good reason, support may be hard to find. But, there are groups, localized, that are working to support the community. Don’t hesitate to seek help!!

Alright, friends. You have come to the end of Section one. Continue below for more content.

TRANS NEWS (UGH)

Honestly, I don’t have the mental bandwidth to report the state of affairs for trans people in the USAA. I am really going to just drop some links to stories. Sorry. Next week, or the week after, I will try to get some stories that don’t suck. Right now, however, it is hard to see the truth over this mound of bullshit. What I mean by that is the administration is throwing trans ban laws left, right, up, and down. State governments all across the country decided to jump into the mess, and are dropping heat rocks of shitty amendments and laws trying, truly and cruelly, to annihilate us. These are heavy times, my friends.

Only two stories. How can I only pick two, you ask. I am tired. I am tired of the mental and emotional, and yes, sometimes physical beatdowns that my community, especially, my Black trans sisters and brothers are experiencing. This is the real deal Holyfield yall. It is time for me to rest. I am going to try to consume as little news about bad trans bills for the weekend. I will be back on my grind next week.

Here are two articles outlining the cruel nature of the laws and actions of dump and his administration, the States and their governments.

Okay. Government Executive is reporting that LGBT data is quickly disappearing under this administration.

Next up one the shit pile is New Hampshire. Fuck, the House, passed a trans public bathroom ban that means banning ones right to “assert” their identity. Ugh and throw up.

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MUSIC TIME

This is what I am spinning this week. Lol, I am not really spinning anything. I am not a DJ, although I do pretend to be. I love singing along to the songs, and vibing out to the music, my pink headphones pushing the sonic landscape until my ears bleed…metaphorically speaking. Alright, enough talking. Time to drop some videos.

J. Cole coming up first. A little hip hop for yall. The MC dropped a hotly anticipated album. I, personally, think it lives up to all the hype. Amazing. At 3 minutes in, my favorite part comes in with a strong ending of the song. Chef’s Kiss. What a true poet!!

Up next, a 13 or 14 year old song. Going in a completely different direction, I am throwing an indie alt band at you. This a throwback to 90s alt style. All drums and guitars, with some harmonizing and a beautiful voice by an even more beautiful woman. Unfortunately, the fortune of the group, Veronica Falls, would stop with the death of the drummer. Here is Bury Me Alive at the drop.

Next up, is a one off. I just heard this tonight (oh yeah, it is Friday night), and had to play it multiple times. Sounds so good in my headphones. Damn. Instrumental, and a gre.at groove. Perfect for nodding your head while chllin on a Friday night. Artist’s name is Robohands and the song is named Broken. Here it is! Enjoy, peeps!

SEE BELOW. THAT IS ALL. HAVE AS ENJOYABLE WEEK AS YOU CAN. IT IS REAL IN THE FIELD.

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