eBook

Her story is about how yesterday’s tears became today’s seed for her book. This book represents the renewal of strength from a painful employment termination. Joyce was hired by the State of Illinois in 1972 as a case aide in a mass hiring of more than fifteen hundred case aides statewide. Joyce was part of a mass retirement of about twelve thousand state employees thirty years later.

Joyce quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the first African American female to hold the various management positions from 1980 through 2002. Joyce was the first African American casework supervisor in Madison County Human Services from 1980 to 1983, the first African American female promoted to local office administrator in Knox County Human Services from 1983 to 1990, the first African American female promoted as the regional manager for the Belleville Child Support Office from 1990 through the termination of her employment in 1994. Upon reinstatement in 1998, Joyce was the first African American female to become the state-wide manager of the incarcerated prison program until her retirement in 2003.

After her return to work from her termination, Joyce returned to school and completed her bachelor’s of science in organizational leadership from Greenville College and her master’s of science in human resource management and development from National Louis University.

Even though her career with the State of Illinois ended in retirement, the risk in writing a tell-all book about what happened to her remains in future job offers. She believes it is necessary to tell her story to offer support for many other African Americans who are experiencing similar treatment and need the support of her story to keep the faith and not give up. Joyce believes you must manage these issues with a positive attitude and faith in your Almighty God.

This book illustrates the commonly occurring racial issues that are happening to African Americans in work places all across America.

This is my personal story of an employment termination from state government, and survival by fighting the system all the way from the hearing to Appellate Court.

This book was written to give readers a better understanding of what happens to African Americans when unprofessional, negative business ethics are allowed to be practiced in the work place and as a result race problems develop. This book further explains how business ethics, unethical behaviors, and personal agendas as they relate to race are deciding factors in discipline of African Americans in work places all across America.

This book was written to give human resource personnel, supervisors, managers, business leaders, lawyers, law students, court systems a better understanding of the emotional pain that employees experience when they are involved in an employment situation that will end in the termination of their employment because of racial issues and questionable ethics.

This book is about having an attorney (law firm) with the right ethics to represent you throughout the process to ensure your rights are protected and not sold out to the opposing party. This book proves that no one can assume absolute power over someone’s life without having to answer to the legal system.

The writing of this book is the healing process in order to move to the next level of one’s life. God gave me the insight, faith, guidance, direction to write my story to help other African Americans.

Newspaper  
United States, Demopolis, Alabama 
Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Headline: Author Joyce M. Lakes Chronicles Her Battle Against a Flawed System to Inspire Hope and Courage to Anyone by Racism in Their Workplace

Link to Read The Release