I was very aware of office politics because I was so baffled by them. So much so goes unsaid. No one says 'you're a cheeky so-and-so ' no one says 'you're so moody ' nobody ever confronts anyone else about anything. But I'm very crass and I'm very confrontational and I have a temper. I had to be hyper-vigilant in every office I worked in.
Words empty as the wind are best left unsaid.
Gossip is the art of saying nothing in a way that leaves practically nothing unsaid.
I did a book in 1996 an overview of black history. In that process I became more aware of a lot of the black inventors of the 19th century.