Image by Nicholle Kobi
A “BREAK-UP LETTER” TO WHITE-CENTERED COLONIZED DEI FROM ANTI-RACISM
“Dear” DEI,
It’s not me. It’s you. I have grown so very tired of waiting for you to get your “act” together. The handwriting was on the wall when you started escalating your erasure routine in labeling Black folks as POC.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before you snagged “tompromised” and “coonfused” Black folks to get in on the erasure of Black folks and to also help with your advancement of a “not just race” agenda.
It appears that “not just race” actually means “pivot away from race and prioritize everything but.
When Black folks are out here advocating for whiteness, I know what’s coming next—a pile-on of folks of every hue that will help you to show out. And show out you will. You’ve already amassed big money for the pushers of unconscious bias who tow the line of whiteness and have no intention of challenging anything or anyone.
You may be fooling some, but there are many whom you haven’t fooled for one minute.
Your posturing.
Your hypocrisy.
Your lying.
So much lying.
While you were pretending to be with me, smiling in my face, and whispering in my ear words of commitment that Black lives matter, you were shacking up with whiteness—your real main squeeze.
I knew it though. I smelled it on your breath and saw the blood and sweat stains of Black folks on your collar.
I knew it before you stopped wanting to be seen with me.
I knew it before you went to extremes to separate yourself from me.
But I know all your secrets, including the one about your hanging out with companies that rely heavily on terms like
- compliance
- risk-averse
- professionalism
- under-represented
These terms don’t mean what people are led to believe they mean.
But you know exactly what they mean. It’s their “restraining order” against me.
They don’t want me anywhere near them or their employees.
That you would even be involved with companies like that tells me that I don’t even know who you are anymore.
You are growing whiter and whiter by the day.
More distant.
Soon, I suspect you’ll be completely and utterly unrecognizable.
Who are you, DEI?
A wolf in sheep’s clothing?
A giant sleeping pill for the masses?
Racial capitalism trying to play nice?
What did I ever do to you to make you appear to hate me so much?
You need to figure it out and come clean.
But if history is any indicator, you won’t.
We could have been so good together.
We could have done so much good.
Alas, though.
You’ve become dead weight.
I will be fine all by myself.
Actually more than fine.
Good-bye.
Sincerely,
anti-racism
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In the spirit of equipping teachers to combat anti-Black racism in schools…..
I’m offering 50 teachers in 50 states and a teacher in Washington, D.C. this…
a complimentary enrollment in my signature on-demand course, “Doing the Heart Work of Anti-Racism and Inclusion™.
That’s 51 teachers I’m reaching across the country.
The course, which retails individually for $1497, consists of 7 modules, 40 lessons. Teachers at all levels K thru 12, teaching any subject, are eligible to apply.
My hope is that teachers who are sincere about “getting it right”–whether they are in states like Texas or Florida–can access tools that educate and guide them on anti-racist speech, behavior, actions, tools in the classroom with students; during conferences with parents; during in-service, PLC, PD with peer teachers; in meetings with school administrators.
Interested teachers can get more information and apply here. The 51 selected teachers will be notified September 29, the last Thursday of the month.
Do you know of a teacher in your state who would be a good candidate? Send them the link. Does your child have a teacher who would benefit? Send them the link. Have you been in contact with a teacher in Texas or Florida? Whew chile……please send them the link.
My goal with this course is to reach one and teach one in all 50 states (and D.C.)
Let’s get this done!
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Thru September 30 or until we reach maximum capacity of 50 (whichever comes first), you can apply to be a member of my “True Anti-Racism Allies Academy.” The optimum term here is “true.”
Having launched August 1, the Academy is a subscription-based community for aspiring anti-racism allies and anti-racism allies-in-progress to (un)learn and grow to become impactivists™. Benefits include community support for the journey, coaching, content not released on LinkedIn, minimum of one video lesson per month, monthly invitation to a live virtual learning lab.
The community is NOT right for those who are “fragile,” ego-driven, unreceptive to feedback and correction, averse or “allergic” to discomfort, or are looking for “ally cookies.”
Membership is neither automatic nor guaranteed.
Our first week together focused on “adulting” (it doesn’t mean what you think it means in the anti-racism space) as a non-desirable trait for impactivists™ and on what it means to really listen. Having done a deep-dive on The Impact Apology, we are now immersed in “white silence”….confronting and combatting it in self and in others. We are digging into “white saviorism” as well as it is NOT the antidote for silence. We’ll be sitting in this space for a while…..because. We had our first live virtual Learning Lab last month where we worked in teams on a scenario involving “What to do about Chad?” when Chad weaponizes “his Black friend” to co-sign racism.
Click here for more information and to apply.
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