We are not gonna be erased!
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez. Let’s start with the bad news first.
The destruction of the U.S. Department of Education is underway, and part and parcel of this move by the Orange Bigot In Chief and his minions was reported by Liam Knox at Inside Higher Ed:
Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law
In a sweeping and unprecedented letter issued over the weekend, the Office for Civil Rights declared race-based scholarships, cultural centers and even graduation ceremonies illegal.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights declared all race-conscious student programming, resources and financial aid illegal over the weekend and threatened to investigate and rescind federal funding for any institution that does not comply within 14 days.
In a Dear Colleague letter published late Friday night, acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor outlined a sweeping interpretation of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down affirmative action. While the decision applied specifically to admissions, the Trump administration believes it extends to all race-conscious spending, activities and programming at colleges.
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The letter mentions a wide range of university programs and policies that could be subject to an OCR investigation, including “hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
“Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race,” Trainor writes.
I suggest you read the entire lie-filled letter. Here is an excerpt:
In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families. These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia. For example, colleges, universities,and K-12 schools have routinely used race as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming. In a shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history, many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities.
Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise
that the United States is built upon “systemic and structural racism” and advanced
discriminatory policies and practices. Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (“DEI”), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline. But under any banner, discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is, has been, and will continue to be illegal.
Our years and years of struggle for civil rights are being turned against us to champion “poor discriminated against white people.” What this means for Black studies, and for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) hasn’t been clarified, however folks are preparing for the worst. Ashley Brown wrote for HBCUBuzz: Trump’s DEI Executive Order Raises Concerns for HBCUs Amid State-Level Changes
In West Virginia
The ramifications of these changes are already being felt at West Virginia State University, one of the state’s two HBCUs. Following West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey’s own anti-DEI executive order, WVSU is currently reviewing its programs to ensure compliance with both state and federal regulations, according to a report by West Virginia Watch. “Like all institutions of higher education in West Virginia, we are assessing our institution to ensure that we are in compliance with both the executive orders issued by Gov. Morrisey and the latest requirements issued by the federal government,” WVSU President Ericke S. Cage told the outlet. With no dedicated DEI office, the university faces scrutiny over its commitment to diversity in education.
My parents attended and graduated from HBCU West Virginia State in the early 1940’s, when almost all of the students were Black, however demographics have drastically changed there (
currently the student population is “77.2% White, 8.24% Black or African American, 4.23% Two or More Races, 1.8% Hispanic or Latino, 1.61% Asian, 0.185% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.0528% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders”) I guess the fact that it is “historically Black” offends MAGA sensibilities.
Here is a recent news item on book banning from Chris Smith at ClarksvilleNow.com:
Books mentioning slavery, civil rights removed from shelves at Fort Campbell schools
On Feb. 6, DoDEA (the Department of Defense Education Activity) sent to administrators and school employees at 161 schools around the world a letter “to ensure compliance with executive orders and recent DoD guidance.”
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Clarksville Now, lays out several new directives. Many of them were expected, including that programs designated for girls “may only be accessed by biological females,” and that signage for restrooms and locker rooms must use terms such as “women” and “men” or “girls” and “boys.”
But the document also bans celebration or promotion of “monthly cultural observances.” This includes the immediate cancellation of any celebrations under way. At Fort Campbell Schools, that meant teachers had to remove all bulletin boards that reference Black History Month and Black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks, according to a source speaking to Clarksville Now on condition of anonymity. Fort Campbell Schools are also canceling plans for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There’s no word yet on Women’s History Month, set for March.
[...]
The libraries at Fort Campbell schools are closed to students while staff removes books that could fall under the directive. At one elementary school, that has amounted to hundreds of books in several stacks, filling rolling carts. They have a deadline of Feb. 18.
[...]
Another directive calls for the removal of all books and materials related to “discriminatory equity ideology” during an “operational compliance review.” Librarians are instructed to ensure any such books are “removed from the student section of the information center and placed in the professional collection.”
Jesse Hagopian, author of “Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education” recently wrote for The Nation
The Far Right’s Plan to Force Teachers to Lie About Race
Despite widespread public opposition to book and curriculum bans, a well-funded minority is aggressively working to restrict educational content addressing racism and oppression. This movement has gained new momentum with President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threats to defund schools that teach honestly about the United States’ history of racism. Trump has vowed to eliminate what he calls “left-wing indoctrination” in schools, proposing sweeping changes that include banning lessons on systemic racism and gender identity; abolishing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices; and cutting federal funding from institutions that fail to comply with these restrictions.
In the cacophony of today’s political discourse, debates about CRT are ubiquitous, but what’s not discussed, and what I believe must be studied, is uncritical race theory. Uncritical race theory is how I define systems of belief that unquestioningly subscribe to prevailing views on race that reinforce existing racial power relations. Uncritical race theory denies that racism exists at all, or maintains that racism primarily victimizes white people, or rejects any systemic or institutional analysis in favor of an interpersonal explanation that understands racism as sporadic and the product of individual bias.
Uncritical race theorists position themselves as neutral and objective, unencumbered by ideology or a theory of race—when in fact they have a highly developed theory of race, even if they are unaware of the origins or the full dimensions of this theory. To be clear, uncritical race theorists would never refer to themselves as such, because it would divulge that their opposition to CRT (and every other antiracist framework) is not anchored by research and historical inquiry, but rather is the result of unsubstantiated and unmoored theories that sink under the most cursory of examinations. When educators analyze race in their lessons, uncritical race theorists accuse them of politicizing the curriculum—a claim that approaches reason only if you believe that teaching children that the acceptance of the current racist structures and institutions is not political.
The African American Literature Book Club posted this short look at a long list of banned books from around the country, entitled “This is What Banned Books Look Like”
Okay — so that is the bad news which rest assured is gonna get worse. However just like was stated in “Black Kos: Black History Month ain't cancelled. We are still here and so is our history, teaching our history will continue and we will find creative ways to do it — it’s already started.
For those of you who are not on TikTok, you should check out what’s happening with Hillmantok University
HillmanTok, TikTok's accidental university taught by Black educators, is a hit with students
A network of Black educators, experts and content creators came together to form HillmanTok University, for courses on more than 400 subjects.
Class is in session at HillmanTok University, a virtual and symbolic online institution that’s bringing together millions of curious learners and academics.
But this university is unlike any other: It fully exists on TikTok.
And it was created by accident.
In late January, Leah Barlow posted a welcome message to her real Intro to African American Studies class at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University on TikTok. In about a week, the video mapping out her course for her 36 students reached almost 4 million people.
NBC News reported:
Black educators create digital 'Hillmantok University' on TikTok
Black educators have created 'Hillmantok University," a digital HBCU on TikTok that allows them to teach courses online. NBC News' Maya Eaglin spoke to some of the educators on teaching courses through TikTok and their impact
No matter what, we will always find a way to resist. This is just one of them. I assure you there are, and will be many more.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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The NAACP wants Black Americans to steer their buying power toward companies that haven’t pulled back from diversity, equity and inclusion programs under conservative pressure, and the nation’s oldest civil rights organization is listing which brands have stood by — or reversed — past commitments to DEI.
The NAACP says the spending guide it published Saturday is needed because DEI initiatives promote the social and economic advancement of Black Americans, who are projected to consume nearly $2 trillion in goods and services in nominal dollars by 2030, according to the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility.
“Diversity is better for the bottom line,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in an exclusive announcement to The Associated Press. “In a global economy, those who reject the multicultural nature of consumerism and business will be left in the past they are living in.”
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Evelyn Seabrook was able to buy a home even though she had only a high school diploma. Glenn Flood worked his way up the career ladder to become a public affairs officer for former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And Calvin Stevens had a dual military and federal service career that took him to high levels in both.
Now in their late 70s and early 80s, the three retirees are part of a generation of Black Americans who used the military and federal civil service to pursue the American dream. They acknowledge there were challenges. But they believe they received more opportunities in the military and as government employees than they would have in a private sector where racial discrimination and patronage were common at the time they were ready to enter the workforce.
Seabrook, Flood and Stevens have more than 120 years of combined military and federal service. As leaders in various capacities in the National Active and Retired Employees Association, they are plugged into the siege federal employees are under during the opening weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term. It started with the elimination of programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and has expanded to a culling of the federal workforce under Elon Musk, a special adviser to the Republican president. Musk also seeks to eliminate agencies as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
They say one thing being lost in the attacks on the federal workforce is its important history as a stepping stone into the middle class for minorities when paths were limited, in particular for Black Americans.
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Rich Benjamin discusses his decision to visit Haiti—and discover his family history—after the 2010 earthquake in his new memoir Talk to Me Slate: Coming Home to Haiti
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Emily Bazelon: Tell me a little bit about your decision to go to Haiti. What was happening in Haiti at that time? Why did you feel like you wanted to be there to bear witness, and what was that experience like for you?
Rich Benjamin: By 2010, for all kinds of personal reasons, I had developed the emotional intelligence to think about why I had that relationship to my mother. And coincidentally to that personal development and emotional development, an earthquake strikes Haiti. So, I was leaving my office in Manhattan at the time, it was the evening, and suddenly I caught glimpse of images of Haiti in this devastating state—newsreels, interviews, and footage of this devastating earthquake, which ultimately killed 300,000 people, splattered across the news. And so, the human suffering was bad enough. But then, one of the images that we all saw over and over was the destroyed Presidential Palace. The media, CNN, Anderson Cooper, they kept showing this destroyed palace. And at that point, forgetting or denial became untenable for me. I started to think about the man who once occupied that palace. I started to think about his dis-remembrance, and so I had to go to Haiti.
And what were you doing when you were there? It seemed like you were trying to help cover what had happened and bring attention to it to international audiences.
Yes. I did make two short documentaries while I was there. And then also I went to find out about my grandfather. I wanted to interview people, I wanted to go to the archives. I wanted to see what I could learn. I went to Haiti to find out more about this man.
And was it a revelation to you? Was it the kind of situation where you had a hazy sense of him, but then all of a sudden you realized that he was actually this crucial figure in this country’s history?
Yes, that’s such a beautiful way of putting it. And I say that because, another example of something I didn’t know, is that there’s this prestigious high school—that at some point was the best public high school in all of Haiti—had been named after him, because he was a professor. So, I found that out on the ground in Haiti. And I learned about his legend, as you just put it, because the guard of that high school was among many Haitians of a particular generation who remembered my grandfather firsthand. And when I told him the story, when I interviewed him—a grown ass 60-year-old adult man—he was moved to tears, because there is a generation of Haitians who still remember Daniel Fignolé.
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M23 rebels have captured and occupied Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congolese government has confirmed, days after the Rwanda-backed militia launched an attack.
In a statement posted on X, the DRC communications ministry said it was monitoring the situation “marked by the entry of the Rwandan army and its auxiliaries” and it was “doing everything possible to restore order, security and territorial integrity”.
On Friday, M23 fighters entered Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, after advancing south following the group’s capture of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, last month. The militia faced little resistance in its latest march.
One Bukavu resident, Blaise Byamungu, said the had been “abandoned by all the authorities and [taken] without any loyalist force”.
“Is the government waiting for them to take over other towns to take action? It’s cowardice,” he said.
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Voices & Soul
“… a flat view of Earth
has always made Africa look little,
smaller than Greenland; a flat view
of Earth is what schools only had
for us to see ourselves… “
- Cameron Barnett
"Little Africa on Fire"
by Black Kos Editor, Justice Putnam
I had a little discussion with an acquaintance who cannot take it anymore, who uses the Anonymous avi and wants to break things. I probably should mention that I had to suggest they never put raisins in the potato salad, so you have an idea of where this is going. It’s easy to call for breaking things when breaking things excludes ones own breakable life as if it is unbreakable due to God’s design. I tried to explain the ramifications of breaking things, I brought up how little the commies broke things after Kristalnacht and how the Nazis used that as an excuse to blitzkrieg Europe. I evoked my experiences in Kosovo on an aid mission with my French actress ex and the dead women at an outside market in “Sniper Alley,” I recounted the desiccated remains of Honduran peasants I came upon while drilling water wells for UNICEF in Latin America, who were massacred because of things that were broken. I argued we still have time to right the wrongs of Reconstruction’s demise without breaking things because breaking things will result in brutalities upon brutalities and those calling for breaking things rarely suffer the consequences. I don’t think my criticism had any effect, taking a hammer to destroy is always easier than using a hammer to build. That’s why when the calls come to break things, I always suggest using a monkey wrench, first.
This is how the story begins: a touch, a bump, a hot mouth,
jostled skin in an elevator, escalation, tension, even just the illusion
of trespass. It always seems the smallest contact triggers the fire,
the tip of a match struck along the lips of containment.
~
For a while, my sister and I thought the world had no color
until the 1960s, convinced that old movies and photos were true
representations of history, whole stories; that color came
between cartoons and Civil Rights and long before then the world
was two-toned, light and dark, sometimes with flecks or aberrations
in the corners. Upon seeing pictures of our parents both black-
and-white and in color, we asked: What changed? Upon seeing pictures
of Greenwood, both beautiful and burned, I ask: What stories
have I been taught to trust?
~
There are three parts to a ghost story:
The Specter—planes in the sky,
dynamite dropped on a Black crowd,
a white mob, a machine gun expelling
bullets, American flag high behind it,
fire and smoke in its wake, a long march
past husks of burned-out churches,
eight days of interment of Blacks
by the thousands, loops of litigation
spraining the language of massacre into
"riot," insurance claims lost in the litter
of legal destruction.
~
The Apparition—a flat view of Earth
has always made Africa look little,
smaller than Greenland; a flat view
of Earth is what schools only had
for us to see ourselves; a flat view
of us pinned back prosecution and
punishment for the mapmakers,
cartographing themselves out
of the haunted history lying
flat beneath the earth.
The Murmur—we know a lie when it unfurls
in our hands, how consequences char
irregularity into myth; we know our hauntings
because a family keeps its ghosts close; we know
pain, we know plunder, we know echoes.
~
This is how to listen to a ghost story:
Remember that there are no better angels
above or beneath our skies, above or beneath
charred churches and trees. These angels,
their halos falling augustly, deciduously.
stories strapped to a branch lost against the forest.
Heaven is a Black place, a smoky silhouette
the tintype tattles on. Heaven is full of anomalies.
How do I explain my homesickness for this?
I can't stop dreaming about flames
in my mouth, in my palms and eyes at all times.
I can't stop crying for Tulsa and a hundred years
spent dirt-deep and silent beneath our feet.
~
This is how to cross-examine a ghost: Rouse it with radar
and listen to the echoes of old fire. Sometimes it takes a mouth
to pronounce what the earth has been whispering for generations.
sometimes flecks in the corners of photos are more
than aberrations, the black and white of it lying in plain sight.
~
This is how to give a ghost a home: Touch the dirt
outside your house and ask how different it might feel
in Greenwood, ask if the sunken anomalies push
against the surface around town, if those anomalies
still burn down deep, if the anomalies are still hot
in their mouths, their tongues boxes of un-struck matches.
It's the silence of fire that remains spectral, substituted
for memory—but no more. Little Africa pounds
heart-first against the dirt and emerges tongue, tooth,
and throat in bonfire, heritage unmortgaged,
a ghost-girl beating back the map of her unmaking.
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WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
