A Black Paper

As a note, this letter was read before the Burlington, Vermont City Council on August 14, 2023 in opposition to an unnecessary and unjustified audit on the Former Director of Race, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging, Tyeastia Green.  Beneath the Surface - A Black Paper on Vermont’s Most Diverse City  Please allow me to begin by congratulating the City’s marketing team for a job well done. For many years this City has had a reputation for being one of America’s most diverse and welcoming communities.  We All Belong campaigns. All Are Welcome Here signs. BIPOC this and BIPOC that. The list goes on.  You have impeccably curated the image of America’s liberal utopia, which in essence, is exactly the role of the marketing team.  Job well done. However, what is happening beneath the surface? Beneath the surface  you have multiple police chiefs who create social media accounts to target residents. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/burlington-police-jan-wrigh...

I write this note feeling simultaneously heavy-hearted and freed. September 16, 2023 would have been five years that I have lived in this state.   Five years since I left my life in Mississippi thinking NO PLACE could be more racist (tuh). Five years of serving on multiple civic boards that claim they want equity, but build walls in the face of progression. Five years of being called racial slurs with no one to protect me from it and no one to check their white supremacist friends. Five years of confederate flags, don’t tread on me flags, and strategically placed Donald Dump paraphernalia. Five years of watching MANY of my friends and their very young Black children suffer from the same mental anguish I have experienced while existing as a Black person in Vermont. September 16, 2023 should be a time for celebration. Instead, it is a time for reflection as I leave the state to pursue equity work in a place that actually wants it. You may note that within this introduction I have not...

Please note, this letter was originally sent to the Burlington City Arts Board of Advisors on Date: Mon, Jan 3, 2022 at 8:46 PM Subject: To the BCA Board of Advisors To the BCA Board of Advisors: I write this letter, first, with gratitude. Thank you to each and every person who listened to my ideas and who supports the mission of equity and inclusion at BCA to the best of their abilities. Thank you to the friends I made. Thank you to the staff who integrate equity principals throughout their departments. Thank you to BCA.  Second, from a place of exhaustion and deep, festering frustration. For my entire 2.5 years on the Board I have been trying to convey everything I am about to put in writing. Yes, you heard me; but were you listening? I don’t feel that the vast majority of the Board was. So please understand that my tone henceforth is not angry, but exhausted. On that note, I am listing my recommendations below.  Equity and Belonging Committee Dismantle it. Scrap the entire ...