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Page A6 Indianapolis Recorder Friday, April 4, 2025(317) 924-5143P.O. Box 18499, Indianapolis, IN 46218-0499newsroom@indyrecorder.comIndianapolis Recorder Newspaper encourages short, concise letters to the editor and opinion articles from the public. Letters and opinion articles will be used at the editor%u2019s discretion and are subject to editing. We will not guarantee publication of material received. We cannot guarantee dates of publication. Letters containing libelous or untrue statements will not be published. All letters and opinion articles must include a verifiable full name, address and telephone number. This information will not be published at the request of the writer. Letters and articles should be typed but will be accepted if handwriting is legible.BUSINESSBusiness Office Manager..............Lystina JimenezBusiness Office/Legals..................Crystal%u2009Dalton ADVERTISING/MARKETINGSenior Strategic Media Consultant......Rita J. Wise Sales Representative...................Michael FalkerPRODUCTIONProduction Manager..........................................................................................Jeana M. Lewis OuattaraGeorge P. StewartFounder-EditorPublisher1895-1924Marcus C. Stewart Sr.Editor-Publisher1925-1988Eunice TrotterEditor-in-ChiefPublisher1988-1990William G. MaysOwner/ Publisher1990-presentPresident/Chief Executive Officer................................................................................................Robert ShegogEDITORIALEditor-in-Chief.................................Camike Jones Copy Editor..................................Mandi PattersonTechnology Editor......................Rupal Thanawala Arts & Culture Reporter.................Chloe McGowanMulti-Media & Sports Reporter.........Noral ParhamHealth & Environmental Reporter.............................................................................Hanna RauworthEDITORIALBy Jasmin Shaheed-Young%u00a0As a proud product of three Indianapolis public school systems and as a mother of three children navigating the overwhelming, often exhausting maze of school choices, I know the pain and frustration of trying to find quality education for my children. I founded RISE Indy in 2019 to address the undeniable and shameful inequities Black and marginalized students face in our public education system. RISE Indy%u2019s mission has always been rooted in one fundamental truth: all public schools %u2014 district, charter and innovation schools %u2014 serve our Black children. And we must ensure that every school has the resources to provide the education these children deserve, regardless of the type of school or their neighborhood.Through my years of working as a political fundraiser, I%u2019ve learned that real systemic change happens through relationships and political power. It%u2019s this knowledge that drives RISE Indy%u2019s work. We believe that the voices of those most affected by the shortcomings in the public education system %u2014 particularly the powerless and voiceless %u2014 must be heard. Our work is not about creating division but ensuring that all voices come together to advocate for systemic change. Right now, the crisis in Marion County is too real to ignore. Less than 30% of third through eighth graders are reading at grade level, and nearly 50,000 adults in this city can%u2019t read well enough to fill out a job application. And let%u2019s be honest, we know exactly who those numbers affect the most. Our Black community. This isn%u2019t just about kids falling behind %u2014 it%u2019s about the future of our entire community. It%u2019s about economic survival. It%u2019s about dignity. It%u2019s about schools that have been failing our kids, year after year. Our approach isn%u2019t just about advocacy; it%u2019s about action and impact. We fight to change policies, and with our two-generation literacy programming, we also work directly to improve outcomes for kids right now. Our community deserves schools that don%u2019t just serve the wealthy or the well-connected %u2014 we deserve to have public schools that work for everyone. Here%u2019s the hard truth: While the adults fight, our kids suffer. And let me be clear, our Black and marginalized children suffer in every school type, whether it%u2019s district schools, public charters, or innovation schools. All our kids are impacted. We%u2019ve seen the rich and privileged flee from schools they don%u2019t want to fix. They take their resources, their voices, and their power. And when they leave, they leave our children behind. And we can%u2019t keep letting that happen.Now is the time for us to lock arms as a community %u2014 not to freeze, not to flee, but to fight. We must fight for ALL the children sitting in classrooms that fail to provide the education they are inherently worthy of. How can we serve our most vulnerable when we fight each other and don%u2019t fight for them?RISE Indy believes in unity. We believe that when we come together %u2014 district parents/teachers, charter parents/teachers, community members %u2014 we can achieve something that%u2019s never been done before: real, tangible change. We%u2019re pushing for what matters. Increased transportation access for students. Fair pay for teachers. Reducing suspensions for absenteeism that disproportionately affects the most vulnerable. We%u2019re fighting for liberty, justice, and freedom for all. We%u2019re putting in the work to change these broken systems.But we need you. All of you. We get to fight for the kids who have been left out of the conversation. And that%u2019s what RISE Indy is all about: uniting our community to ensure every child can and will succeed, especially our most vulnerable. Together, we will build a future where our children are empowered, where our communities thrive, and where we all rise together.Shaheed-Young is the founder and CEO of RISE INDY, a community-led nonprofit working to ensure all students attend an excellent public school.%u00a0By ELLISE A. SMITHHello friends!It has been a while since I took the time to sit down and write %u2014 more specifically, write about diversity, equity and inclusion outside of my career, teaching and consulting. Since Jan. 8, 2025 %u2014 even before then, if I%u2019m being honest %u2014 I have watched the dark clouds of anti-DEI laws, legislation and incorrect rhetoric consume our states, colleges, universities and communities as departments, roles, policies and people were harmed and removed due to these actions. By Jan. 21, 2025, I saw what I feared taking place in 2023 begin showing up in my own backyard, well, schoolyard. I saw the dismantling and dismissing of diversity, equity and inclusion and the ugly truth that America never planned on truly changing or being diverse, equitable or inclusive.The number of executive orders released to cut funding for critical programming, including education, health care, research, nonprofits, etc., became overwhelming. I watched tensely as the internet went up in flames about what was happening. I saw community organizers pause as they worked to protect the wounds of these impacts. I watched local organizations, corporations, and colleges roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, practices, policies and positions in fear of more funding cuts. And for a few, they were waiting for the opportunity to cut DEI as there was limited interest in the work from the beginning. I saw religious entities reject silence by challenging these changes and create more spaces for education and activism. I witnessed fellow practitioners of DEI contemplate the value of fighting for a society that does not care to fight or protect them. During the first months of 2025, I saw fingers point to others to shift the blame. I saw communities grow tired and others give up.Through it all, I went back and forth with my reflection in the mirror about the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion and the role that I play in the work. I reflected on the reason and my %u2018why%u2019 related to doing this work. I reminded myself that someone fought for me to exist without knowing me and questioning if I deserved to exist. The individuals who intentionally pushed back and fought for my identities to show up safely knew they were doing so in a system that was created without considering %u2018others.%u2019 They fought knowing these systems were exploitative, but they knew accountability would put pressure on those who were creating toxic environments for the benefit and betterment of particular communities over others. Although I thought about retreating and considering alternatives to doing this work, I realized that it would be a form of assimilation I was unwilling to accept. I know the work is hard, I accepted that reality years ago when I did my first training session as a graduate student on microaggressions to a room full of retired faculty members as the only person of color. In that moment, I learned I was not there to shift people%u2019s beliefs but to change their behaviors. I often remind individuals in my consulting sessions that you have the right to say what you want according to the First Amendment. Therefore, I hope the individuals you live and engage with are not harmed by your thoughts and speech. However, I am here to change your behaviors. Meaning that the moment you open a webpage or step outside of your residence, your behaviors and actions will be scrutinized if your intentions are to inflict harm. We can and will have differences in our experiences and ideologies based on how we were raised. But to create hostile environments, polices, laws, practices, and programs that intentionally discriminate against individuals over others is unacceptable.I took a moment to reflect on the changes I have seen and made in classrooms, boardrooms, community organizations, online, and even my own circles of influence and decided I needed to pause by taking a hiatus and not withdraw from the work by retreating. The goal of anti-DEI is to distract with disinformation, an intentional act of misleading content deliberately to deceive people to secure economic or political gain, which may lead to public harm, versus misinformation, which is incorrect or misleading information that can exist with or without specific malicious intent. Knowing this, I plan to continue connecting and strategizing with those who do DEI and protect the most vulnerable populations. I also plan to continue entering spaces that misrepresent the work and value of DEI to challenge the misinformation and disinformation these spaces share.Taking a break to gather and ground yourself is essential. In order to have the necessary stamina to hold these systems accountable takes rest and recalibration. The hiatus, or pause, was needed, but so is the continued fight.My homegirl hiatus is over. See y%u2019all in the streets to keep making change!Take care,#DEIHomegirlBy LARRY SMITHIncompetence is bad enough on its own; however, when married to arrogance, the pair seems predestined to give birth to unmitigated disaster. That is precisely what happened when National Security Adviser Mike Waltz haphazardly included the editor of %u201cThe Atlantic%u201d magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, in a sensitive discussion of military operations on Signal. (Signal is a secure-enough-for-civilians-but-not-the-government messaging app.)As we all now know, several high-ranking members of the Trump Administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, were discussing plans to attack Houthi terrorists in Yemen. (Incidentally, Republicans have increasingly vocalized their displeasure with Vance, who appears to have wanted to countermand President Trump%u2019s order to attack.) Security breaches of this nature can compromise operational security, which could lead to injuries or deaths of our military personnel. Further, our enemies who had nothing to do with this mission could have also been monitoring the chat. Russia and China, for example, are constantly attempting to surveil senior American military, political, and intelligence leaders. If they had access to their phones, they certainly had access to this discussion.Of course, our leaders are merely human. Mistakes, including very serious ones, do happen. When they do, we expect our senior military and governmental leaders to respond with humility, transparency, and integrity. Unfortunately, those who were involved in this incident have not done so. Far from issuing mea culpas regarding this unacceptable (and utterly preventable) security lapse, President Trump%u2019s national security team has been on the offensive %u2014 and has acted offensively. This includes not only attacking those who have sought to hold them to account; it also includes lying to Congress about whether they shared any classified information during this exchange.What has been the president%u2019s response? For his part, Trump has been defiant, saying that he will not fire anyone in the aftermath of this debacle. On Sunday, he told Kristen Welker of %u201cMeet the Press:%u201d %u201cI don%u2019t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts.%u201d His obsequious proxies, such as Senator Josh Hawley, have similarly downplayed the incident. Further, Hegseth has made it clear that he would rather talk about literally anything else. In considering this unfortunate event, I can%u2019t help but to think of the relentless attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs that Trump and his acolytes have levied. For example, Hegseth wrote a book titled %u201cThe War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.%u201d In it, he questioned the bona fides of former Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown:%u201cWas (he promoted) because of his skin color? Or his skill? We%u2019ll never know, but always doubt %u2014 which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn%u2019t really much matter.%u201d Brown, who is a four-star general, is universally praised by those who are qualified to assess his accomplishments. This highlights the irony and hypocrisy of Hegseth, who self-evidently was chosen for his current role based upon his race, his gender, and his unflinching fealty to Donald Trump. (His alleged ties to the white nationalist movement were not a hindrance, as it likely would have been just a few years ago.)DEI programs came into existence for a reason. It is unbelievably hypocritical and perverse not to recognize that they were created specifically to address the invidious discrimination that has always been visited upon the marginalized. Further, I shudder to think of how opponents of DEI would have attacked our national security leaders had they been people of color. The real problem with DEI is that it provides opportunities for members of marginalized groups %u2014 primarily people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community %u2014 to overcome historic barriers to their advancement. This has never been about %u201cunqualified%u201d people taking away roles from those who %u201cdeserve%u201d them. Obviously, %u201cdiversity%u201d isn%u2019t what caused the largest national security blunder in recent memory. Thus, this incident should serve as a catalyst to reinstate such programs. I am not optimistic.The problem with DEIHomegirl hiatusA call for unity, equity and opportunity in public education