“The first thing, the first difficulty, is really so simple it’s usually overlooked. To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost always, almost all of the time - and in one’s work. And part of the rage is this: It isn’t only what is happening to you. But what is happening all around you and all of the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference, indifference of most white people in this country, and their ignorance. Now, since this is so, it's a great temptation to simplify the issues under the illusion that if you simplify them enough, people will recognize them. I think this illusion is very dangerous because, in fact, it isn't the way it works. A complex thing can’t be made simple. You have to try to deal with it in all its complexity and hope to get that complexity across.”
The Negro in American Culture - James Baldwin (1961)
Mission
As employees of the New York City Department of Education’s Central and Borough offices, and as part of Bureaucrats for Black Lives, we commit to explicitly pursuing anti-racism through our work in the agency. We know that when we serve the most disenfranchised in our community, the world improves for us all. Those who need more must get more. We renounce White supremacy, and we commit to grappling with privilege in all its forms. We acknowledge that since its foundation, our government has existed to disenfranchise and disempower Black communities, and continues to do so to this day. We recognize that anti-Black systems cause harm to Black and non-Black communities, and we seek to do whatever it takes to understand the complexity of our institution, deal with the complexity to then dismantle these systems of oppression in the interest of building better institutions.Why “Bureaucrats” for Black Lives?
We intentionally chose the word “bureaucrat” in the hopes of confronting its reputation for putting procedure over humanity. We wanted to explicitly name that we are doing this work as part of our official capacities as DOE and/or agency employees. We believe that transparency, accountability, and speaking truth to power is an essential part of our jobs as the professionals who make up the institution.
Building the best possible world for our children and community is our fundamental duty. We believe that it is the bureaucracy’s highest calling. And so we seek to re-frame the meaning of “bureaucrat” to be one who transforms procedure into the uplifting and honoring of human needs. Not only do we seek to re-frame the meaning of the word, but to re-imagine through action and relationships the functioning of a bureaucracy to orient fully towards service, radical transparency, accountability, and human kindness.
Our Values
Thus, we commit to upholding the following values in our work towards creating an anti-racist school system that centers Black lives:- We commit to explicitly pursuing anti-racism through our work in the agency and renounce white supremacy and anti-Blackness.
- We commit to institutionalizing Black dignity. We acknowledge that since its foundation our government has existed to disenfranchise and dis-empower Black communities, and continues to do so to this day.
- We know that when we actively build environments that centers and empower the voices of those who have been the most historically silenced, violated, and oppressed, we create a better future for us and every student.
- We recognize that the same systems that have been used against Black communities have been used to oppress other marginalized communities including Indigenous and other people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities.
- We commit to raising our racial consciousness through constant introspection and by admitting we don't know what we don't know but are willing to learn.
- We acknowledge that we have been stripped of learning about racism and intersectionality in America in formal settings. Those of us who are non-Black allies commit to doing the research and self-educating, as opposed to putting the labor of telling such history on Black people.
- We affirm the voices and stories of Black sisters and brothers through support and active listening while offering this to all our Indigenous and communities of color.
- We recognize that we stand on stolen Indigenous land and that the only path forward is to acknowledge, raise up, and rectify the crimes committed against our ancestral communities. We acknowledge that restorative practices are rooted in Indigenous communities, whose struggle for liberation is inseparable from ours.
- We commit to trauma-informed restorative justice in all of the work that we do, to ground in radical vulnerability. We dedicate ourselves to the constant building, re-evaluation, and evolution of consensus.
- We know that the conversation, and the work, will be difficult. We shoulder this hard and difficult work, including the necessary internal and inter-personal work of anti-racism. In doing so, we will support those among us who have historically shouldered the burden and the risk of advocating for radical change.
"... a complex thing cannot be made simple. You have to deal with it in all of its complexity and hope to get that complexity across."
Photo: George Floyd by artist @davidbarthold, June 2020. Credit: @thaty
Bureaucrats for Black Lives
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