“A Deep Dive Into The Fight Against DEI”,

a couple bits from my Refinery 29 newsletter.

I’m A Black Woman Working In DEI & Here’s What It’s Really Like

Dria James Last Updated February 12, 2025, 10:20 AM

Dria James is a former DEI executive, with over a decade of experience driving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across financial services, management consulting, higher education, and non-profit sectors. Now, she’s the CEO and founder of Black In Diversity, dedicated to empowering Black leaders and allies to thrive while driving systemic change. Here, shetakes us inside what it’s like to work in America’s most contested industry.

As told to Keyaira Kelly.

The emptiness of not-quite belonging followed me like a shadow from a young age. Born in the late ’80s in Paterson, New Jersey, to two young parents, private school education was seen as one of the few lifelines available for Black folks looking to transcend the social, economic, and political firestorm that engulfed Paterson in the 1990s. At the time, the city was marred by rising crime rates, declining businesses, and severe budget cuts to public schools, leaving many families searching for alternatives. In fact, my mother’s high school, Eastside, is featured in Lean On Me, the Black film classic that details the true story of Paterson’s own Principal Joe Clark, an educator who went to extreme lengths to help improve the test scores and livelihoods of Black students at the inner city school.

My parents, both educators, witnessed firsthand the crumbling state of local public school education: overcrowded classrooms, underfunded programs, and a growing sense of despair among students and teachers. So, they made immense sacrifices, often forgoing their own comforts, to ensure I had access to a quality education in a private school life. But that choice carried an unseen cost—a nagging fractured sense of identity that lingered long after I left the classroom.

Courtesy of Dria James, The author, Dria James

In college, I penned a personal statement titled The Struggle of Adaptation, detailing the weight of double-consciousness I carried as a child while wading alone in a sea of white for most of my formal education. On the one hand, I knew I was privileged to attend the schools I did, gaining access to extracurricular opportunities, like playing the violin and traveling, rare opportunities that few Black kids from Paterson could even dream of at the time. But inside those classrooms, as one of the only Black girls in a space where no one looked like me, I often felt small, like my experiences and perspectives were invisible or undervalued. My educational experience was a tightrope walk between two worlds, never quite falling safely into either.

Looking back, my own awkward dance with cultural isolation set the stage for my future career as a corporate human resources executive in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Perhaps subconsciously, I was driven to resolve my internal conflict by helping other underrepresented communities navigate the challenges of educational and workplace integration with less angst. But DEI work extends far beyond my personal story, it is deeply woven into this country’s history. The earliest forms of this work trace back to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which guaranteed equal employment rights to Americans regardless of race, age, sex, religion, or national origin. With that storied history on my shoulders, I enrolled at Cornell University, determined to make a tangible impact. My first step? A DEI internship at a major financial institution, where I arrived with the enthusiasm of a true changemaker, eager to reshape the narrative.

As an intern, I was involved in diversity recruiting efforts on college campuses. As a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed college junior, I put together a list of schools to visit, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), determined to bring diverse, qualified Black talent into the Wall Street pipeline. But I was quickly hit with my first strip of DEI yellow caution tape — I was told those schools were too small to justify a campus visit from a budget perspective and was instead directed to focus on institutions with larger enrollment numbers.

That early career disappointment was a wake-up call. As much as I wanted my work to be heart-centered and passion-driven, I realized that passion alone wasn’t enough in the corporate world. Everything had to have a clear return on investment (ROI). That’s why the current narrative that DEI is a shell-tactic to simply give a handout to undeserving folks is so wildly misleading. Companies wouldn’t invest in these policies if they weren’t economically advantageous to their bottom line. (snip-there is MORE; not tl,dr.)

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In War On DEI, Law Is Being Used As A Weapon — These Leaders Are Fighting Back

Brea Baker Last Updated February 3, 2025, 9:25 AM

“Nothing that you are seeing right now is normal,” says Gabrielle Perry, a political commentator, nonprofit founder, and organizer. “We are seeing the Latino community buying groceries in bulk so that they do not have to leave their homes frequently. We are seeing Native American people’s citizenship being called into question. We are seeing Black people in mass being laid off from their jobs at the federal level.” In each of these situations, the law is being weaponized as a tool of fear and anxiety, but it’s the latter threat — the legal war against diversity, equity, and inclusions in workplaces — that hits home for Perry. “DEI has now become synonymous with Black people and that’s not an accident,” says Perry, who is the founder and executive director of The Thurman Perry Foundation, a nonprofit organization that lost a $35,000 grant that they normally receive annually. “White people, particularly white men, are suing nonprofits and universities for awarding any aid to anyone on the basis of race or gender,” she tweeted out afterwards. Though Perry’s organization wasn’t sued, her funders are responding to this moment with an abundance of caution which means pulling “risky” investments. And after Trump’s executive order urging the roll back of DEI at the federal level, everyone else seems to be falling in line and investing in anything Black is deemed a “risk”.

Fear is a powerful motivator and the threat of having the full force of the American legal system against you is enough to make anyone cower. For example, even when Latine Americans do have citizenship, there is a fear of being rounded up anyway with no clear path to resistance. And even when there is no legal grounds to strip employees of their right to equity and inclusion, Trump’s grandstanding has stoked enough uncertainty that his rhetoric is working. Multiple brands have announced they are either ending or curtailing their DEI efforts in what seems to be a pre-emptive show of compliance to the Trump administration. That’s exactly what makes these shifts so dangerous; conservatives don’t even need to have constitutional cover for their onslaught. Republicans only need to make the average American fear their proposed policies enough to shift their behavior proactively.

These attacks are not new. Over the past few years, Republicans have come after “woke culture,” critical race theory, affirmative action, and now DEI. Trump has positioned DEI as standing in the way of others’ freedoms, a falsehood that his base has run with in recent years. “The distortion of our words and work is right out of the playbook for opponents of freedom for all people,” says Susan Taylor Batten, President and CEO of ABFE. She encourages people to refocus the conversation around the true history of this country and Black organizations’ consistent investment in fighting for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, and more. Similarly, Dr. Alvin Tillery believes we need to shift our strategy for how we communicate what is happening. Tillery is a tenured professor at Northwestern University and founder of The Alliance for Black Equality. “I see so many beautiful Black kids on social media posting things like, ‘Donald Trump is a DEI hire.’ No, he’s not,” Tillery corrected. “DEI hires are qualified and legitimate. Donald Trump is a white supremacy hire.” When conservatives co-opt progressive messaging, the answer isn’t to fall in line with their revisionism. “We don’t need to respond to racism by saying we’re excellent,” Tillery warns. “Rebranding our work won’t protect us or these programs because this fight isn’t rational. We have to fight back.”

Perry also expanded on this moment and how these attacks are bleeding into all facets of American life — not just Black communities. “People began to see this coming to a head on a national lens last February when the Fearless Fund venture capital lawsuit hit national headlines,” Perry expounded. The Fearless Fund previously extended grants to small businesses led by women of color and was sued by Edward Blum and his conservative organization, the American Alliance for Equal Rights. The claim was essentially one of reverse-racism; that by only opening their grant program to Black women, Fearless Fund was discriminating against others in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. “At the time,” Perry said, “I knew it was horrible what was happening to her but I had no idea that was going to trickle down to my little organization in Louisiana. [Arian Simone] made the absolutely selfless decision to settle and to close her doors because she knew that if she took it to the Supreme Court, so much would be stacked against her, and that it would affect all of us.” Blum and the AAER claimed victory, labeling the Fearless Fund’s work as “divisive and illegal” and painted the founders — working to resource the most marginalized among us — as exclusionary (Unbothered has reached out to Blum and the AAER and they have yet to respond). Unfortunately, the decision has hurt Black founders anyway as funders pull resources in fear of litigation and as the federal government remains on the attack. Litigation is expensive and sets precedence which can completely shift the landscape facing Black-led organizations. It takes deep coffers to go up against a high-powered law team and, if you lose, a single legal decision can hurt thousands of organizations. For many, it’s easier to avoid lawsuits altogether.

“The cruelty is the point,” Gabrielle Perry reiterated. “Trump is testing what will hold and what won’t. Who’s going to push back and who won’t.” Perry urges that there needs to be a strong and unrelenting response to these attacks, something Democrats haven’t been doing with nearly enough force. Tillery agrees and brought up some important historical context to emphasize how much more could be done right now. “We have more power in 2025 than Dr. King and Fannie Lou Hamer and Rosa Parks and Ralph Abernathy had in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act passed,” Tillery called out. “There were three Black members of Congress, then, and it was a segregated institution. Today there are over 60 Black members of Congress including five Black senators who have the ability to filibuster. Why aren’t we putting pressure on them right now to step up?” (snip-MORE; again, not tl,dr.)

Another Piece I Lifted Off Ten Bears:

‘Clever Girl’ Explains Why Dinosaurs are Queer and Feminist — and Jurassic Park is a Toolkit for the Apocalypse

This Is A Ray Of Hope!

I wrote and called and called and wrote, so many times. 🌞 Via Death Penalty Action:

Supreme Court orders new trial for death row inmate in Oklahoma

Updated February 25, 20254:57 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered Nina Totenberg

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out the conviction and death penalty for Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma man who has maintained his innocence for more than a quarter century, and who came so close to execution that he three times ate what was supposed to be his “last meal.”

Glossip has been tried and convicted twice and lost multiple appeals, including one at the Supreme Court, where Justice Samuel Alito dismissed his claim as nothing but a “stalling tactic.”

But on Tuesday, three of the court’s conservatives joined the court’s three liberals in concluding that prosecutors had denied Glossip a fair trial, not once, but twice.

The six-justice court majority said that prosecutors had violated Glossip’s rights by concealing evidence helpful to the defense — including information about the drug use and mental status of the prosecution’s star witness, and by persuading that witness to change his testimony when it conflicted with his prior testimony.

Glossip’s lawyer, Don Knight, said his client is “beyond thrilled,” noting that “He actually has a future that’s not going to be on death row.”

Prosecutors never contended that Glossip himself bludgeoned motel owner Barry Van Trease to death with a baseball bat. Rather, they ultimately settled on the theory that Glossip, who managed the motel, commissioned handyman Justin Sneed to murder Van Trease. The alleged motive being, alternately, to steal a wad of cash from the owner, or to conceal embezzlement of funds.

There was no physical evidence to tie Glossip to the crime, so prosecutors initially offered to take the death penalty off the table if he testified against handyman Sneed. But when Glossip continued to maintain his innocence, the prosecution offered the deal instead to Sneed, who was sentenced to life in prison, while Glossip was convicted and sentenced to die.

The case, in many ways, is as remarkable as a True Crime mini-series. Most extraordinary is that Glossip’s Supreme Court appeal was supported by Oklahoma’s Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a conservative Republican and supporter of the death penalty. After two separate independent investigations found that both Glossip trials had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct, Drummond took the very rare step of formally asking for a new trial.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, however, refused to accept the attorney general’s so-called “confession of error,” and the state court maintained that its decision was not reviewable in federal court.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court vociferously disagreed. Writing for the Court majority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the prosecutors had violated their constitutional obligation to correct false testimony elicited from Sneed, the only witness to tie Glossip directly to the crime. The obligation to correct such false testimony, the court observed, is a clear violation of the court’s precedents dating back more than 65 years.

Joining Sotomayor in the majority were Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and, for the most part, Amy Coney Barrett.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented and accused the majority of bending “the law at every turn to grant relief to Glossip.” Justice Thomas said that the Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, and that Sneed’s false testimony did not significantly alter the outcome for Glossip anyway.

Justice Neil Gorsuch was recused from the case, presumably because it came before the appeals court he served on prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court.

Much of the credit for Tuesday’s win goes to to Attorney General Drummond, said defense attorney Knight. “Only he had the courage to say, ‘we’re not going to continue to try to kill this man.’ That’s a tremendous amount of political courage for a man who is now running for governor as well. He saw something that was wrong and he tried to make it right, and he did.” (Emphasis mine-A.)

Some Thoughts I Share With This Poet-

when the day’s temp has exceeded 70 degrees. Time to think about the weather again! (Still!)

Late February

Short clips from TizzyEnt

This videos are hard to watch, I had to fast forward over the part showing the man harassing these people and acting like a deranged gang thug, which maga is. It is going to get worse as more of these vigilantes think they have a right to be enforcers of their own opinions. We need to make sure that every event is punished and made public to stop these people from acting this way. Hugs

A south Carolina man is in jail for illegally detaining people he thought were “illegals”

Canceling any non white male centric holiday in the name of DEI? Sounds about Project 2025 of them.

Wanting lower grocery prices is good; believing a liar is not.

Deporting his supporters: They got your vote, they don’t need you anymore.

Looks like DOGE is coming for the Department of Labor next.

More Ugly News From Kansas

Kansas House embraces bill on religious, moral liberty within state’s foster care program

Snippet (it’s not too long to go read):

An amendment from Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Shawnee Democrat, to modify the bill’s language so best interests of a child in foster or adoptive care remained the top priority at DCF was rejected by the House. She said the amendment was necessary because the bill was drafted in a way that could force a subsection of children in Kansas to endure more trauma.

“You have to remember why children come into the system in the first place,” Ruiz said. “They come into the system because of abuse and neglect, and it comes in so many forms.”

Ruiz told House colleagues that Kansas youth were physically beaten and emotionally traumatized by parents and church leaders who wanted children to adhere to a certain sexual orientation or gender identity. Some kids were expected to “pray away the gay,” she said.

Others were compelled to undergo so-called conversion therapy, she said. It has little basis in science, but proposes to erase a person’s gender identity or sexuality — usually to conform to ideals of other people.

“This bill opens up the door to one of the most horrible forms of therapy that any human being can be exposed to,” Ruiz said. (Snip-MORE)

I know it is too late to change the vote, but we can make their vote hang on them and drag them down. They depend on us forgetting what they did.

They Don’t Care …

Thank you Ten Bears for posting this video. I wish more people could have seen it and stuff like it … before the vote. Hugs

Off Topic, A Piece from Nancy Beiman

She was there, too. by Nancy Beiman

NPR interviewed me in 2014. Read on Substack

The number A113 appears in [yesterday]’s FurBabies strip. It’s the number of our classroom at Cal Arts. Click on the link to see the entire comic.

https://www.gocomics.com/furbabies/2025/02/16

NPR interviewed me for an hour in 2014 after a Vanity Fair article appeared about the program. Here it is.

https://www.npr.org/2014/02/16/277882145/disneys-first-crop-of-trained-animators-profiled

Leslie Margolin, the other girl in the first class, was not interviewed. A group photo was taken of other graduates for Vanity Fair. I am not in it. Tim Burton was Photoshopped in, but no one would do that for me even though I offered to go to New York for the photo shoot.

The so called Cal Arts Mafia only worked for the male students.

Thanks for reading FurBabies (formerly Animation Anarchy)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Two For Science On Sunday

Fully recyclable solar cells – just add water

February 14, 2025 Richard Musgrove

Swedish researchers have invented a fully-recyclable perovskite solar cell that may provide a solution to the growing problem of solar panel waste.

All renewable technologies have a life span — with solar panels it’s 25 to 30 years — which means our solar waste pile is rapidly becoming mountainous. Just 17 % of solar panel components were recycled in Australia in 2023, specifically the aluminium frames and junction boxes. The remaining 83% (glass, silicon and polymer back sheeting) was shuttled out to landfill. Other countries do better; France’s ROSI was an early starter in what could be a $2b market by 2050.

Linköping University researchersmay have a solution — fully recyclable perovskite solar cells.

These cells are also flexible, transparent and inexpensive — who needs aluminium frames when your PVs are stuck to your windows?

Low res — *Professor Feng Gao with postdocs Xun Xiao and Niansheng Xu at Linköping University (Image Thor Balkhed)*

“There is currently no efficient technology to deal with the waste of silicon panels. That’s why old solar panels end up in the landfill,” says coauthor, Xun Xiao, at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM) at Linköping University (LiU).

“Huge mountains of electronic waste that you can’t do anything with.”

Perovskites used in photovoltaic solar cells are ‘metal-halide perovskites’ — made from organic ions, metals and halogens. Such cells’ active layers are much thinner and cheaper than those of conventional silicon PV and show efficiencies of more than 26%, comparable with silicon PVs (20% – 22%).

But perovskite PVs are not yet produced at scale.

Recyclability is the key.

“We need to take recycling into consideration when developing emerging solar cell technologies,” says Professor Feng Gao, also at IFM at LiU and a co-author. “If we don’t know how to recycle them, maybe we shouldn’t put them on the market at all.”

(Snip-MORE, and they can recycle them!)

Pressing pause: how a unique insect survives Antarctica

February 14, 2025 Ariel Marcy

The inhospitable Antarctic Peninsula hosts only one native insect, and scientists from Japan have just identified an unprecedented combination of adaptations that allow it to thrive in the extreme cold.

The Antarctic midge is a tiny, flightless insect that lives most of its two-year life as a larva, the grub-like stage that follows the egg stage. (Complete metamorphosis in insects includes egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages).

Two insects, adult flightless antarctic midges on ice. — Adult Antarctic midges. Credit: Yuta Shimizu / Osaka Metropolitan University.

How these larvae overwinter in Antarctica could have implications for cryopreservation technology but, perhaps more pressingly, better understanding of the species’ response to climate change. Previous researchers have suggested that the Antarctic midge be developed as a model organism for survival in extreme and fluctuating temperatures.

The Japanese research team led by Shin Goto of Osaka Metropolitan University studied the unique midge after developing a specialised rearing method, which took them six years to establish.

The team then tracked the growth and physiology of the midge larvae through their natural lifecycle. In a first for science, they documented two distinct forms of dormancy used as seasonal survival adaptations.

In general, dormancy is a state of inactivity, suspended development and reduced metabolism, but insect scientists distinguish between two types: quiescence and diapause.

In the first winter, the Antarctic midge larvae adapted via quiescence, a form of dormancy triggered by external conditions, such as cold temperatures. This means all the midge larvae go dormant at the same time. Quiescence ends when the temperature rises.

(Snip-MORE; it’s fascinating and worth the click. Also not long.)