Is Slashing the incomes of contracted labor at the richest university a demonstration of Inclusive Excellence? An Open Letter to President Bacow

Inclusion and belonging, in my mind, is partly about building community. It’s about helping people to see themselves as part of Harvard when they look at Harvard. Great institutions find ways of capitalizing on the full range of ideas, experiences, backgrounds, and personalities to create a great community. Ultimately, diversity not only makes Harvard a more interesting place, it enhances the learning environment for everyone.

Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Harvard University

Dear President Bacow,

My question is, what actions do you take that demonstrate that you support inclusive excellence? The dining hall workers, security guards, custodial workers, and contracted labor have the highest concentration of BIPOC people at Harvard University, and they are the most essential and least valued in our community. Slashing their incomes demonstrates elitism, a lack of respect for their lives, and a lack of respect for the surrounding community, as this will add to the burden of an already inadequate social safety net. Do Black and Brown lives matter, only when they have overcome the persistent obstacles placed in front of them denying them the most basic of human needs? When individual effort and luck has allowed them to achieve academic excellence, or when they are the subject of a viral news story? That is an inhumane and barbaric idea, yet facts seem to bear this idea out.

People without income are more vulnerable to coronavirus, and have less access to good healthcare. These are the same people we depend upon most to do the most necessary, but least academically lauded of jobs. There is no learning without life. I'm sure your ability to pay contracted labor through the pandemic has no bearing on your ability to provide financial aid to students, and that it is a disingenuous opposition, to pit disadvantaged students against disadvantaged workers, so that the corporation can maximize its already humungous endowment.

The Federal government is stalling on a coronavirus relief bill, and only one stimulus check was released since the pandemic started in March. Harvard should not turn its back on people who provide essential services and want and need to work to sustain their lives, families, and communities. This subversion of the values you claim to uphold directly contributes to perpetuating systemic racism and inequality.

In Memoriam

Philando Castile, Cafeteria Worker, July 6, 2016

Breonna Taylor, EMT, March 13, 2020

Alvin Simmons, Custodian, March 17, 2020

George Floyd, Security Guard, May 25, 2020

Deirdre Edwards, Custodian, April 7, 2020

Andres Guardardo, Security Guard, June 10, 2020

Believe Black Women

Believe Black Women

We are in the midst of a pandemic, and a cultural reckoning with rampant police brutality, racism, and sex abuse of all genders. Our cultural, religious and governmental institutions are under intense scrutiny, but the people we have upheld as idols for their authority, status, and high achievements have enormous power to remain immune from the consequences of their actions. I'm talking about Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, the police, and yes, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, and Russell Simmons.

A recurrent theme in the documentaries Surviving R. Kelly, and On the Record was that Black women fear that telling their stories about sexual abuse at the hands of a powerful Black man, would be viewed as a betrayal to the race, that they would not be believed, they would be forever defined by being a victim, and their careers would be ruined. That if Black women tell their stories, the Black people they love will be randomly subjected to more injustice, like George Floyd, Philando Castile, and Jacob Blake. These Black women's tears and vulnerability were a revelation to me as a Black woman. I had only seen Black women's anger, rage, humor, toughness, and resilience portrayed in the media. This is an unfair burden for Black women. Black women should not be the vessels to hold the pain of the violence, and humiliation inflicted on all Black people. #BlackLivesMatter, with the focus on Brionna Taylor, has recently expanded to include women murdered by the police, and has yet to highlight transwomen. A Black woman's voice, right to safety, security, autonomy and sovereignty over her body and Black people's right to freedom from being hunted by the police should not be mutually exclusive.

It can be true that Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, and Russell Simmons made great contributions to creative culture, and also used their celebrity status to abuse and rape women. Their transgressions should not justify the oppression of all Black people. They are not the only Black men we have to admire who have not raped women. We still have James Baldwin, MalcolmX, and Barack Obama, and many unknown Black men quietly living their lives, out of the the spotlight, loving and supporting their families and communities. White people do not have to worry that the entire White race will be represented by the Jeffrey Dahmers and Ted Bundies of the world. Jeffrey Epstein's White female victims risked humiliation and slut shaming from telling their stories, but could rest easy that they did not make White men more vulnerable to being stereotyped as rapists. We will be free from racial oppression as Black people when we are not defined by the worst among us, and do not have to be seen as paragons of virtue, an impossible standard for anyone, in order to enjoy the advantages of full citizenship in the United States.

I believe Anita Hill. I believe Azriel Clary. I believe Drew Dixon. I Believe Black Women and #BlackLivesMatter.