Rape Bait and Negro Girls

​April will make two years since I filed a lawsuit against New York Law School. The lawsuit is ongoing (discovery is underway; interrogatories are due March 9). It’s difficult to sum up my feelings and experience in few words, but I can say that the U.S. justice system leaves much to be desired; it’s painful, mentally and physically exhausting, and reinforces what most American-born citizens who are not white understand: declaring yourself a beacon of civil and human rights does not make it so. 

I compartmentalize (a lot). Months into the Roman ritual, a ceremonial ritual and family tradition performed before the marriage to honor the woman with ordered stages: 1. purify, 2. edify, 3. nourish, 4. heal, 5. beautify, and 6. gratify (—which is to marry) I realize my growth and development, I feel love and I give love back, however, life is anything but balanced and orderly. I struggle to navigate transatlantic and intercontinental demands, the ‘first-ever-to-accomplish x’ in a family of first-evers, a pedestal I have been placed on but I have not yet earned, and to survive the disparate and adverse treatment of citizens in the U.S. who are not white. To put it mildly.
           
And then there are days when every person and every experience is more beautiful and better than the last. In his love, he says to me “I understand but I wish you wouldn’t [cry]; I want you to know that you deserve much more than any man could ever give.” These days, sandwiched between the bad, I feel as if my body were being anointed for my burial. There are many days like these. So, I respond “my dearest love, life and death are not within your power; no amount of money can turn back time. But it can—and you can—ensure that I am the last to suffer these injuries. My injuries are preventable.”
 
If I took my last breath today, I’d want you to know: 1. It wasn’t easy, 2. It was worth it. I am left to contemplate an early death because of the surreal and flagrant inequalities that persist in the United States. If I were born in a country where women of color were more than rape bait or nigger-girls, this wouldn’t be necessary. Still, we move forward with grace and resolve, because that is humanity at its best. It is incumbent on all of us today to fight for a better future for the women of color who will survive us. So, I am paying forward the love, kindness, and warm embrace that I have received from international nations where I have no claim to citizenship. To the U.S. I leave what will be a force, movement, and entity for good: Bella Caveat.
 
Bella Caveat is a U.S. entity, in development stage, in a network of multi-national entities. We exist for the redress of inequality that disproportionately affects women of color. It’s about more than just civil rights, it’s about economics and how parity affects human dignity. We will occupy the sectors of law, finance, technology, healthcare, politics, art and film – we will give women of color a voice in all sectors.  

Why We Persist
Survival and self-sufficiency are at stake. As an American-born woman of color, without any history of conflict with U.S. law, the benefit of U.S. citizenship to me, as a woman of color, lags behind the benefits enjoyed by white women. In the U.S., women of color have achieved equal standing—in theory and on paper—but not equal status. The contributions, productivity, protections, private acts and remedies of comparable groups of women are given unequal status and treated differently.

Historically and presently in the U.S., women of color are subject to an adverse and disparate response across a range of life-altering spheres. The impact is multi-dimensional, significant, and undeniable. This disparate response directly impacts the economic, social, and political realities of these women, including in the realms of health, family, self-representation, preservation, education and employment.

Equality (and effective meaningful redress) demands a response that is unrelenting and extends beyond civic participation. These injuries are sustained and made worse by a lack of equal representation. Without equal representation to reflect a diverse population of women with diverse experiences, the voices, experiences and needs of women of color are dictated by women who are white. Such a skewed scheme of representation has no rational basis, other than to subjugate women of color and advance inequality.

What Motivates Us
We all have a story that defines our journey in support of women’s rights, so what motivates us is likely to be as unique and varied as we are. My personal journey began Spring 2016. That Spring, I filed a lawsuit against New York Law School where I was an admitted student, after I was attacked by a drug-abusing white man on-campus (also a law student).

At the time I began law school, I had already reported a sex assault by an armed gunman to a police detective. I had endured intrusive exams and indexing of my injuries, only to have the white-female detective accuse me of being partially responsible for my own injuries, while the black-male detective forced me to recount a violent encounter over and over again, only to later call me, using the data he collected as part of his investigation, to ask me on a date.

No woman should have to suffer the injuries, scars, and trauma that I have endured. Still, women of color in the U.S. are several times more likely to be victimized and less likely to receive adequate redress. So, notwithstanding my injuries, I was not giving up my professional course, which is still male-dominated and only reluctantly tolerates women of color in the U.S. Revealingly, the fiercest opposition I face to professional advancement and having my grievances heard comes from white women in the U.S. This reaction, by American women nonetheless, has had a significant influence on the development and scope of the entity in progress today.

The law school’s response to my complaint, which stated federal and state law violations, including a gender-motivated Title IX violation was to denigrate, denounce, demean, desecrate, disparage, destroy, vilify, humiliate and retaliate against me for publicly speaking about the incident. The school’s response towards the white male predator who attacked me, and other women, and then cowardly claimed to have no recollection of his acts, was to protect and defend, and even to knock down U.S. state and federal law to do so.

Silence. The sound (or lack thereof) was stunning and painfully deafening as I reached out to affinity groups in search of help after I was assaulted. To add salt to the wound, I was a dues-paying member in some of the organizations. I couldn’t get anyone on the phone and no one returned my emails. Still, directors, chairs, and c-level management were consistently touting their service to communities of women and people of color in ongoing robust fundraising efforts. When we—as women of color—do not engage, this becomes the reality within our communities: we become reliant on people, organizations, and institutions that historically and presently have benefitted themselves over the communities they claim to serve.

What We Do Different
Yes, we have awaited this movement all of our young lives. We are a modern women’s movement that does not subordinate, subjugate, ignore, bury or diminish the claims and experiences of women of color. We exist for the advancement of U.S. women of color; we no longer entrust this effort to the current situs, which consistently seeks to advance and protect the status quo: we are the solution, we do not merely delegate duties or pay lip service to ideals. We protect them.

One of the ways that our entity and parent corporation is distinguished is by clearly identifying where we stand on key issues. For example, who our effort will support. Many U.S. organizations that claim support for women, in practice, exercise discretion in a manner consistent with flagrant bias against women of color. We fully appreciate that we will be held accountable for providing support to women of color, and we have contributed from our personal fortunes to support this effort. We intentionally crafted our business financial model with the goal of maintaining maximum control and oversight over hiring staff, setting and achieving goals, and regulatory compliance. We note and take issue with current and developing organizations, operating largely through public grants, that are required to support certain communities of women per the terms of the grant, yet, the majority beneficiaries are not the intended women but a mostly white, competitive-salaried staff. Our board and staff will be comprised of members that reflect the communities they serve; we are as diverse as our communities, and our operating budget does not largely rely on government grants and funds.

U.S. law and policy, in theory and on paper, addresses the disparate and adverse response concerning women of color. However, in practice, it is undeniable that the current situs does not intend to accomplish parity between comparable groups of women where the benefit flows to women who are not white. Therefore, it is incumbent on us to engage and persist on the issue of parity. This is your wakeup call, if you needed a reason or an invitation to engage. It is simply not possible for all lives or all women to matter when the culture, by affirmative act and omission, suppresses the advancement of women of color.

Who We Are
The educated, actively and meaningfully engaged, relentless, disciplined, supportive of women of color, morally resolute, exemplary standard bearers with demonstrated ability and commitment to leadership, accountability, good judgment, justice, knowledge, and ethics. We are diverse in personal beliefs and background but our commitment to justice and the well-being of women of color at work and in our personal lives is unwavering. We recognize that the unequal access to remedies for unlawful violations leaves U.S. women of color vulnerable. Failing to report a violation committed against a woman of color would be in breach of our mission. We would absolutely hold our own communities accountable for failing our women.

Optimists. We are optimistic about the future because we are confident in the skill, ability, and planning that has and will go into creating a viable and profitable entity. On the other hand, who we are not is just as revealing. Our company policy prohibits hiring or partnerships with entities and individuals who are implicated as permitting violations against women of color, personally and professionally. Supporting a racist or sexist policy or individual would be a clear violation. We are not afraid to address issues of moral character. Further, we do not limit our inquiry to affirmative acts. Omissions with proximity to aggrieved and injurious conduct is also violative and a non-starter for us.

Who Will Benefit
Females of color native to the U.S. is the primary target of the U.S. entity. (We are in the process of narrowly tailoring and identifying the population of women that our entity will support.) Entities are designed to address a population identified within that nation. While we believe all women are deserving, we are truly honored to support women of color as our primary objective. We exist because of a gap in coverage that leaves U.S. women of color subject to heightened vulnerability. We exist because despite a glut of entities that claim to support women, the claims and grievances of U.S. women of color are disproportionately inadequately addressed by these groups. We address this disproportionate response.

It’s important that our board of directors and staff reflect the diversity within the communities and populations that we serve. It’s personal for us. It’s concerning and problematic when members not affiliated with a community are handed large sums of public money with great discretion as to how to address issues within a community that they do not identify with. This practice is harmful to communities of color, and it is far too prevalent within women’s advocacy organizations. So, we—women from communities of color—incorporated.

Great news! While women of color are our main focus, we have reserved space to serve and support our girls as well. No woman, girl, boy, or man should be without a support system, and we are honored to extend our services to girls from underserved communities.

Humanitarian aid is at the core of our founding beliefs. So, it was important to us to do something more than add to a glut of women’s advocacy movements and entities. We serve because of an identified humanitarian need, and we serve at the pleasure of our communities. When white women champion issues on behalf of women of color in the U.S., the issue either parities something white women want to achieve themselves, or the women of color represented are from outside of the U.S. This practice denies U.S. women of color an identity and voice. This practice implies that issues related to women of color should only be advanced and elevated when the women of color are not American. Imagine if U.S. women of color looked to Switzerland, Denmark or Australia whenever advocating policy or celebrating achievement of white women, as if U.S. white women did not exist or were the rarest of the rare.

Teenage girls are at a particularly vulnerable stage in life. We appreciate that in order to grow strong healthy women we must support and grow our girls. We share in the responsibility of growing, educating, and encouraging our girls.

When
The time is now. We are actively preparing the entity. (We are working through trademarks, licensing, employment and non-compete agreements, among other things.) We demand competence and a well-organized and relentless response for women of color; we are actively developing a competent staff from talent who embody the character, beliefs, and attributes needed to perform well. From April 2016, most of my time and resources have been dedicated to the ongoing lawsuit against New York Law School. Litigation is arduous. A consequence is that development of the entity has been delayed. The entity will significantly speed up litigation and increase the odds of success for women of color through multi-dimensional strategies, which are rarely employed when a U.S. victim is also a person of color. Speeding up justice for women of color is essential for effective redress.

Originally, I intended the entity’s first activity to coincide with the court’s final decision in Bailey v. New York Law School et al. This lawsuit was my reaction to my rights being violated by (1) Stephen Nesbit, (2) New York Law School, (3) Anthony Crowell, (4) Deborah Archer, (5) Howard Meyers, (6) Erika Wood, (7) Barbara Graves-Poller, (8) David Schoenbrod, (9) Jeffery Becherer, (10) Oral Hope, (11) Victoria Eastus and (12) Ella Mae Estrada. And this entity is my reaction—gift and legacy—to all of the U.S. women of color who have been victimized by sexual predators, racism, discrimination and the inadequate response in a country that declares itself a beacon of human and civil rights for all, while disparaging female citizens of color.

How We Work
Empathy demands that I act to empower women with resources that were not available to me when I was victimized. So, we incorporated. And we’re building a support system that does not treat the claims and injuries of women of color as cosmetic hot air. When a young woman of color is assaulted, and she reaches out to her State’s Attorney, District Attorney, and Mayor—to name a few— and they decline to act, act injuriously or inadequately, we want to be there. We want to file a lawsuit on her behalf, provide additional support, and make sure that every person connected to her injuries is held accountable.

Managing crises (well) requires managers that perform at a high level across multiple critical functions, sometimes simultaneously. Women do not need to be re-victimized by a system that intends to fail them because of the color of their skin. So, we hire only the best and committed talent. When vetted and hired, we get out of the way and let our staff work.

Prevention is preferred to crises management, so prevention is a central element of the work that we do. The strength and results that we will bring will not only change the lives of the women who directly benefit but strongly encourage other women’s groups to increase their support for women of color to remain competitive. These organizations have thus far benefitted from a lack of viable alternatives. Our success will deter would-be wrongdoers from targeting women of color as low hanging fruit and serve as a viable option for women of color who are wearied from being underserved, misrepresented, and undervalued by women’s groups.

Our operation uses a diversified method of funding and prioritizes partnerships and opportunities with entities owned and managed by women of color. We are not exclusive. Rather, we prioritize the well-being and advancement of women of color. If a male-owned operation demonstrates significant contribution towards women of color we would entertain such a partnership. Conversely, if a female-owned operation has a history of bias against women of color, such a partnership would not be permissible.

We strive to analyze, learn, grow and improve personally and professionally. We maintain in-house ethics advisors and a system of internal checks. However, we trust staff to abide by company policy while performing their duties. We would not hesitate to fire a person who violated policy; any person implicated in a Trump, Nassar, Weinstein or Lauer-like cover up would be treated like any other defendant who injured a woman. We pursue the maximum penalty on all violations. No violation is petty to us. We prioritize cases viewed as difficult or are otherwise ineffectively or inadequately addressed.

Employees are valued and viewed as career-track professionals. There are no entry level positions or temporary workers, and interns are governed by the same code of conduct as employees. Our view is that competitive benefits are essential—not fringe or generous—and competitive benefits are appropriate for the exemplary people we hire.

Regardless of the race or gender of the perpetrator, injury to a woman of color is within the scope of wrong that we address. While redress is a core service provided, we also have strong portfolios in talent management, professional development, and prevention services which all prioritize the well-being and advancement of women of color.

We are a separate entity within a multi-national corporation. Ultimately, we will operate under the umbrella of a multi-national parent corporation, majority owned and operated by women of color. The parent corporation will provide a host of benefits, including increased status and opportunity, visibility, added protection and resources, and a network of affinity partnerships in multiple nations.

Overseas operations include a presence in Europe, Africa, Brazil and South America. Our presence and operation overseas depend entirely on identifying and bringing into the network women who have demonstrated competence and character, and who can sustain an entity with minimal supervision. Parent-corporation management of overseas operations is more limited in scope because of the size of investments that are managed internationally.

Management and control rests mainly at sub-entity level, but the parent corporation maintains control over sub-entity managers. Only one sub-entity under the corporation’s umbrella has an all male-focus.  However, males do participate in and are employed by sub-entities. Employees must abide by a morality clause, pass a criminal background check, drug screen, and education verification.

Essential to every role is physical and athletic ability. Physical fitness is central to our health and well-being initiative as well as to entity funding. Physical exercise is a part of each employee’s regular portfolio, and occurs during the work day. The standard is performance ability not height and weight obligations. We are a nicotine-free corporation. We care about the health of our employees, and we like people who care about their colleagues and family enough to avoid subjecting them to harmful irritants, like smoke.  
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No excuse for bad behavior. This norm extends to our employees as well. We’ve built a business with a strong humanitarian core, and this means protecting the well-being of the people we hire as well as those we serve. We reinforce and celebrate high moral standards and value the contributions of the people that we work with. We work for greater representation and elevation of skilled and competent women of color in all fields. Representations of women of color as punch lines, inferior, lazy and undeserving do not represent the communities of women of color that we know and come from, and we are actively engaged to redress harmful misrepresentations. 

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Rape Bait and Negro Girls (formatted version below)

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