No stranger to the danger of wokeism, Tabia Lee was the Director of the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education at De Anza College until she was fired for questioning the institution’s anti-racism “orthodoxy.” Although Lee wanted to advance true diversity and inclusion, she was chided when she didn’t follow the school’s approach to DEI.

Lee would be required to join a “socialist network,” participate in the college’s land acknowledgments for an Indigenous tribe, and understand that the goal was to make spaces comfortable for people of color but not whites. Ironically, the college labeled its Director of the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education a white supremacist.

Tabia Lee is a founding member of Free Black Thought,  has contributed to the design, implementation, and evaluation of numerous educational and professional development programs.  Her commitment to teacher education and pedagogical design is grounded in her experience as a lifelong educator and a National Board-Certified English, Civics, and Social Studies teacher in urban American public middle schools.  Dr. Lee prepares K-12 and higher education faculty to work with diverse communities by focusing on better understanding ideology-in-practice and the pedagogical and curricular implications of race, gender, and other ideologies. Her Race Ideologies Resource Site, featuring interactive dialogical activities and resources for exploring race ideologies, may be found here.