Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig

  • There’s a familiar and unsettling pattern that Uppity Minorities and equity-driven leaders know all too well. When you take a courageous stand for justice—when you lead with clarity, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to equity—they come for you. Even if you followed the very same processes your predecessors used without scrutiny. But what we don’t…

    The Uppity Minority: The Politics of Hiring and the Price of Courage
  • The First Amendment is under siege, by those claiming to defend it. In one of the strangest political inversions of our time, the far right is now using the First Amendment to destroy the First Amendment. They claim to be defenders of liberty, free speech, and academic freedom. But their actions speak otherwise. What they…

    Using the First Amendment to Abolish the First Amendment
  • The Harvard Educational Review’s decision to cancel its special issue on education and Palestine is not just an internal editorial dispute or a routine publication delay. It is a stark example of institutional censorship and a direct attack on academic freedom at one of the most respected education journals in the country. The issue had…

    Harvard Censorship Is a Dangerous Precedent
  • Football season is approaching fast. Fall camps are about to kick off, and interviews with players and coaches are starting to roll in. What if the most dangerous play this fall isn’t on the field, but on your résumé? Not a missed tackle. Not a blown call. But accepting the wrong job. The one that…

    When Saying Yes Was a Mistake: Finding Your Way Back
  • Leadership is never just about vision, strategy, or metrics. It is about navigating people, personalities, and politics. Some of the people around you will be loyal, thoughtful, and courageous. But others? They will smile in your face while sharpening their knives behind your back. Every leader eventually encounters a Benedict Arnold. Their Judas. The person…

    Judas in a Suit: How to Detect Betrayal Before the Kiss Lands

Cloaking Inequity is an online platform for justice and liberty-minded readers. I publish reflections, analysis, and commentary on education, democracy, culture, and politics.

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