Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
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Let’s be honest about something uncomfortable. Racism is still on fire in America. On June 1, 2025, Boulder, Colorado became the latest site of a horrific act of violence in America. At 1:26 p.m., a group of peaceful marchers—many elderly—were walking through the Pearl Street Mall in their regular weekly gathering. In broad daylight, a…
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There’s a phrase I’ve been sitting with lately: Go home. Not in the literal sense—though sometimes, yes, it means exactly that. But more often, it’s something deeper. Something ancestral. Spiritual. Necessary. Because if you’ve ever been in the trenches of the field—work that demands your soul—you know how easy it is to lose track of where…
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Because 110,000 readers (and counting) didn’t just read The Uppity Minority series (The Uppity Minority: Executive Leadership, Power, and the Price of Speaking Up and The Uppity Minority: How They Will Come for You, Be Ready) they are telling me they felt it. You saw yourself in it. You messaged me. You reposted it. You told me it was…
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Peter Drucker’s old maxim still rings true: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But in the realm of K–12 and higher education equity work, that truth doesn’t just ring — it roars. Over the years, I’ve watched countless schools, districts, and universities launch well-intentioned equity initiatives, only to watch them crash into a brick wall of…
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Let’s be honest. The people who most need this post probably won’t read it. And if they do, they’ll assume it’s about someone else. They’ll skim, nod, and keep on quietly dodging the accountability their position demands. But this post isn’t meant to be polite. Because across education—in K–12 districts and college campuses alike—weak middle…
Cloaking Inequity 