Broken into Pieces

I wrote this book with a heavy heart and with deep concern for other federal employees who feel trapped in a system that refuses to hear them. It has felt, for years, as if human lives are games to the people in power — people who sleep at night with no regard for the stress, fear, and anxiety they impose on others.

The Trump/DeVos administration hollowed out the federal workforce, dismantling protections and weakening every safeguard employees relied upon.
There was not enough staff to serve the American public, and there was even less concern from leadership for the people actually doing the work.

I believe a plan was devised at the top — a plan to rid the agency of experienced minority workers. A plan to use false narratives of poor performance as the justification. I wrote this book to tell the truth. To show others that they are not alone.

And to remind every federal employee that integrity, justice, and human value still matter — even when the people in charge have forgotten them.

PRELUDE
Liar.
Troublemaker.
Unintelligent.
Uppity.
Skill-less.
Fatso.
Nigger.

These are the names I was called — directly or indirectly — throughout my tenure at the U.S.
Department of Education.
My physical disability was mocked.
My character attacked.
My humanity dismissed.

These behaviors were not isolated incidents.
They were the accepted language and culture of an environment that did not value Black women and
saw us as expendable.

When I reported the abuse — in writing, through the proper channels — I was labeled a whistleblower,
a problem, a threat. Once I spoke up, management circled the wagons, protected each other, and began targeting me.
This is what happens when you refuse to be silent.
This is what happens when you “step out of line.”

INTRODUCTION — The One-Two Punch

The day after I was constructively discharged, I sat on my sofa in disbelief.
After almost 36 years in federal service, more than 20 of them at the Department of Education, everything I worked for was gone.

I kept replaying the questions in my mind:
“What if I had done things differently?”
“Could I have fixed it?”
“What did I do wrong?”

But deep down, I knew this was the path I was meant to take — so others could learn from my experience. Because what happened to me can, and does, happen to others.

I was stunned by how callous and vindictive the FSA Human Resources team behaved.
Policies, past practices, EEO laws — none of it mattered anymore.
Their only goal was elimination.

One African-American woman.
Alone.
Against an entire system determined to silence her.

I was hurt.
I was exhausted.
But I was not wrong.

This book is the truth of what happened — and the truth of how I survived.