It Is Up to the State Department to Reimagine a Better Institution.

• Author: Spears, Tianna
• Position: Workplace diversity - Viewpoint essay

Title: It Is Up to the State Department to Reimagine a Better Institution

Author: Tianna Spears

Text:

My name is Tianna Spears. Many may recognize me as the Black diplomat who ultimately fled the State Department after being harassed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials while crossing the border into the country where I was born. At the age of 26, I was diagnosed with debilitating mental health conditions and left traumatized. But I am not my trauma- I am a friend, sister, daughter. A person. I am now 28 years old. This year has been bittersweet for me. My grief, disappointment, rage, and sadness are not just personal, but as a Black woman in America, I've grappled with the question of how do I grieve a personal loss that is also systemic?

On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was killed in the middle of the street in Minneapolis, MN by a police officer. He told officers repeatedly that he couldn't breathe as an officer kneeled on his neck. People of all backgrounds took to the street to protest such a violent act of police brutality against African Americans in the United States. Protestors continue to demand systematic change and an end to police brutality. We continue to protest for Breonna Taylor and our sisters and brothers that were unjustly taken from this earth at the hands of extreme violence.

I watched the news from my couchwith deep sadness, having by now had no choice but to leave the State Department after my own traumatic experiences. An exceptional America that I was encouraged and taught to believe in did not exist because here we were once again, protesting for basic human lives.

A few days later after a heated conversation with a friend about white supremacy and its perils, I drank a cup of coffee at 11PM and sat down to share my story. In my blog post, I wrote of my experience as a diplomat and how that intersected with my experience as a Black woman living in America.

In a September article titledDiversity at State: A Dream Deferred and a Collective Responsibility, authors spoke of a State Department with two separate experiences for those who are white, people of color, and the dream deferred for all of us. However, my dream is not deferred. My dream of being a Foreign Service Officer did not dry up like a raisin in a sun, it was stolen from me. And quite frankly, that dream is dead.

I've spent the last five months on the receiving end of over a thousand emails, comments, direct messages, LinkedIn comments, etc., many...