Southern University, hired a DEI officer in 2022 during the height of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity madness. We have nothing personal against Kathy Purnell, she may be a nice enough person. Never met her.
We do object to Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DEI) because DEI is like a particularly aggressive form of cancer that can jump from patient to physician, thus rendering the physician incapable of treating either the disease or himself (sorry, “zirself”).
According to a staff writer at Southern Accent, Southern University and Wokewood (Oakwood) University students, administrators and employees spent a weekend together in Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss the DEI related aspects of ‘cultural humility’ and strategic ‘intercultural bonds.’ [The staff writer was later identified as Hayden Kobza].
During that weekend, according to Kathy Purnell, the first executive orders came from the Trump administration, ending DEI programs at the federal level, and it “made the group feel uneasy.” “That really put a cloud over people’s heads,” Purnell said in the Accent article.
Hello DEI
Under the previous U.S. presidential administration, divisive and discriminatory (woke) policies were systematically embedded into every part of federal agencies and enforced by the State Department.
For instance, in 2023, Biden’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the State Department, Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, said: “We made the change that if you wanted to be considered for promotion at the Department of State, you must be able to document what you are doing to support diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility. This is how you are judged for promotion.”
In other words eligibility for promotions were conditioned on an employee’s ability to pass a DEI loyalty test. It was the law of the land under Joe Biden. Until it wasn’t.
The DEI Dinosaur
This year, President Donald J. Trump signed memorandums removing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) from the federal government, and restricting federal funding from institutions that cling to this discriminatory core precept.
The memorandums direct the Secretary of State to remove the “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” from federal agencies.
It further directs that the U.S. government will not base recruitment, hiring, promotion, or retention decisions on an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, nor embed discriminatory equity ideology within any element of the federal government. Bottom line: hiring in all parts of government should be based solely on merit.
According to the Trump administration, the purpose in ending Diversity, Inclusion and Equity is restoring the values of individual dignity, hard work, and excellence, all qualities that the Bible endorses (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12; Ephesians 4:28; Proverbs 22:29; Romans 2:6; Revelation 22:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; Eccl. 9:10). For that matter, Martin L. King also endorsed these noble ideals in his elevation of the content of character over the color of one’s skin. I like that.
Dr. Umar Johnson
Speaking of Oakwood (or Wokewood), on March 22 students invited Umar Johnson to speak to them. The event was for Oakwood students only and was closed to the public.
Who is Umar Johnson?
Umar Rashad Ibn Abdullah-Johnson is a black activist known for his provocative views on race, education, and social issues.
He is a racist. Yes, you heard that correctly.
He strongly opposes interracial marriage, and scornfully calls white women ‘snow bunnies. VIDEO
Johnson has referred to himself as the "Prince of Pan-Africanism" and condemns interracial marriage and homosexuality. He has been described as a Hotep. Hoteps espouse a mixture of Black radicalism and Afrocentric (or Egyptian) pride.
He says black people can’t be racist VIDEO.
He calls for Black Americans to identify with African people globally, rather than with specific nationalities or religions. He is definitely not a Christian believer.
He says that Jesus was black. At Oakwood, a brave young student challenged Johnson, holding up a Bible and saying Jesus was Jewish. The student was escorted from the building by police.
Not all students, faculty and alumni around Oakwood support this man. VIDEO. One Instagram interview before the event said that Oakwood Univeristy does not necessarily endorse everything this man believes. He was still allowed to come and negatively influence young people (students) at Oakwood.
In September 2021, he hosted an Instagram Live where he married two women. LINK
He claims that he speaks with and is guided by dead ancestors. LINK
He claims to be protected by the divine feminine. He is said to have two daughters with two separate women. VIDEO In March 2025, a woman named Nisa, who claimed to be his 22-year-old daughter, posted a video on social media alleging that Johnson had been absent from her life, missing significant events like birthdays and graduations. Johnson responded by neither fully confirming nor denying the relationship, instead questioning her motives and asserting he had paid child support since her birth.
He charges $5,000 - $10,000 to speak. He was invited to speak at Oakwood, to young impressionable youth.
CD Brooks or E.E. Cleveland would have run him off of campus.
Discuss,
****
“And God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 26-27).
