An Open Letter on Accountability, Racial Dignity, and Leadership in Durham Public Schools
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We, the undersigned community members, educators, parents, clergy, and stakeholders of Durham Public Schools, write in response to the conduct displayed during the recent Meet and Confer session between district leadership and the Durham Association of Educators.
During that public governance meeting, the Superintendent of Durham Public Schools, Dr. Lewis, was deliberately addressed by his first name while engaged in official district business. This was not a casual exchange. It occurred in a structured, formal setting concerning district policy and labor relations.
Titles in such spaces are not ceremonial. They reflect earned leadership, professional authority, and the dignity of the office entrusted with serving every child in our district.
This incident cannot be separated from historical context. In our country, the refusal to address Black men in positions of authority with appropriate honorifics has long functioned as a mechanism of racial diminishment. That history carries weight. It shapes how actions are received today.
We are not asserting personal animus. We are naming impact.
When a white woman in a position of institutional influence publicly addresses a Black superintendent by his first name in a contentious professional exchange, many in our community experience that not as minor informality but as participation in a broader pattern that undermines Black leadership. Community members have expressed that they received the exchange as racialized. That response must be taken seriously.
What occurred was not simply a breach of etiquette. It caused serious harm and eroded trust.
For these reasons, we call upon the leadership of the Durham Association of Educators, including its president, Mika Twietmeyer, to issue a public apology to Dr. Lewis and to the Durham Public Schools community.
Further, given the seriousness of this harm, the erosion of trust that has followed, and recognizing that many in our community have already called for her resignation, we believe that Ms. Twietmeyer’s resignation is necessary to restore credibility and collaboration within the Durham Public Schools community.
At the same time, this incident cannot be treated as isolated. It reflects broader concerns about how race, power, and professional authority are navigated within DAE’s organizing practices. We call upon DAE to engage in a transparent process of cultural reflection and transformation to ensure that its advocacy does not reproduce patterns historically rooted in white-dominant power structures.
We further call upon the Durham Public Schools Board of Education to reaffirm and enforce clear standards of professionalism and racial equity in all formal governance spaces, including Meet and Confer sessions, so that future engagement proceeds under standards that protect dignity and integrity of all parties participating in the meetings.
Many of us signing this letter believe deeply in the necessity of union organizing. Educators deserve strong representation and collective voice. DAE has already made strides for workers in a myriad of ways, and there’s much more for them to accomplish. This call for accountability is not opposition to unions. It is opposition to harm.
No movement for justice can ask Black and brown leaders to absorb racial diminishment for the sake of the “greater good.” We reject the idea that racial harm is acceptable collateral damage in institutional conflict.
Human dignity is not negotiable. Black leadership cannot be undermined in the name of advocacy. Equity cannot be advanced through tactics that replicate racial hierarchy.
Power with people rather than power over people. Always.
If union advocacy is to carry moral authority, it must reflect the very racial justice principles it claims to advance.
We invite all who agree to add their names below.
In solidarity,
Dr. Ronda Taylor Bullock Lead Curator, WE ARE (working to extend anti-racist education, Inc) DPS Parent District 4
Minnie Forte Brown Former Board Chair of Durham Public Schools NC National School Board Association Southern Regional Director
Ms. Jovanna R. Foreman, MLS DPS Educator
Ms. Tanisha Crosson DPS Educator
LeVon Barnes, M.Ed DAE Member DPS Educator
Alexandra Valladares Community Representative Comunidad de Durham
Rev. Larry E. Thomas Community Member
Rev. Carl Kenney
Aliyah Abdur Rahman Director of Innovation Communities In Partnership
Dr. William P. Jackson Founder/Executive Director of Village of Wisdom
Sue Unruhe Parent and Community Member District 4
Camryn Lawrence Smith Executive Director Communities In Partnership
Dr. LaMar Mack Community Member Visalia, CA
Dr. Melissa A. Rasberry Former DPS Educator, Community Member District 1
DeLeon Gray Black and Belonging Durham, NC
Dr. Kelvin Bullock DPS Parent District 4
John M. Alcox Educator Equity Team Liaison Scholars of Color Advisor Durham Resident
Mike Sharp Retired DPS Teacher, Former CHCCS School Board Member Chapel Hill, NC
Brittani Davis Parent/Teacher Durham, NC
Joy Harrell Goff DPS Board Member at Large District 4
Quanita Avery Parent and DPS Central Service Employee Durham, NC
Shavonne Joyner Community Member Durham, NC
Kiara Thorpe Community Member Pittsburgh, PA
Zion Bullock DPS High School Student District 4
Rita Rathbone DPS Educator District 4
Zaire I Bullock DPS Student Durham, NC
Tamekia Brandon Parent District 4
Yolanda Brown, MBA DPS Parent, Community Leader District 3
Corey W. Barringer DPS Employee Morrisville, NC
Vanessa Mcdinough Parent Durham, North Carolina
Kimberly Alexander Parent, Community Member District 4
DeMya Ellison-Ferrell DPS HS student Durham, NC
Brittnee Kelly Parent Durham, NC
Afiya Carter Community Member District 2
Patrice High Former DPS Educator District 3
James Collins Parent/Concerned Citizen Durham
Shafonda Allen, CAWA Community Engagement & Human-Animal Bond Advocacy Leader District 4
Greear A. Webb Community Member Raleigh, NC
Chena Flood Community Member Wake Forest, NC
R. Ty Littles Parent, Civil Right SME, community member Durham, NC
Jeremy Collins Parent & Community Member Williamston, NC
Julius Tillery Board of Directors Member KIPP-North Carolina Charter Schools Rich Square, NC
Humberto Trejo Organization and Adovocate Durham NC
Angie Santiago El Centro Para Todos Durham County District 4
Eric Taylor Community member Washington, DC
Sarai Faison Parent District 3
Sharon Mullen National Council of Negro Women, entrepreneur, and activist Durham, NC
Jessica Lopez Padre Durham
Alecia M Community member Chatham County, NC
Susana Benites Future DPS parents, community member District 3
Delilah Kelly Parent, Former DPS Employee Durham 27704
Trish Harris Community member Raleigh, NC
Kimberly Battle Community Member Durham NC
Douglass Coleman Parent, educator, Program Director Durham, NC
Molly Montgomery School Administrator Raleigh, NC
Valine Zeigler Founder and Head of School Durham, NC
Pastor Emeritus Fredrick A. Davis Former DPS School Board Member
Antonio Jones, MPA DPS Parent, Community Leader District 4
Jack Rustin Turnwald, MAT Community Organizer, Former DPS Educator District 3
Häns D. Lassiter Retired Educator
Delvin Davis Parent and Community Member District 3
Kadijia Smith Magistrate Durham, NC
Tamieka Smith MBA HRM Parent Durham, NC
Bonnie Mwanda Educator Raleigh, NC
Liz Bennett Educator Former DAE member Working at NCCU
Stephanie Baker Parent, Community Member District 4
Jaclyn Morgenstern Former educator, Future DPS Parent District 3
Katie Mgongolwa Parent District 4
Kimberly Doughty DPS Teacher, DPS Parent, and Durham Community Member District 3
Bryan Setser Parent, Community Coach, and DPS Volunteer Durham, NC
Kevin Ellis DPS Educator Pittsboro, NC
Bennie M Wicker Community Member District 2
Robin Marcus DPS Parent and Community Member, Former Educator District 4
Liz Moffitt DPS Educator Durham, NC
Lou Jent Disability Justice Advocate, Certain Voices, LLC School Board District 2
Michael Parker West Educator Raleigh, NC
Rocio Aguilar DPS Parent District 4
Renée Price Retired DPS Educator Richmond, VA
Wendell Tabb School Board Member Retired Educator District 2
KATHRYN L KRAHENBUHL Anti-racist educator/activist District 1
Jovonia Lewis Parent, Former DPS Board Member, Director of EPiC District 1
Bettina Umstead Chair, Board of Education District 2
Desmond Rogers Student Jordan High School District 3
Judith Dunston Grandparent DPS student District 2
Dr. Lottie K. Barnes. 5th Generation Durham Native, DPS Graduate and Parent of DPS Graduate Durham
Christi Ellison-Bradsher. DPS Parent and former DPS Educator Durham, NC
Sonya D. Harris Community Member District 3
Ericka Boone Educator District 1
Maya Jackson Parent, Durham Native, MAAME, Inc. District 2
Kristen Watkins Parent Durham, NC
Chrystal Mitchell Teacher Oxford, NC
Yolanda Finney Director of Local Outreach, Rebuild Fellowship Durham, NC
Daniel Richards Former DPS student Durham, NC
Tori Hooker Parent, Community Member Morrisville, NC
Ashley Canady Community Advocate District 4
Donna Dodson Former DPS employee; Current Law Student at NCCU School of Law Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Ivan Almonte DPS Parent (District 3), Senior Community Organizer and Founder and Director of Respuesta Rápida de Durham District 3
Iya Ade Wilson (aka mama Nia) Community elder, visionary strategist and organizer Durham NC
Dr. Alvera Lesane Retired DPS Executive District 3
Che Ramos DPS Parent District 4
Patricia Karim Obregon Lozano Padre activista Durham
Corina De La Torre Community member Raleigh, NC
Dr. Fabiola Salas Villalobos Activist Durham
Jessica Gunn Parent District 3
Charlene Pennington-Best Retired Educator and Concerned Community Member Durham NC
Kamweli Wilson Educator and Community Member Durham,NC
Dr. Tauchiana Williams Parent, Social Worker Durham, NC
Oneisha Leonard DPS Educator Durham, NC
Nadiah Porter DPS Parent, Activist Durham