C4C

Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 131 M Street, NE Washington, DC 20507 Dear Chair Berrien:

May 29, 2013

The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C)

P.O. Box 142 Washington, DC 20044

The Coalition For Change, Inc., (C4C) writes to inform you that although the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) did not invite the C4C to participate as a stakeholder in its most recent investigation of Obstacles Facing African Americans in the Federal Workplace, we will soon provide you with our detailed comments. For we find the EEOC African American Workgroup Report, with its myopic focus on unconscious bias, spurious and misleading. The report clearly downplays the harsh and pervasive nature of systemic discrimination and retaliation in the federal sector. It also failed to provide a discussion on "institutional barriers that are very conscious. Since issuing the report, the EEOC has failed to explain how the agency will monitor and/or execute invited stakeholders recommendations. Neither has the EEOC established any target timeframes in which to complete the recommendations. Such failures sorely undermine efforts to timely and wholly remove barriers African-Americans face in the federal workplace, our nations largest employer. In compiling your report, the EEOC held discussions with stakeholders such as African American Federal Executives Association, Federally Employed Women, Federal EEO Directors and Blacks in Government to identify obstacles faced by minority employees in the workplace. Certainly, the EEOC invited stakeholders comprised a large segment of the black community in federal employment. Nevertheless, a vital segment of the community was excluded from this important discourse aggrieved and harmed black current and former employees. They are able to serve as an invaluable resource because of their ability to confirm and inform the panel about specific acts of discrimination and harassment practiced or trends and policies implemented in federal agencies. C4C, a non-profit group, is a proactive civil rights organization and support network for African-Americans seeking to end racial injustice and retaliation in the federal workplace. Our members include present and former federal employees, who were injured or harmed as a result of employment discrimination and / or retaliation for engaging in the formal complaint process purportedly protected activity. As such, our organization is in a unique position to comment, contribute to, and offer balance to any discourse on discrimination or harassment in federal employment. Notably, many of our members have suffered the pangs of very conscious discriminatory acts, which have impeded their employment, such as being blacklisted by agency officials after exposing

www.coaltion4change.org C4C@coalition4change.org

1-866-737-9783

Letter to Chair Berrien May 29, 2013 Pg. 2

violations of the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act in the workplace. Because our members can speak directly to obstacles facing African-Americans in the federal sector, we request to be a part of any future stakeholder meetings addressing this focus. In closing, C4C members are keenly interested in promoting a workforce culture that promotes the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of individual workers, particularly African-Americans. Therefore, we will continue to address inequality in the federal workplace. We will also forward a copy of our detailed report, with recommendations, to foster a workplace free of discrimination. | signed | Tanya Ward Jordan, Founder The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C)

cc: President Barack Obama Representative Elijah Cummings, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Representative Marcia L. Fudge, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton Mr. Lawrence Lucas, President-USDA Coalition of Minority Employees Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Chair-No FEAR Coalition Mr. Stacy Brown, The Washington Informer Mr. Matthew Hay Brown, The Baltimore Sun Mr. Joe Davidson, The Washington Post