Part Two of a Two-Part Series
By InnerKwest Editorial Board | September 4, 2025
Introduction
In Part One, we chronicled the erasure of Black women leaders: Lisa Cook, Gwynne Wilcox, Letitia James, Jasmine Crockett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Carla Hayden, and others. Each case was shocking in its own right. Together, they reveal something larger.
This second installment exposes the patterned lawfare behind these attacks. It is not coincidence. It is not misfortune. It is a coordinated, systemic campaign—a weaponization of bureaucracy, law, and politics aimed at removing Black women from power and destabilizing the communities they anchor.
The Mortgage Trap: Low-Hanging Fruit Lawfare
Mortgages have become the favored weapon. Why? Because nearly every American has one, and mortgage paperwork is notoriously complex.
- Public Record: Mortgage filings are easily accessible through county clerks.
- Paperwork Density: Multiple refinances, disclosures, or income shifts over decades create a trail ripe for cherry-picking.
- Headline Power: “Mortgage fraud” sounds severe, even if allegations are flimsy.
This tactic has already ensnared Lisa Cook and Letitia James, where minor technicalities were inflated into claims of criminality. It works because the narrative is simple: she lied on her mortgage.
In reality, it is nothing more than bureaucratic fishing, a deliberate strategy of reputational lawfare.
DEI Rollback and the Economic Displacement of Black Women
The assault is not limited to leaders in office. It reaches deep into the economy itself.
- In 2025 alone, over 300,000 Black women were forced out of the workforce through layoffs, DEI dismantling, and shrinking opportunities in federal employment.
- This exodus wiped $37 billion from U.S. GDP, according to gender economists.
- Federal jobs, long a cornerstone of Black middle-class stability, were hit hardest.
This is patterned displacement. When DEI programs are rolled back, Black women lose not just symbolic inclusion but practical footholds—career pipelines, mentorship, and equitable hiring safeguards.
The ripple effects strike families, communities, and intergenerational wealth. For many households, a Black woman’s salary is the anchor. Removing that anchor destabilizes the entire ship.
Weaponized Agencies
Agencies once designed to serve the public are being converted into tools of erasure:
- FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency): Used to accuse Black women of mortgage fraud. Normally silent regulators, FHFA officials have gone public with accusations—a break from precedent, designed for spectacle.
- DOJ (Weaponization Working Group): Led by Ed Martin, staging media stunts and promising “naming and shaming” of political opponents without indictments. Due process is replaced by public humiliation.
- NLRB (National Labor Relations Board): Paralyzed after the unlawful firing of Gwynne Wilcox, stripping labor protections from millions of workers.
- EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission): Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels removed, halting anti-discrimination enforcement just as DEI attacks surged.
- Library of Congress: Carla Hayden removed, replaced with a loyalist, disrupting cultural neutrality in favor of political control.
Each removal weakens not just a person, but an entire institution.
*This flowchart illustrates the mechanics of patterned lawfare.
- Weaponized Agencies (FHFA, DOJ, EEOC, NLRB, Library of Congress) act as levers.
- They deploy Tactics such as mortgage “lawfare,” unlawful firings, DEI rollbacks, and public shaming.
- The Targets are overwhelmingly Black women leaders.
- The Impacts include agency paralysis, economic displacement, reputational attacks, and systemic destabilization.
- Ultimately, the pattern corrodes Democracy & Community, eroding trust, representation, and generational equity.*
The Broader Democratic Stakes
This campaign extends beyond Black women—it is an assault on democracy itself.
- Independent Agencies Hollowed Out: Agencies designed to be apolitical are now partisan weapons.
- Rule of Law Bent: Legal protections for officeholders (Wilcox at NLRB, EEOC commissioners) are ignored, replaced with raw executive power.
- Chilling Effect: Future generations of Black women—and allies—see what happens when you ascend too high. The deterrent is intentional.
- Community Economics: With 300,000+ displaced, entire communities feel the weight of attrition. Families lose incomes. Students lose role models. Civic trust corrodes.
When the erasure is complete, the absence will be explained away as “meritocracy.” But we will know better: this was not merit, it was a purge.
Patterned Lawfare Defined
At its core, patterned lawfare means:
- Weaponizing bureaucracy against individuals (mortgages, filings, paperwork).
- Manipulating institutions by firing commissioners, librarians, or judges outside lawful limits.
- Coordinating attrition through DEI rollbacks and systemic layoffs.
- Amplifying narratives that frame Black women as corrupt, radical, or incompetent.
The aim is not simply removal—it is delegitimization. To erase presence and credibility simultaneously.
Conclusion: The Sentinels We Must Defend
The cases of Lisa Cook, Letitia James, Gwynne Wilcox, Carla Hayden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jasmine Crockett, Charlotte Burrows, and Jocelyn Samuels are not anomalies. They are warnings.
A nation that allows its most vulnerable leaders to be targeted under the guise of procedure is a nation rehearsing for broader disenfranchisement.
Black women are not only leading in law, economics, politics, and culture—they are sentinels of democracy itself. Erasing them erases safeguards for everyone.
This is patterned lawfare. Recognize it. Record it. Resist it. Speak their names. Share their stories. This is not just a record of erasure—it is a blueprint for resistance.
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