Translation:
Dear Executive Committee and NAACP Members,
You people who told me to quit
It is a true honor to serve in the racial and social justice movement here in Spokane and across the nation.
I am a national hero.
Many issues face us now that drive at the theme of urgency.
I speak like this because I am a very important person. For those of you who are less glorified, this means "many urgent issues face us now".
Police brutality, biased curriculum in schools, economic disenfranchisement, health inequities, and a lack of pro-justice political representation are among the concerns at the forefront of the current administration of the Spokane NAACP.
I could have solved all that.
And yet, the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.
I'm puzzled that people think it's weird to lie about one's race, but the bright side is, I'm also an international celebrity now.
Who defines race and ethnicity.
I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story.
I'm too chicken to tell the truth but I manage to make it a virtue.
I am consistently committed to empowering marginalized voices and believe that many individuals have been heard in the last hours and days that would not otherwise have had a platform to weigh in on this important discussion.
Wow, some black people have been quoted in the press and it's all because of me. Dang I'm good.
Additionally, I have always deferred to the state and national NAACP leadership and offer my sincere gratitude for their unwavering support of my leadership through this unexpected firestorm.
I really thought that I wouldn't get caught.
While challenging the construct of race is at the core of evolving human consciousness, we can NOT afford to lose sight of the five Game Changers (Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Health & Healthcare, Education, Economic Sustainability, and Voting Rights & Political Representation) that affect millions, often with a life or death outcome.
I'm changing the topic to distract from my dishonesty.
The movement is larger than a moment in time or a single person's story, and I hope that everyone offers their robust support of the Journey for Justice campaign that the NAACP launches today!
I'm only saying this because I want you to forget about my current disgrace but I'm still the lone voice that the entire race has.
I am delighted that so many organizations and individuals have supported and collaborated with the Spokane NAACP under my leadership to grow this branch into one of the healthiest in the nation in 5 short months.
I'm the only one who ever did anything in Spokane NAACP.
In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP.
I'm always thinking altruistically.
It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley.
If I sound pompous enough you will think that I did this voluntarily.
It is my hope that by securing a beautiful office for the organization in the heart of downtown, bringing the local branch into financial compliance, catalyzing committees to do strategic work in the five Game Changer issues, launching community forums, putting the membership on a fast climb, and helping many individuals find the legal, financial and practical support needed to fight race-based discrimination, I have positioned the Spokane NAACP to buttress this transition.
I am the best thing since sliced bread.
Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me.
Please stop talking about my disgrace.
I can do a short sentence if I try.
This is not me quitting; this is a continuum.
I was fired but they let me write poems about it.
It's about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the ?#?BlackLivesMatter? movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.
Did you get all that? It's all because of me.
With much love and a commitment to always fight for what is right and good in this world,
Rachel Dolezal
Whew, I got to the end without addressing any of my lies.