Justice through Creativity...
Rev. Clovice Lewis is an avowed "anti-racist". He is opposed to the concept of race and its consequences. As an African-American man he has a lifetime of experience living with those consequences, while others deny that reality. His diversity training workshops based on the Harlem Voices© musicals offer an immersive, transformational, and embodied way of understanding the corrosive impact of white supremacy and systemic racism.
Rev. Clovice Lewis has also been instrumental in assisting the Middletown Art Center in Middletown, CA to host Juneteenth celebrations since 2020.
Rev. Clovice Lewis has also been instrumental in assisting the Middletown Art Center in Middletown, CA to host Juneteenth celebrations since 2020.
Rev. Clovice Lewis' 2025 Juneteeenth Celebration with the Middletown Art Center
Rev. Clovice Lewis delivered another impactful address at the 2025 Middletown Art Center Juneteenth Celebration. Here is the content of his address.
After Rev. Clovice Lewis delivered his inspirational address at the 2025 Middletown Art Center Juneteenth celebration he joined Victor Hall (Keyboard) in playing jazz standards on his cello.
Rev. Clovice A. Lewis' Address to the 2025 Middletown Art Center Juneteenth Celebration
I have a confession to make. I am woke. I sprang from my mother’s womb woke. When I was told I couldn’t swim in a pool because I am colored I was woke. As a child, when I tried to wash the blackness from my skin while taking a bath I was woke. When I, with superior abilities, competed against white kids who magically won those competitions, I was woke. I was woke to the fact that I personally integrated more orchestras that I can count. I was woke when I realized that the white engineers I hired needed to demonstrate software I created because they could get through the demonstrations without being constantly asked if they wrote that software. I was woke when Lockheed viciously pirated intellectual property and software from my small minority owned company because we were a minority owned company... and they could get away with that in 1990. I was woke when walking up to an airplane I had piloted a few hours before and was challenged by ground crew before I got back into the cockpit I had the key to. I must confess it was satisfying to me in that instance that I truly astonished some people at the Lincoln, California Regional Airport. The many times in my life I have been called a nigger, I have been awake to that.
And let me tell you something. There are many people here, like me, who have their own stories and life experiences who are nodding their heads because, like me, that were also born “woke” to the stifling oppression of racism, sexism, heterosexism/cisgenderism, classism, ableism, ageism, religious persecution, nativism/colonialism, and economic deprivation in this country. It’s a little surprising that so many people can nod their heads indicating similar experiences, isn't it? Forms of oppression often intersect. There are many among us who experience multiple types of discrimination and oppression.
That is called intersectionality. And that, my friends, means there are a whole lot of people who need to wake the hell up.
And, my friends, it means we need to wake up to the startling realization that there are many people out there who benefit from manipulating and dividing us. Why do you think I said at the beginning of this address that my being woke is a confession? It is because the same people obfuscating our intersectionality are actively trying to erase my history, my legacy, and my memories of being a Black man in this society. Because the right has turned the term “woke” into something sinister that I must not utter.
I confess to being woke and my insistence on Diversity Equity and Inclusion is now declared illegal by those same forces, although no court in the land has ruled that DEI is inherently illegal. Despite what the Right proclaims, DEI programs that focus on creating an inclusive and equitable workplace, for example, are generally considered lawful. It is important to note that DEI is a broad term that is not defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is important to note that DEI was not a term in 1964, although it is now being used as an weapon with which to bludgeon anything that relates to what is cynically and cruelly being called “reverse discrimination”.
Take a look around. That cynicism and cruelty is now being actively displayed, and acted upon, by the new regime in Washington that is being led by a man who was twice impeached, convicted of felony crimes for falsifying business records, indicted for mishandling national security documents, attempting to overthrow the 2020 U.S. presidential election, racketeering to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and found liable for sexual abuse.
Take your pick on any issue...… immigration, race, homelessness, foreign policy, privacy, the so-called safety net, militarization of the police, free speech, independence of the media, academic freedom and higher education, using the military to protect against American citizens... pick any issue!
Why are people protesting in the streets? There are many good reasons, in fact all those issues I just pointe out - but I have a simple answer. People are protesting because they are now “woke”. They can now feel the naked oppression, cynicism, violence, hatred, and denial that we black people know all too well. So can our native brothers and sisters gathered here today. So can our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. So can our disabled brothers and sisters. We can now see the smarmy smirks on the faces of the people who lead the House of Representatives and Senate in our nation. We can now begin to understand how frail our rights truly are.
Brothers and sisters, we gather today to celebrate Juneteenth, the day when Black people in this great nation woke up to the fact that they were free and, very importantly, that the white Southern society around them concealed that fact from them. Nevertheless, it is the resilience and strength of Black people who have persevered to insist on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that people in power find so very threatening. We gather today to celebrate, but we must also acknowledge the forces of hatred, bigotry, and discrimination still arrayed against us. We must open our eyes to the fact that we Black people, we Native people, and others who have been so violently born woke can lead our nation into a true new Golden Age.
We can lead our nation, through love, acceptance, forgiveness, truth, and grace into a new world that rejects those who actively believe that all people are not created equal, that they are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among those are not included Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This year I have no need to mince my words or speak about the possibility of a terrible future in our nation. So my message to you today is simple, and brutal. Wake up! If you can’t see what is happening to us… if you can’t wrap your arms into the arms of another, if you cannot weep for the injustice around us, or say from the depths of your soul, “enough is enough”… then go back to sleep and continue dreaming that you are safe and secure. The rest of us are going to be fighting to turn the so-called “self-evident” promise of our nation into a righteous reality.
Happy Juneteenth people... we have work to do!
I have a confession to make. I am woke. I sprang from my mother’s womb woke. When I was told I couldn’t swim in a pool because I am colored I was woke. As a child, when I tried to wash the blackness from my skin while taking a bath I was woke. When I, with superior abilities, competed against white kids who magically won those competitions, I was woke. I was woke to the fact that I personally integrated more orchestras that I can count. I was woke when I realized that the white engineers I hired needed to demonstrate software I created because they could get through the demonstrations without being constantly asked if they wrote that software. I was woke when Lockheed viciously pirated intellectual property and software from my small minority owned company because we were a minority owned company... and they could get away with that in 1990. I was woke when walking up to an airplane I had piloted a few hours before and was challenged by ground crew before I got back into the cockpit I had the key to. I must confess it was satisfying to me in that instance that I truly astonished some people at the Lincoln, California Regional Airport. The many times in my life I have been called a nigger, I have been awake to that.
And let me tell you something. There are many people here, like me, who have their own stories and life experiences who are nodding their heads because, like me, that were also born “woke” to the stifling oppression of racism, sexism, heterosexism/cisgenderism, classism, ableism, ageism, religious persecution, nativism/colonialism, and economic deprivation in this country. It’s a little surprising that so many people can nod their heads indicating similar experiences, isn't it? Forms of oppression often intersect. There are many among us who experience multiple types of discrimination and oppression.
That is called intersectionality. And that, my friends, means there are a whole lot of people who need to wake the hell up.
And, my friends, it means we need to wake up to the startling realization that there are many people out there who benefit from manipulating and dividing us. Why do you think I said at the beginning of this address that my being woke is a confession? It is because the same people obfuscating our intersectionality are actively trying to erase my history, my legacy, and my memories of being a Black man in this society. Because the right has turned the term “woke” into something sinister that I must not utter.
I confess to being woke and my insistence on Diversity Equity and Inclusion is now declared illegal by those same forces, although no court in the land has ruled that DEI is inherently illegal. Despite what the Right proclaims, DEI programs that focus on creating an inclusive and equitable workplace, for example, are generally considered lawful. It is important to note that DEI is a broad term that is not defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is important to note that DEI was not a term in 1964, although it is now being used as an weapon with which to bludgeon anything that relates to what is cynically and cruelly being called “reverse discrimination”.
Take a look around. That cynicism and cruelty is now being actively displayed, and acted upon, by the new regime in Washington that is being led by a man who was twice impeached, convicted of felony crimes for falsifying business records, indicted for mishandling national security documents, attempting to overthrow the 2020 U.S. presidential election, racketeering to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and found liable for sexual abuse.
Take your pick on any issue...… immigration, race, homelessness, foreign policy, privacy, the so-called safety net, militarization of the police, free speech, independence of the media, academic freedom and higher education, using the military to protect against American citizens... pick any issue!
Why are people protesting in the streets? There are many good reasons, in fact all those issues I just pointe out - but I have a simple answer. People are protesting because they are now “woke”. They can now feel the naked oppression, cynicism, violence, hatred, and denial that we black people know all too well. So can our native brothers and sisters gathered here today. So can our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. So can our disabled brothers and sisters. We can now see the smarmy smirks on the faces of the people who lead the House of Representatives and Senate in our nation. We can now begin to understand how frail our rights truly are.
Brothers and sisters, we gather today to celebrate Juneteenth, the day when Black people in this great nation woke up to the fact that they were free and, very importantly, that the white Southern society around them concealed that fact from them. Nevertheless, it is the resilience and strength of Black people who have persevered to insist on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that people in power find so very threatening. We gather today to celebrate, but we must also acknowledge the forces of hatred, bigotry, and discrimination still arrayed against us. We must open our eyes to the fact that we Black people, we Native people, and others who have been so violently born woke can lead our nation into a true new Golden Age.
We can lead our nation, through love, acceptance, forgiveness, truth, and grace into a new world that rejects those who actively believe that all people are not created equal, that they are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among those are not included Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This year I have no need to mince my words or speak about the possibility of a terrible future in our nation. So my message to you today is simple, and brutal. Wake up! If you can’t see what is happening to us… if you can’t wrap your arms into the arms of another, if you cannot weep for the injustice around us, or say from the depths of your soul, “enough is enough”… then go back to sleep and continue dreaming that you are safe and secure. The rest of us are going to be fighting to turn the so-called “self-evident” promise of our nation into a righteous reality.
Happy Juneteenth people... we have work to do!
Rev. Clovice Lewis' 2024 Juneteenth Celebration Address to the Middletown Art Center
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This is a video of Rev. Clovice Lewis introducing the Middletown Art Center's (MAC) Juneteenth celebration in 2024. The MAC event on Juneteenth includes a panel discussion of what the celebration means to African Americans in the rural Northern California county of Lake. In his introduction, Lewis touched on a few issues the panel might discuss, such as police brutality and racial profiling, and the continuing disenfranchisement of Black Americans in the wake of the 2013 Supreme Ruling that allows for the implementation of laws and practices, such as racial gerrymandering, that restrict voting access, disproportionately affecting minority communities and undermining the protections that had been provided for decades.
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Rev. Clovice Lewis' 2023 Juneteenth Celebration - No Holds Barred Address
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Rev. Clovice Lewis delivered a powerful, thought-provoking speech at the Juneteenth Celebration held at the Middletown Art Center in Middletown, CA. He commemorated the emancipation of enslaved individuals in the United States and shed light on the ongoing struggle for racial justice and equality.
Rev. Lewis explored the deep divisions that exist in the United States from our founding as a nation to the present day around race and ethnicity. He noted that what is now celebrated as the “final” day of emancipation for African Americans is the result of misinformation and oppression. Drawing attention to the suppression of information and misinformation employed by white supremacists during the Civil War era, Lewis draw parallels to the present day. Rev. Lewis asserts that there are individuals today who, like their white supremacist ancestors, use misinformation, deceit, propaganda, and violence to further their political ends. They seek to rewrite history and deny the existence of systemic racism, prejudice, and racial bias that has plagued our nation. Lewis addressed the urgent need to confront these issues and dismantle the stranglehold they have on the true potential of our society. |
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The Fallacy of Race
Race is a social construct with no basis in science or fact. It was created to justify the enslavement of people and is still used to control the formerly enslaved. Racism... the belief that some races are innately superior to others because of hereditary characteristics... persists. It permeates nearly all societies and it is manifestly wrong. [1]
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NAACP President Derrick Johnson defined systemic racism (also referred to as structural racism or institutional racism) as "systems and structures that have procedures or processes that disadvantages African Americans." Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines, defined it as "the complex interaction of culture, policy and institutions that holds in place the outcomes we see in our lives." [2]
Along with systemic racism we see a vigorous denial of it, especially by white people. Robin DiAngelo describes this denial as a consequence of "White Fragility". In her "White Fragility" paper published in 2011 DiAngelo wrote: White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress be- comes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. (International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, Vol 3 (3) (2011) pp 54-70 ) A wonderful example of white fragility was experienced in 2021 when Clovice Lewis had told the story of how his company was the victim of systemic racism by Lockheed Integrated Solutions Company on a public radio show. A man called in to the show to explain to Clovice how he misinterpreted Lockheed's racism as simply "hard business" that all big companies practice. Click here for a transcript of that interaction. |
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Racism and The Thin Blue Line Flag
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Racism has insinuated itself into our political system. This is not a new thing... it was written into our DNA as a nation. What surprises many is how, after a generation of social progress and civil rights, we've slipped back into an era when racism has gone mainstream. Sophisticated, and subtle methods are being used by some to reshape our nation in their image. An example of this is the use of powerful symbols and memes, such as the Thin Blue Line Flag, to bypass necessary discourse.
Many people seem unaware of how the Thin Blue Line Flag has been usurped by White Supremacists. This symbol, once only identified as a tribute to fallen law enforcement officers, has been raised alongside Neo-Nazis, Confederacy, and other such White Supremacy flags. In 2019 Clovice created this movie to explain the controversy in detail. It was presented as part of a theological project for Faith Based organizations. Recently he had a conversation with a member of the clergy who works with law enforcement, but was unaware of the racist use of this symbol. That inspired him to post this movie. Clovice believes everyone should be aware of how the American flag has been perverted from being one of inclusion to one of exclusivity and division. |
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The Reality of Systemic Racism
Anatomy of Hate - The Inner Workings of Systemic Racism in Corporate America
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Clovice wrote about his Lockheed experiences in a book called "Anatomy of Hate... Lockheed and the VA: The Inner Workings of Systemic Racism in Corporate America". Click here to visit a website describing how Lockheed practiced systemic racism in the mid 1990s.
When he was 33 years old the consulting company he started nine years before, landed a $10 million contract with a subsidiary of the then Lockheed Space and Missiles Company called Locked Integrated Solutions Company (LISC). His company, Technology Media Enterprises (TME), was instrumental in helping LISC to secure a $750 million award from the Veterans Administration to develop a program called the Nationwide Office Automation for the Veterans Administration (NOAVA). TME had developed software that provided computer-based training which emulated other software on all platforms with help agents and sophisticated computer-based testing (in 1990!). This is exactly what the VA wanted. TME also developed desktop management tools that were compatible across all hardware platforms. These were things LISC could not do that were essential to their winning the contract with the VA. Months went by after the award. LISC kept delaying TME's start, telling it the VA was dragging its feet coming up with final specs for the computer-based training requirements of the contract. Sales of TME's desktop management tools were far below what TME knew to be solid projections. After a while Clovice discovered that LISC was selling TME software to the VA using a phony invoicing scheme. LISC was paying TME only 10% of the sales they were actually making to the VA. Clovice found out that LISC had been telling the VA that because TME was a minority-owned firm they discovered TME could not do the engineering it claimed it could to provide the VA with such sophisticated computer-based training software (even though TME clearly demonstrated that we could). So, while LISC told the VA was delaying the start, LISC was negotiating with the VA for a waiver to replace TME products with videotape training programs. When Clovice confronted LISC with what he found out about their schemes he was called into a meeting with the top management of the company. In that meeting of five white men Clovice was told they had determined that $10 million was too much money for “someone like you”. They welcomed Clovice to sue them, saying that they had an army of lawyers who would make sure TME's case would never see the light of day. Those men were wrong about the first assertion, but correct about the second one. |
Lockheed Martin Company was sent this movie, along with a 5-page cover letter and nearly one hundred pages of documentation, in November 3, 2020. Clovice asked for $11 million in reparation in exchange for foregoing publication of his story. Click here to see their response on February 17, 2021, as well as other communications.
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Generational Systemic Racism
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"In My Father's Voice" is part of a multi-part series of excerpts from candid interviews Clovice recorded with his 87-year-old father about how systemic racism has affected his life. The recordings were made on May 24-25, 2021. The topic was his experiences in the US Army and Air Force from the mid-1950s through 1973. In this excerpt, Clovice's father, Clovice A. Lewis, Sr., describes a devastating act of racism against him.
Clovice published these excerpts for several reasons:
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