Reading the Organism
Nobody handed you a map. Here’s one.
READING THE ORGANISM
Complete this diagnostic before designing a single strategy, accepting a role, or sitting down for an interview.
White supremacy doesn’t announce itself on the org chart. It lives in the sediment — accumulated through every hire, every silence, every unwritten rule. Before you build anything, read the organism. Not the brochure. The body.
01 THE SOIL
Geography & Community History
Study the land before you enter the building. What state? What history? What does that history license people to assume about who belongs and what change is allowed to look like?
Ask: What has this land been — and what does that give people permission to ignore?
02 THE STRUCTURE
Institutional History & Original Intent
Who built this institution, for whom, and with what vision? The founding doesn’t disappear — it sediments into policy, culture, and the unwritten rules nobody thinks to explain.
Ask: Who was this built for? And what does that mean for the work you’re trying to do inside it?
03 THE LEADERSHIP
Formation, Not Stated Values
Don’t read what they say. Read how they were formed. Watch what they protect under pressure. Who they defend. What they will never touch. The distance between you and power is a measurement.
Ask: What will this leadership actually protect when it costs them something? Am I on that list?
04 THE PIPELINE
Who Gets In, Who Gets Out
The pattern is the policy. Who gets hired, promoted, pushed out? Who never makes it past the interview? These aren’t accidents — they’re the most honest document in the building.
Ask: Who does this institution keep — and what does keeping them require people to be?
05 THE CONSTITUENCY
Who Is Actually Being Served
Every institution has a stated constituency and an actual one. Look at the gap. Who appears in the mission statement vs. the budget? Who is called a priority but managed as a problem?
Ask: Who is this institution actually for — and what does your work threaten to change?
06 THE OPERATING ETHICS
Not the Wall — What They Actually Protect
Every institution has two sets of ethics. Published and practiced. Find the second set in what they protect under pressure, what they sacrifice, and what they will never touch.
Ask: What does this institution actually protect — and what will it sacrifice to do so?
07 THE MANDATE
Why You Were Actually Hired
Three real answers: Performative (you’re the proof of effort). Logistical (manage the symptom). True and raw change (rare — requires real courage). Most walk in believing the third. Read the evidence.
Ask: What is the real unspoken contract — and what were you hired to never quite finish?
“This diagnostic is not just for you to do alone. Bring it into the room. Put it on the table. Make accountability collective.”
Dr. Laura Falk, EdD • You Belong Here Newsletter • youbelonghere2.substack.com
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© 2025 Dr. Laura Falk, EdD. All rights reserved. Reading the Organism™ may not be reproduced or distributed without written permission.
