My Woke Employees Tried to Cancel Me. Here’s How I Fought Back and Saved My Nonprofit.

By now there are enough “cancel culture” stories to fill volumes. After my own story about standing up to a woke mob—and succeeding—went viral on Twitter, I decided to speak out, because I am convinced that Americans need more encouraging stories about standing up to cancel culture, and information on how they can do it themselves.

In order to withstand attacks, you’ll need to be armed with an understanding of the ideas in play, and the courage to stand up to bullies. I hope my story can help give you both.

My story began in 2010, when my husband and I founded a nonprofit organization that trains people around the world who are providing care for survivors of trauma. We were pleased with the success of our organization for the first several years, but around 2016, we noticed a change.

My husband, who serves as executive director, eventually found himself uneasy among his staff. The general tone was one of criticism. It wasn’t explicitly directed at him at first, but toward “systems,” the “hegemony,” and “normativity.”

We were not acquainted with critical theory at the time, but the common rhetoric about “systems of power and oppression” was an indicator that there was a shared perception of reality among team members to which we were not privy.

We initiated all-team sessions to hear from our staff and discern what was happening. What usually happened was the staff made vague assertions that the organization was “causing harm” and would present a list of demands. I later came to understand these meetings were essentially “struggle sessions”—an opportunity for our woke employees to shame us into submission, a technique often used in Mao’s China.

I decided to do some research into the ideology that was animating the staff to see what my husband and I could do to save our organization and the people we serve. I’m convinced that there’s no shortcut around this learning process if you want to successfully make a principled stand. Here are some of the things I learned.
Know What You Are Dealing With

Through my research, I came to realize that our staff were following “critical theory” and its descendant theories, like critical race theory and queer theory.

What is critical race theory? Christopher Rufo breaks it down here:

These theories basically divide society into two groups: oppressor and oppressed. If you are white, straight, male, and/or wealthy, you are an oppressor. If you are a racial minority, gay or trans, a woman or identify as some other gender, and financially not wealthy, you are oppressed. The objective of critical theory is to defeat oppressors and overturn the system that benefits them.

Those who have embraced the tenets of critical theory are colloquially referred to as “social justice warriors,” or simply “woke.” (It’s important to note that most people who have been influenced by critical theory and its descendant theories—like critical race theory and queer theory—most likely wouldn’t identify themselves as...

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