Here’s What I Wish White Teachers Knew When Teaching My Black Children →

Although, this letter states it's for white teachers teaching Black students, as a Black teacher it reminded me of the times that I did not address my co-workers for their harmful language towards Black students or personally address what my students were seeing, hearing, and experiencing when it came to police brutality, homophobia, and food deserts. I also should have taken more time to talk about what it means to have a deep love for your community and still be able to acknowledge the parts of it that could be better with our actions and ideas.

As the school year is slowly approaching, this is a great read to marinate on before the professional development and planning meetings start. I would go as far as to say that this letter is for anyone who shares a different race or ethnicity as you. It is about showing up for others. It's as simple as that. I have worked at places that focused on "the work" and not on the people who actually are doing that work but how you show up into these different spaces matter.

My advice is to take a read, learn something new, apply it then repeat.

Until next time!

Social Innovation Alone Can’t Solve Racial Inequity

It has been a minute and a half since I have posted anything race or equity-related, so I thought my return to my weekly posting should be with this article by Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy (SSIREP). What I like most about this article is how Shawn Ginwright and Sai Seigel acknowledge that the weaknesses that design thinking has when it bumps up against structural racism. Although the cycles of design thinking cannot be a blanket solution, it can be the vehicle that helps us rethink how to begin dismantling structural racism. Not leaving you with more questions than answers, Ginwright and Seigel provide three practical insights about how to integrate innovation and race. It is worth the read and I hope you are able to find ways to improve upon your practice.

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Speaking Up Without Tearing Down

The author of this article, Loretta Ross, does an amazing job explaining the difference between calling-in and calling-out but takes it a step further to explain when calling-out is necessary. The nuance here is important when we talk about calling-in because the responsibility to call-in often rests, unfortunately on the individuals who were harmed. The “involuntary emotional labor” of calling-in is draining especially if the individual is unwilling to listen and/or using speech with the intention to hurt.

Although this article is geared to the classroom, this could be used in the workplace as well as in our personal relationships because we simply don’t know what we don’t know. I, as a black woman, have thought, believed and said things that were hurtful and untrue simply because I didn’t know and I am thankful for every person who corrected me. We can only speak from our lived experience and because of that, it is full of one-sided ideology. It is necessary for each of us to hear as many narratives as we can to expand what we see and understand as normal or right.

I encourage you to explore this article and think about how you can use it your own life.

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3 Questions to ask Yourself about Everything you Do

After listening to Stacey Abrams share her story and the three questions to ask yourself, I felt more grounded in the work that I do with equity and diversity. As the week is coming to an end, this video is an empowering reminder to stay in the work. You are needed! 

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Navigating Change In Deeply Rooted Organizations

Change is hard. That is a statement that I have said and thought so many times as I think about how to navigate organizations that could use a change or two but are too deep in their organizational norms and beliefs to move the needle a fraction in a new direction. Bulldog Drummond posted this article as a starting place to facilitate change within an organization that is deeply rooted. The suggestions offered are encouraging starting places and can help you enjoy the small wins that come with doing challenging work.  

As a woman of color, it provided me with additional language to better understand how an organization that is lacking diversity across the spectrum would need additional supports. For example, the suggestion to "Honor the past." For some organizations, their past has been harmful to others. This suggestion made me think about the importance of stating the good aspects of the past while still acknowledging and pushing for equitable change. 

Deeply rooted organizations may not be ships that will be able to turn course within a year but the tips in this article can help you find your starting place. 

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The Need to Become "Complexity Conscious."

Cultivating an organization's culture is not an easy feat for companies. Lodged between bureaucracy and data-driven mindsets, the desire to understand and respond to employees in a manner that is authentic and adaptive often goes unmet. Aaron Dignan discusses how companies can become more "adaptive and human" by becoming "complexity conscious." This is a concept that made sense when I reflected upon my past work experiences. The responses from leadership when it came to complex issues did not carefully consider the relationship between our inputs; more attention was placed on the outputs or effects. Aaron Dignan makes me critique my own lens when I think about complexity and how I can become more conscious and engaged in my work.

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Class Anxiety: When You Live a Different Life From Your Parents

This is a touching essay written by Ashley Ford. She addresses a topic that many of us have dealt with or is currently dealing with when it comes to class. She brings humor to the topic of money, which can be especially touchy when discussing that with your parents. This article is a great read and she does a wonderful job reminding you that you are not alone with feeling the internal turmoil of class anxiety.  

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The radical moral implications of luck in human life

It has been a minute since I have posted about one of my favorite topics, equality. In this article, David Roberts brings in an alternative perspective that illuminates the layers to the topic of privilege. It is more than just having it or not having it. This raises a much more challenging question, how do we come to terms with that pesky word, privilege?

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Don't Say Nothing

Silence speaks volumes. Our students are listening.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX WILLIAMSON

As you prepare for your well deserved Thanksgiving break, I wanted to share this timeless piece by Jamilah Pitts for you to read and think about during your break. It is written with educators in mind, but I believe that there are real gems that can be gleaned from this article, regardless of your profession. Your silence is still a statement that students, as well as your co-workers, notice and feel. Take this Thanksgiving to not only nourish your body but also your mind.

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5 suggestions to give back when Disaster Hits →

Our news outlets have been filling our news feeds with tragedy after tragedy. It is overwhelming but it is a part of our shared reality. At times, it can leave us with a feeling of helplessness. I am often left asking myself, "What can I do?' A question that I commonly ask myself because I fall into blindly giving when a disaster hits without considering what is best for the community that I wish to serve. This post by Kathleen Kelly Janus provides a helpful starting place to process through when a disaster hit and how you can give with intention.

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“If you truly want to help victims in the aftermath of disaster, then take the time to educate yourself before you give.”

— Kathleen Kelly Janus

How microaggressions are like mosquito bites

This is a fun but easily digestible short video, under 2 minutes, about how microaggression can be seen as mosquito bites. A great reminder to us all about how our words are never harmless and the people we interact with can and sometimes get stung by those words. When we think about the multiple identities and the intersectionality that one person embodies such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, whether that is physical or mental, and the list can go on, it is no surprise why doing this work is messy and difficult. I encourage you to continue this messy, difficult and draining work because beauty, understanding, and friendship can spring from it.

For full disclosure, the video does use a little profanity...2 words.