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We Are One (The Pre-election Edition)

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Small Bites Friday Five 10-30-20:

K-3 – Here are fully fleshed out election day lesson plans from Colorful Pages.

K-12 – No time to devote to a full-blown plan? Use this sample ballot, also from Colorful Pages, to host your own election. Vote for candidates or something fun like vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Talk about why there are only two choices. (No time to copy? Put it on the screen and let kids make their own.)

3-8 – Ask your students if they know that women could not always vote. Watch this 3-minute video that helps explain why. 

K-12 – When you think about your classes, which of your students isn’t connected to the group? Make a point to connect with them one on one. Exchange some personal fun fact and really listen when you ask how they are.

Educators – Make it a point to have a bedtime, preferably no later than 10:30, no exceptions.

Earlier this week, I did a session for Rethinking Learning with Barbara Bray. We talked about strategies on how to have empathy with ‘others’. Others are people who think or look different than us and our friends. Once we stopped recording, talk turned more specifically to the upcoming election and how every ‘we’ in the country is sure that every ‘they’ in the country is destroying the American way of life.

The problem with that way of thinking is, we and they are us. This isn’t our team against the other team. This is one team, one nation indivisible.

What happens Wednesday? How do we heal the bitter divide and seek to understand that, in this case, there really are very fine people on both sides?

Tuesday night, one side will cheer, one side will hang their heads. But on Wednesday, after the best man wins, even if we don’t all agree that he is the best man, we have to shake hands and move forward. I personally will have a difficult time losing. I will be like the woman I mentioned in this week’s episode of #SmallBites. I may cry, and even if I don’t I will wonder what will become of our country. Because, while there are, at least in this case, some fine people on both sides, some is a long way off from all or even many.

If my side loses, I will wonder what will become of my country because those who are not fine people terrify me with their vision for our country that excludes so many and divides us all. And yet…

…I will log into my Zoom on Wednesday and tell my students that we will be OK. I will pull up a list of controversial elections all over the world and show them how many of those countries survived and even thrived in the wake of change, sometimes even bad change.

I will remind my kiddos that an election does not make or break a country, its citizens do. I will remind them that we are the only fine people who really decide the fate of a nation.

I will remind myself too.

We Are One (The Pre-election Edition) Read More »

Full of Grace

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If you missed the live session, you missed me running 3 platforms at once and not doing a very good job of it. It was not my best work. But instead of editing out the quirks, I posted it as is. This is 2020, the year of making it up as we go along, of learning new things and of having an abundance of grace for ourselves and our students.

In the episode I discussed the links on this site and the importance of learning in order to be more culturally responsive educators. If, in any way, I implied that you need to do more, I take it back. I do want you to use the links BUT, I also know that we are all overworked, overextended and oft overwhelmed. Doing everything on our to do list is barely possible. Being asked to do more, well, that’s just not possible for most of the teachers I know, many of who are working until 2AM and still can’t get caught up.

So, after an amazing Q&A session with some wonderful human beings, I decided to give you a little something different for the next 10 episodes: something you can use immediately. Look for either plug and play lesson plans, shorts to share with your class or other tools that will hopefully make your day run a little smoother or help out in an emergency.

Meanwhile, just in case, here are a few of my favorite links from the last 5 episodes in one place.

Small Bites Friday Five 10-16-20:

15-20m – Watch this TEDx Talk as Dr. Michelle Chatman explains the difference restorative justice practices can make in a child’s life, and how black children are perceived as older, angrier and less in need of nurturing than their white peers.

5-10m – Read this We Are Teachers article about the difference between zero tolerance and restorative practice schools.

0-5m – Watch restorative circles at work in this Oakland Unified school video.

Small Bites Friday Five 10-09-20:

20-30m – Do some academic reading with this UCLA Haas Institute article. Learn vocabulary like racial anxiety and stereotype threat. Reflect on how those phrases can play out in the lives of folks like me.

15-20m – Take this quiz, answer the se questions from Bias Busters, then ask yourself how much of this was in the history books you were taught from.

0-5m – Read about how inoculation was introduced to the US by Onesimus, an African who told of the traditional African practice in use for centuries. Then use the same article to learn something new about the omitted contributions of melanated Americans.

Small Bites Friday Five 10-02-20:

15-20m – Enrich your students’ learning with resources from Voices of a People’s History that include videos, lesson plans and a full teacher’s curriculum guide.

0-5m – Read this Time Magazine article about the denouncing of the 1619 curriculum and the push for patriotic education. As Joanne Freeman says, studying all perspectives is only dangerous if you have something to hide.

Small Bites Friday Five 09-25-20:

PE – Listen to this Pushing The Edge podcast about how to make sports more welcoming to the LGBTQ community.

Math – Listen to my 2 of my favorite neighbors to the north, Chey and Pav as they explore Math through an SEL lens on the Staff Room Podcast. SEL is ALWAYS at the heart of any culturally responsive teaching.

Film/Photography or Fine Arts – Explore the beautifully crafted visual stories from the Global Oneness Project.org. Thanks to Jennifer Gonzales and Cult of Pedagogy for this one.

Generalist – Look no further than Ki Gross’ Woke Kindergarten site. They specialize in teaching big concepts to little people.

Tech – Help your students go from empathy to action with this edtech tip sheet from Common Sense.org.

Small Bites Friday Five 09-18-20:

Math – Investigate this overview on how to “find an issue that fits the math, not the other way around”, from Radical Math.

ELL – Tolerance.org for the win again with ELL/ESL lessons on identity exploration.

ELA – Watch this Ted video from the passionate, ‘articulate’, spoken word “tri-tongued” Jamila Lyiscott to get perspective on the different ways we English. Then reflect with your students on the different ways we talk to different audiences.

Dedicated to; Barbara, Hal, Mervil, Tara, Kecia, Laura, and Jen.

Full of Grace Read More »

I Am Woman

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Small Bites Friday Five 10-16-20:

20-30m – Here’s a little more academic reading with this PNAS article on bias and racial disparities in school discipline. If you have some extra time, read some of the cited sources as well.

15-20m – Watch this TEDx Talk as Dr. Michelle Chatman explains the difference restorative justice practices can make in a child’s life, and how black children are perceived as older, angrier and less in need of nurturing than their white peers.

10-15m – Comb through these Oakland Unified resources to find some that fit your classroom or campus. If you have extra time, watch the webinars on community building and restorative justice practices for virtual learning.  

5-10m – Read this We Are Teachers article about the difference between zero tolerance and restorative practice schools.

As I watched Kamala Harris in the vice presidential debate, in addition to enjoying watching her —-I was struck by how polite she was. I have seen her on the congressional floor. It’s not that she is not polite, but the courtroom lawyer edge is more readily apparent. As I wondered why she didn’t bulldoze over the moderator as her opponent was wont to do, I remembered–

she didn’t have the luxury.

Anyone who is a woman knows that any forceful, type A personality maneuvering can all too often be met with less than stellar reviews. If you’re melanated, the chances that you will be cast in the role of The Angry Black Woman goes up exponentially.

Had Kamala Harris behaved as her opponent did, she would have been called unlikeable, a shrew, a nasty woman, or worse. As it stands, the one time she did draw a line in the sand–smiling all the while–it became the biggest takeaway from the debate. All of the issues she tackled, her hours of preparation reduced to one line in a meme (epic, though it was), “I’m speaking”.

I wonder if Kamala regretted that moment? I wonder if she lost sleep over the tarnishing of her debate image, if she braced for attacks from her detractors, “how dare she speak to a sitting vice president in that way”?

I wonder if Kamala felt the weight of all the times she had to smile to ensure that her message was heard, knowing that, had she been born male or White, her lack of restraint could have been the very thing that made her seem presidential, rather than a liability?

If you think that I am venturing too far off into politics, I promise you, I that’s not what this is about. I mulled over Kamala’s almost demure debate debut. I reckoned with my own angst at my dive into a more passionate presentation last week on SmallBites. Then I thought about how little Black girls are over 5 times more likely to be suspended than little White girls and how the disparity is larger than that between White and Black boys. That sobering statistic makes black girls the most at-risk student group in the country.

Whether the little girl in your class is “feisty”, “spiritied”, “high-strung” or has a “strong personality”, think before you label. First of all, you would never use those terms to describe a male student. But as stated, girls should be smiley, not too assertive. And if you’re Black, you have to be twice as “nice” to suit those who have power over you, lest you be thought of as (insert negatively tainted teacher workroom label here).

Women like Kamala and I have something in common with Black women all across the country. We know showing strength too overtly will be met with criticism so loud that our message could be immediately obscured. In classrooms, that criticism is seen in the number of disciplinary actions against little Black girls.

That criticism and those actions form them in ways that have lasting consequences.

This week, I have an ask. In some quiet moment, reflect on your thoughts about “Blackness”. Reflect on the friends you choose who are Black. (If you don’t have any, that is a subject for another day.) Are they more similar to you than dissimilar? Are they Carlton Banks Black but Not Will Smith Black? No judgment if they are. Black is Black, and there are no degrees of Blackness based on mannerisms, dress or music choices. Your own choices may be more Will Smith, not stereotyping here. We are individuals and that as it should be. But if you are more Carlton and you more easily relate to Carltons but not Wills, ask yourself why. It may be that you are simply spending with people with whom you share social or work circles. Or might it be that you shy away from the teacher who expresses her culture in a way that you may find foreign or even threatening, without even noticing?

This is not a test. I won’t be asking for your answers or your thoughts. I just want you to reflect on how you think about and react to Black cultural expressions and how it might affect your teaching.

If you find certain expressions of culture foreign or even a little threatening, that’s ok, it might even be a good thing: Now that you have realized it, you know you have some work to do. Once you are aware of your own biases, you can help others.

The next time someone talks about cultural expression in a way that puts children in a negative light, be the voice in the room to give perspective.

Be the advocate.

Be the ally.

Instructional time is too important and the souls and futures of little Black girls are depending on your commitment to making a difference.

I Am Woman Read More »

This Land is Your Land

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Small Bites Friday Five 10-09-20:

20-30m – Do some academic reading with this UCLA-Haas Institute article. Learn vocabulary like racial anxiety and stereotype threat. Reflect on how those phrases can play out in the lives of folks like me.

15-20m – Take this quiz, answer these questions from Bias Busters, then ask yourself how much of this was in the history books you were taught from.

10-15m – Learn about the legacy of Andrew Jackson—the man on our $20 bill—in particular the Indian Removal Act, from the perspective of those he removed. Then look at the life expectancy and economic standards of the descendants of those whose land was taken.  

5-10m – Catch up on older episodes of #SmallBites, go to the sidebar and actually use the links. I see your external clicks, and y’all are not doing the work.

0-5m – Read about how inoculation was introduced to the US by Onesimus, an African who told of the traditional practice in use for centuries. Then use the same article to learn something new about the omitted contributions of melanated Americans.

As I began to reflect on what I would say for this week’s people’s choice topic, I thought about all the things I have learned while researching for my books and for #SmallBites. I thought of how little I learned in 18 years of formal education. This piece was the result of that reflection.

A Spoken Word Piece on Bias in Curriculum

Fourscore and 7 years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation…

They told me all about it but they didn’t tell me that…

There were already 600 nations already here. 60 million people here for centuries, people that were forcibly removed: Choctaw, Sioux, Caddo, Powhatan; taken, forced from their lands to make way for this great new nation that would be a whole lot greater, if we would reckon with the blood on our hands because

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty even as my people were bound in chains, picking cotton on the land taken from the first Americans who died as they were marched west away from the land they knew; and then further west as Gold was discovered.

They told me of a great president Andrew Jackson, enshrined on our twenties.

But they didn’t tell me that he was responsible the Indian Removal Act that took the land so that White immigrants could profit from cotton and gold and pass that wealth on to generations, while the great nations and descendants of chiefs live on in poverty and die earlier than Americans of non-indigenous descent.

They told me to learn those words, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, but they didn’t tell me that equality did not extend to human beings forced to work for, cook for, nurse for and even bear children for the very people who bought and sold them.

They didn’t tell me about rape culture in the colonial days and they didn’t tell me that the Atlantic Slave Trade was no more than a whitewashed phrase for kidnapping and child rape. They didn’t tell me that that it was a Holocaust that killed an estimate of 40 free Africans out of every 100 that was kidnapped; every man, woman and child. They didn’t tell me that it was a holocaust that has caused intergenerational scars and trauma that Black communities are still recovering from.

They told me of the Emancipation Proclamation but they did not teach me that my Indigenous brothers and sisters were separated from their families and taught in “Christian” boarding schools that stripped them of their culture to rid our country of the “Indian problem”. They told me a thing or two about the Civil Rights Era, but they did not tell me that 10 years after Martin was murdered, Indian children were still humiliated and chastised for their lack of ‘assimilation’.

They told me to learn those words, Four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. But they did not teach me that the accomplishments of my out-of-slavery forefathers were important.

Yes, they told me about Martin and Rosa and Harriet and I am glad. They told me about them every year. But they did not teach me about

O. W. Gurley

Garrett Morgan

Susan La Flaesche Picotte

Thomas David Petite

José Mojica

Carlos Graef Fernández

Thomas Jennings

Fannie Lou Hamer

Luis Negrón

Madame C. J. Walker

Sister Rosetta Thorpe

#Saytheirname.

Say them in your STEM classes and in your history classes. Say them in February, but also in March, April and throughout the year. Teach your children Lincoln’s famous words; Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal and then show them by what you teach them that they are not invisible, no matter what the textbook says–or doesn’t say. Show them that bias in curriculum does not exist in YOUR classroom. Teach them they have a long heritage; not only of Slavery, reservations and immigration camps.

The lion is always the villain until he has his own historian. –African Proverb

Be the change and help your students “red and yellow, black and white” know the rich tapestry of history in your class. Because if there is still bias in your curriculum, you just aren’t trying hard enough.

This Land is Your Land Read More »

To Tell the Old Old Story

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Small Bites Friday Five 10-02-20:

20-30m – Watch this Facebook live video of Brené Brown talking about the importance of owning our stories so that we can write our own endings.

15-20m – Enrich your students’ learning with resources from Voices of a People’s History that include videos, lesson plans and a full teacher’s curriculum guide.

10-15m – Consider that the story of the US started in 1607 when the English claimed Jamestown, chasing Powhatan and his people from their own land and eventually decimating the population of 60+ million Americans already living in the area. While you’re at it, help me find good primary resources.

5-10m – Listen to this podcast on voter suppression tactics the FBI is currently warning about.

0-5m – Read this Time Magazine article about the denouncing of the 1619 curriculum and the push for patriotic education. As Joanne Freeman says, studying all perspectives is only dangerous if you have something to hide.

Every day this week there was something to tell. The FBI issuing warnings about voter suppression in the upcoming elections. Moves by state governments that make it harder to vote, especially for those who rely on public transportation or have time constraints. Embarrassment on the world stage about a presidential debacle masquerading as a presidential debate. The president flouting CDC guidelines, mocking mask wearers and landing in the hospital with COVID.

This week has played out like a stroll through the house of horrors with specters jumping out at us at every turn. Unfortunately these specters are no friendly ghosts, they are our reality. They distract and detract as we follow the news cycle rabbit hole. As we follow the newest stories, we neglect the old ones.

How good are we at owning our stories? Our personal failures? A conversation with a dear friend from New Orleans reminded me that we are often afraid to be who we were yesterday. Yes, so what if you or the people who raised you regularly referred to some folks as niggers? So what if you still have a big stars and bars flag in your garage that you can’t part with because it used to be on your granddaddy’s truck when y’all went muddin’?

Really, so what? Are you here reading this? If so, you probably think differently now than you did then. You probably feel a tinge of guilt about that flag and you may want to divorce yourself from anything that reminds you of the way you used to think or talk about others. Don’t do either.

Own your story. All of it.

The collective lack of owning our story in the US has led to loss of life, wealth and wellbeing, dividing and decimating communities since our inception. The lack of owning the story of COVID in this country is doing the same.

Owning our story does not show weakness, it shows strength. Controlling the narrative–not propagandizing it, but owning and controlling the whole of our story–allows us to sweep down the cobwebs, banish specters and move forward. As Brene Brown puts it, we can write our own ending.

As you chew on the stories of this week and wait anxiously on what could possibly come next, think about your stories. Think about our collective stories. Release guilt and shame and come to terms with the good, the bad, the ugly. Teach your students to do the same.

Learning the many stories that make up our history may at times be hard to hear, but the truth is certainly preferable to the weight of this constant, destructive delusion. Even children should be taught to love in spite of, not just because of.

Don’t be dissuaded from knowing the whole of our country’s story. Read about 1607, 1619 as well as 1492 and 1776. And while you’re at it, reflect on your own story and let go of any guilt or shame you may be carrying. While you may not want to hang Pawpaw’s flag up in the window, keep the good memories of the man who took you muddin’. Noone should be reduced to the worst of what they were; not him, not you, not our country.

What matters is that we decide to be better. Today.

To Tell the Old Old Story Read More »

Take Me to Church

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Small Bites Friday Five 09-25-20:

PE – Listen to this Pushing The Edge podcast about how to make sports more welcoming to the LGBTQ community.

Math – Listen to 2 of my favorite neighbors to the north, Chey and Pav as they explore Math through an SEL lens on the Staff Room Podcast. SEL is ALWAYS at the heart of any culturally responsive teaching.

Film/Photography or Fine Arts – Explore the beautifully crafted visual stories from the Global Oneness Project.org. Thanks to Jennifer Gonzales and Cult of Pedagogy for this one.

K-3 generalists – Look no further than Ki Gross’ Woke Kindergarten site. They specialize in teaching big concepts to little people.

Tech – Help your students go from empathy to action with this edtech tip sheet from CommonSense.org.

When I was born, it was in vogue for new mothers to stay home 6 weeks with their new bundles of joy. After that 6 weeks, the first place I was taken was to church. I am the 4th generation church musician in a line of 5 church musicians. Before that, my great-great-grandfather was a Louisiana pastor and circuit preacher. I have inherited a culture of faith that binds me to my God as intrinsically as melanin binds me to the Black community.

And yet…when I consider my identity, I have to swallow hard when I use the term Christian. Identifying as a Christian meant that Britain could claim Virginia in 1606 because the “heathens” found there were not Christian. Colonization was built on Christianity. The slave trade was upheld by Christianity. Bombing of abortion clinics and LG clubs were praised by the Christian community. Not all certainly but too many. Our identity is suffering and the cross is often too much to bear.

Now, to be sure, none of these things have anything at all to do with Jesus. He was known for hanging with all sorts of people. The question is, are we? If we have a student who falls outside of some “Christian ideal”, do we embrace them or do we leave them by the side of the road? Does our love extend to those most unlike us or do we keep our praise and encouragement for only those who espouse our own values and viewpoints?

Our educational system should be a place where every student feels welcome. Instead, on our watch, students represent the largest group commiting suicides in the country. Among those, students whose sexuality does not fall within traditional Christian ideals are killing themselves at an even higher rate.

I KNOW this is not a popular “Christian” view. But the God I serve says that we should be doers of the law and not judges. He also says that love is the fulfilling of the law. So unless you are ok with children dying on your watch, and unless you think GOD is ok with children dying on your watch, it’s time to think about how you can be equally accepting of all your students. That sounds dramatic for sure, but the fact is, once educators hit campus, our duty is to do the best by every child.

The question is, is that a cross you can take up? If your job is to teach and your Christian duty is to love and not judge, so it seems that the answer is a simple one.

I hope that instead of reading this and writing me off as some liberal who doesn’t understand God’s law, that you will see me through God’s eyes, as a person sure of her calling. I am called to do my best for every student, for every human. I hope, as you read this, you will consider that every student and family you serve is deserving of your human love and respect; as my students would say, periodttt.

Take Me to Church Read More »

Uptown Girl

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Small Bites Friday Five 09-18-20:

PE – Read this article that talks about a Black American PE teacher talking, much like me tonight, about her privilege.  Then reflect with your students on how— and why— privilege affects the opportunity to play, or even watch sports.

Math – Investigate this overview on how to “find an issue that fits the math, not the other way around”, from Radical Math.

ELL – Tolerance.org for the win again with ELL/ESL lessons on identity exploration.

ELA – Watch this Ted video from the passionate, ‘articulate’, spoken word “tri-tongued” artist, Jamila Lyiscott to get perspective on the different ways we English. Then reflect with your students on the different ways we talk to different audiences.

STEM – Get the curriculum from the underrepresentation project designed to examine and address inequities and inclusion in science.

My son and I have a family culture of helping. We volunteer, help out at missions and food banks, build houses (him, not me), work telephone banks (me not him) and do other things that are all about serving others. That’s important to us and it goes back for generations, if the stories my great grandmother told are to be believed.

We are able to do those things because we are privileged. Not a lot of little girls from my South Park neighborhood in Houston grew up and spent half their adult life in the Alps teaching and performing. Living in the middle of Europe as a Black musician, I was privileged to know life as an American, not a hyphen-American. That privilege and the achievement that comes along with it, has given me blind spots. My talent made room for me. My mother’s reputation as a singer and composer opened doors for me. I may have worked hard to make something of all that, but I earned none of it.

My son has inherited that privilege and then some. He is a generous spirited human who allows his momma to tell his stories. Even in his generosity, he has blind spots. So do I, and my guess is, if you are here, you do too.

This year, we can’t afford to ignore our blind spots. We can assume nothing. We talk about devices and meal service for our students, but do we really know if they are hungry? Are they are sharing a phone at a cousin’s house to do assignments? Are they not answering emails because they lost their home and phone service?

As you read this article, I am simply asking that you remember, your normal may not be everyone’s. Your students may have needs that you could never imagine. “No, everyone has not gone to the orchestra, son”. And no, every one of your kids may not have even their most basic needs met.

As you go through this year, pay special attention. If you sense a need, see how you might help. Find the services in your area that your students might need or get together with a group of friends to provide your own set of resources.

Yes, we are taxed beyond measure this year, but remember your why. One less grade in the gradebook won’t make a difference, but the time you take to notice and help fulfill a child’s basic needs will.

Uptown Girl Read More »

Peaceable Kingdom

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Small Bites Friday Five 09-11-20

20-30m – Listen to the podcast Whiteness Visible part 2 from the Teaching While White website to gain perspective on various stories and viewpoints taught as history.

15-20m – Read how our country’s reckoning with race affects students—in their own words, also from the TWW website.  

10-15m – Comb through the Center For Restorative Practice resources for a rich selection of materials for SEL and culturally responsive culture building.   

5-10m – Watch this PBS Black Folks Don’t episode to find out about the complicated history of Black people and the medical community.

0-5m – Watch students talk about their first experiences with racism and reflect on what you can do to make sure other children don’t keep having those experiences.  

BONUS: If you are looking for an excellent set of quality resources on the manifold, oft untold stories of Americans, visit the Pulitzer Center’s educational programming page.

On the anniversary of one of the most devastating attacks on American soil, I cannot help but think about how hatred causes so much pain. I can’t help but think about the loss that mothers, husbands and children endured because of hatred. I can’t help but think that even though we know that nothing good comes of it, we so often choose to hate.

Love and hate are not feelings, they are verbs. If you say you feel love but your actions don’t back that up, it’s not love. If you say you hate no one but spend your time relentlessly attacking those who think, believe or look differently, you may want to redefine what hatred really means.

The destructive forces of overt and covert hatred are ripping our nation apart because of our refusal to reckon with our origin story. Our nation is great but our greatness is in peril because we refuse to confront our flaws in order to fully realize that greatness.

Some of the the saddest moments for me in recent history have been watching our nation’s status as a full democracy erode when our country was downgraded to a flawed democracy. The UN has warned us about racist rhetoric and admonished us about criminal justice reform.

My patriotic soul wails. WE are the protectors of democracy. WE are the ones who issue human rights sanctions and warnings. And now, WE are the nation being warned. We don’t need foreign terrorists to destroy us. Our hatred is as powerful and destructive as any terrorist act.

This morning, I had the honor of speaking for the New York Public Library’s back to school kickoff. I was asked what we should do in our libraries, classrooms, lives, to dismantle systematic racism. My reply was simply that we can’t–unless we do it one brick at a time. We can’t change the system until we change ourselves, our families, our own spheres of influence. We can’t do it until we confront our flaws with the purpose of being better.

As we remember the incredible loss at the hands of terrorists, the best possible way to honor loss of life, whether through wars or acts of terrorism, is to finally reckon with the hatred and incongruence woven through our nation’s fabric.

In support of our nation’s greatness, we have to confront our past together, no matter how painful. As Benjamin Franklin said, we must “join or die”. If we don’t, we won’t need outsiders to bring destruction.

Peaceable Kingdom Read More »

Divide

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Catch up on the latest episodes of Small Bites!

Small Bites Friday Five 09-04-20

20-30m – Listen to Howard University Alumnus Chadwick Boseman address the 2018 graduating class in the HBCU’s 150th commencement address.

15-20m – Listen to 1st and 2nd person stories on this set of podcasts from Historically Black.

10-15m –Listen to the first person stories of people who survived the Tulsa Black Wallstreet Bombing.

5-10m – Read this Smithsonian Mag article on looking back honestly at our founding fathers, judging neither by the imagined whole, nor ugly part.

0-5m – Read about racism and immigration history in the US which highlights important stories of many peoples afflicted by racist policies.

In a year in which

  • COVID-19 has killed over 13,000 to date;
  • thousands of students cannot access learning;
  • almost 3 million people have filed for unemployment and
  • homelessness is so rampant that even the government created homeless camps–already an ignominy–cannot house them;

police funding outpaces every other budget item in Texas major cities. Think about that for a minute. In a year in which local shelters, schools, food pantries, social services and mental health support organizations are struggling to meet the needs of our communities, we believe that policing is the number one concern. And communities like Austin who are reallocating a small portion of funding into proactive community programming are being threatened with sanctions.

What would happen if more money was poured into education than policing? What if money was poured into eradicating hunger and mental health issues instead of funding prisons? What would happen if we valued humanity by investing in humanity?

Defund the police was the most ridiculous slogan I heard this year–until I realized how much more money we put into policing than into preventing the need for policing.

Before you believe the false narrative that we need protection because “some people just want to live like animals” let me ask you: How many generations out of slavery is your family? How many generations out of Jim Crow is your family?

My great grandmother was born in 1892, one generation out of slavery. She lived her life, until her 80s, under the Jim Crow laws of the south. She helped raise me and lived long enough to see me through high school graduation and my first year in college. The stories I heard about the Jim Crow south are first hand, the stories of field work still fresh in the minds of Mommie’s friends who came to visit in my early childhood.

I represent the first post Jim Crow generation in my family.

Does that put criminality and poverty in perspective? Lack of education, access and opportunity has plagued the black community since we were forced on to slave ships.

I represent the first post Jim Crow generation in my family: the first generation in which the law has supported my choice of school, neighborhood, job, bank and hospital–as long as I can pay for access. And therein lies the problem. The Black community on the whole has not had generations to build, to stand on the shoulders of parents who achieved in the generations before. That’s why talking about slavery or Jim Crow isn’t divisive, it’s simply the connection between poverty and crime, between education and lack, between generations of wealth building and generations of fighting to be twice as good to get half as much.

Before you decide what is divisive, ask yourself if you would rather look away than see that the problem lies not with one community of “thugs and criminals” it lies with the vestiges of what a community has lived through.

And before you decry that connection as divisive, please, consider whether your own upbringing gave you opportunities that others did not have. I know mine did, one of them being the divisive language my great grandmother used in telling me her first person stories so that I would know the truth.

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What Child is This

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Catch up on episodes 1-11 at YouTube/Hedreich

Small Bites Friday Five 08-28-20:

History – Explore US history through first person narratives with this lesson plan from EdSitement.

Language Acquisition – Integrate this resource that teaches language proficiency beginning with the question, “Where does our food come from?”

STEM/Theater – Pull from this tolerance.org resource on how power determines access.

Art/Design – Explore and discuss art and artifacts from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

PE – In the wake of the brutal shooting of Jacob Blake, ask students why they believe players boycotted their games in major league sports.

This week as I settled into a new school year, I thought about my kids. I thought about the check-ins that I have done and how they have been brave in the face of so much upheaval. So many of them know someone who was sick or died from COVID related illnesses. Some of them were sick themselves. Some of their families have suffered financial or job loss.

And then, there is my own family to look after, and of course a job that, at the moment, takes and takes. All of those things should have been uppermost in my mind this week.

But what kept me up at night is the fact that with so much to think about and to do, my mind has kept coming back to George Floyd, and now to Jacob Blake.

My mind has gone back to my son’s new height and facial hair, and how that has caused him to suddenly be a target.

I thought about how many of my colleagues can think about school reopening and never consider the upside of COVID: In a year when my child is driving, I am thankful that he’s mostly home.

As you move toward school reopening, remember that equity practices are not something that you can put on the back burner until you get Schoology sorted out. You have to make them a priority every single day. You have to move forward with the same urgency that you did after George Floyd’s death.

You have to do it as if your child’s life depends on it–because my child’s does.

What Child is This Read More »