“Seven generations, they say, it takes to heal, to rise above the sadness move forward…” –Rhonda Head, “500 Years”
Thanksgiving was never attached to Plymouth Rock in my house, the women who raised me knew too much truth to celebrate what was the beginning of the end for so many. We cooked, we were thankful. Yesterday, I cooked, I am thankful. I am also in solidarity with those who mourn this month.
This week, I will leave you to find your own truth; about Thanksgiving, about our nation’s origin story. Try to find one new truth or one new voice to amplify. See you next week.
Here is my most recent article from Edutopia featuring Indigenous narratives and stories, many from Indigenous people. These stories are helpful for teachers and learners seeking historical accuracy.
Below are links to explore and stories to be heard about the over 60 million people who were here long before Europeans came; and this week’s Small Bites features the names of indigenous voices to learn from on social media, plus a groovy Spotify playlist to help you decolonize your drive-time.
NOTE: Special Thanks to Rhonda Head, the award winning Cree mezzo soprano on this week’s #SmallBites. You can find out more about her on rhondahead.com, @Rhonda_Head on Twitter, or RhondaVHead on Instagram. Her music, including her latest Christmas single, can be purchased on iTunes.
20-30m –Spend some time exploring the NPS indigenous stories and reflecting over the old cowboy and “Indian” movies. Do it with your families, with your students.
15-20m – Put yourself in timeout, the world will not stop turning. Use that time to do whatever recharges you.
10-15m – Look at your lesson plans and reflect on how your students can show mastery in fewer steps. Don’t teach less, don’t question less, but reduce testing stress. In populations that are struggling educationally and because of COVID more than others, a little ‘air’ is helpful.
5-10m – Look up the most recent CDC and WHO guidelines and share them with your students and families. Do everything you can to mitigate COVID spread over the holidays.
This year I had really all but decided that I was NOT buying a turkey. I barely like turkey. And for my small family, that’s a WHOOOOOOLE lotta leftovers that I don’t like. But the pull was so strong that I not only bought one, I created a whole Small Bites about it.
Thing is, I grew up in a house where none of us really liked turkey. I remember this same conversation with my grandmom who made THE best fried chicken. It would have been a much better choice, but, we always went with turkey. Here I am, generations later, a whole grown up, and I have a turkey alarm set on my phone so I don’t forget to defrost starting Sunday.
That’s the pull of traditions. I can say that the confederate flag is a symbol of hate because it is flown by Americans who who fought for human trafficking, kept citizens from voting and education and is today carried by people who lynch (domestic terrorists). However, in my life as a Texan, I have met some mostly benevolent people who did not see that flag as egregious, it was simply a symbol of Southern pride. It was the flag that had been in grandpa’s truck, the same grandpa that taught them to fish and hunt. It was the flag touted in history books as a symbol of heroism, a flag revered without consideration of the definition of treason.
If I am honest, I was 16 before I realized that my Southern pride and patriotic education left little room for honest discourse about what we were really proud of.
This Thanksgiving, let’s look honestly at what we have been taught to internalize as fact and ask ourselves, ‘who else was there’, ‘what might have been their experiences?’
Do we consider that the Sioux and Cheyenne were protecting their land and that it was the settlers who were the interlopers since the land was already settled?
Do we consider that although Thomas Jefferson had a longstanding dalliance of some kind, that Sally Hemings was his property, a girl of 14 who he impregnated, whether or not it was her choice?
Do we consider that there are traditions that may or may not be steeped in false narratives or shaded versions of truths that, like a mountain range, may have many views and vantage points?
Do we consider that many songs like Turkey in the Straw or the Eyes of Texas may be traditional songs better left to their racist pasts?
I know that traditions connect us to our past and our world at large, like me buying that turkey I don’t really want to eat. But I also know that setting aside traditions that have out-served their usefulness makes room for growth. As we prepare for our holiday traditions this year, let’s reflect on them and broaden our viewpoint to include the stories of others who share our journey, but not our path.
20-30m – This ain’t our first time at the rodeo. Read this History.com article about contentious elections of yesteryear.
15-20m – Spend 10 minutes writing down everything you are feeling about the pandemic, online learning, the election, life in 2020 in general. Now spend 10 minutes writing down all the things you have to be grateful for. If your first list is longer, dig a little deeper. Still having trouble? Start with the sentence stem, “even though…”
10-15m – Go stand outside. Really, don’t even watch until the end. Look up at the night sky. Whether it’s velvety blackness or a cascade of stars, realize, you can see it. (Circle back to your list above.
5-10m – Don’t watch the news for the whole weekend. I dare ya!
Do you ever watch zombie movies? Or pandemic ones? Especially the ones that start out in some grassy suburban yard with an idyllic family in the sunshine just before bedlam breaks out? Once the destruction hits, it’s the recurring flashback moment and most probably the moment everyone wonders about; could I have done something differently that would have changed the outcome?
Even in real life, whenever tragedy strikes, we always go back over events, wondering if we had taken another road, chosen another course of action at some magic moment in time, if we would have ended up in the same situation.
I believe, for our country, we are at that ‘fantasy point in time’, that magical moment in which everything can change in an instant. Where do we go from here, as a nation, as ONE nation? How do we go from all black and all white to palatable shades of gray?
We can talk less and listen more.
We can refuse to go down the demonization road.
We can assure ourselves that we have more that binds us than divides us.
Or, we can continue with our Facebook tirades, our finger pointing, our self-righteous conversations with like-minded saints who know what’s best, if only the other side weren’t so cretinous.
This is the moment in which we choose to move forward, to make the best of what we have, no matter how odious we feel that choice might be. Yes, this country is deeply divided. Yes, I have my feelings about it. But I will not waste energy on any of it. I have a son to raise, roses and relationships to tend, a future generation to educate and a corner of the world to brighten. I have a book to write and groups to speak for. I have a new niece to bewundern. In short, I have a life to live beyond politics and anger about politics.
This is that magic moment in time in which we decide to dedicate our energies to the things that we can change and accept the things we can’t. If there is evidence of fraud it will be found. If there is none to find, facebook posts and heated conversations will not magically produce any.
Civil unrest can turn to civil war and no election outcome is worth that, not at this point in time. Winning really isn’t everything and I am afraid, if we don’t make some hard choices, life as we know it might be over.
Choose to agree to disagree.
Choose to walk away from arguments.
Choose to educate your children and not your neighbors and coworkers.
Choose peace over contention, even with those you consider evil.
My question is, as you express your moral outrage at the turn this country is taking, just what are you holding on to and what’s the worst thing that could happen if you let it go?
This is that magic moment in time, the one that we can hold on to, or wistfully look back on while unrest escalates into something permanently destructive. Dramatic? Maybe. Possible, definitely. And although we may not all agree on how this country should be run, we’d all agree that we do hope there is a country to be run; so instead of standing back and standing by, let’s all just stand down.
And just in case you wonder why I’m talking about the election in a blog about equity strategies, to be sure, 50% of us are likely to be teaching students who come from households in which parents do not espouse our politics. If you really want change, make sure you are modeling peace and acceptance, even if it seems that their parents aren’t. Your students are watching you, let them see the best in you, even throughout this difficult time.
When the election is called, your reality will not drastically change. But how you handle your reality can drastically change everything around you. If you react with levity and calm, those around you just might do the same. –Hedreich Nichols
Y’all know I viewed life from the church bench from right behind the piano where my mama, grandmama and great-grandmom before me all played for the choir. Although I know faith is not everybody’s thing, it has taught me some valuable lessons that are universally useful.
The line from an old hymn–be not dismayed whate’er betide is perfect for this moment. Will who is in the White House really change what happens to you and your family tomorrow morning? Will you cease to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, love because your candidate does or does not move in/out on January 20th?
Yes, you wanted to make America great again and erase the havoc that 8 years of the Obama presidency and ensuing accusations of radical ‘cancel culture’ attitudes have wreaked.
Yes you wanted to show the world that America is an inclusive place that does not control people’s bodies, judge who they love or how they look; a place that acknowledges, and seeks to right, historical wrongs.
Maybe you get what you want. Maybe you don’t. One way or another, a favorite saying of parents and teachers of littles is, “you git what you git and you don’t throw a fit”. We have a democracy. When it speaks, we adhere to the proclamation and get in line to forgive, or at least move past, the evils of the other side to become one nation indivisible again. There are wrongs, there are attacks, there are selfish moves that I do not understand, however, I know that the “other side” thinks the same about my side.
I cannot change everyone’s opinion and I have ceased to waste energy trying. I suggest you do the same. Don’t throw good money after bad, as the folks saying goes. Don’t spend your time on social media, or at the table arguing with friends, co-workers and relatives. Unless you are very lucky, this won’t be the first time you have to forgive and extend grace without your pain being acknowledged. So extend and model grace and levity for the good of everyone.
When the election is called, your reality will not drastically change. But how you handle your reality can drastically change everything around you. If you react with levity and calm, those around you just might do the same.
Be not dismayed, whate’er betide, God will take care of you. Whether you believe all the words Sis. Mamie Lee Lott used to sing on Sundays, the first part remains true. Be not dismayed. Don’t worry. Remember the lessons of your youth on the quotidianness of opinions and the wisdom of saying nothing more often than saying something. And if you need to voice your opinion about the evils and ills of the world, write your congressional representative, call your school board member or better yet, run for office yourself.
Be not dismayed. Yes, I know there is a lot at stake. I have some big feelings too. But, I know that when the election is called, all I can do is keep being the best person I know how to be. I hope you’ll join me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
