Specific Ways I Will Be an Ally

I've been writing this blog post all summer. It was going to be titled "Specific Ways I Will Be Anti-Racist in School This Year" until I quickly realized I need to be this way ALL THE TIME. EVERYWHERE. Writing it for all to see will not only hold me accountable, but I hope it will help you, reader, with tools you can use alongside me, as an ally to our children and peers of color. I do not have all the answers. What I have here is a beginning.

From today-years-old, I pledge to do the following:

When I hear something from a peer that doesn't sit right with me, I will stop whatever I'm doing.
I will say calmly, "I'm uncomfortable with something that was said."

If I hear it in the classroom, I will stop whatever we're doing.
I will say calmly, "I just felt something shift in the room. I wonder if anyone else felt it."

I may follow up with any of the following:

• Who else was uncomfortable?
• Why do you think I am (or "we are") uncomfortable?
• I don't find that funny.
• We don't use hurtful words in our school.
• I'm surprised to hear you say that.
• That statement was racist. Why do you think it would be racist?
• What do you mean by that?
• Tell me more.
• What point are you trying to make by saying that?
• Did you mean for that statement to be hurtful?
• Using that word (or those words) doesn't help others feel safe or accepted here.
• I'm having a "yeah, but" moment - can you help me work through it?
• I need time to process. Let's come back to that in a moment.
• Do these words unsettle you? I have some resources if you're willing to learn more and be more comfortable talking about it in the near future.
• We wake up each morning and want to do what's right for our students. Let's focus on the impact those words could have on all of our students.
• Let's confront challenges together, even when they're uncomfortable.

Besides using the language above...

• I will have these phrases ready (literally in my pocket).
• If someone else speaks up before me, I will echo their message with support.
• I will ask students how they want to feel in our class. We will curate their answers and make a plan as to how we can accomplish this. I will share my responses with students (above), so they have tools for helping our classroom be all we want it to be.
• I will provide students phrases to use when they feel prejudice against them, such as, "I don't feel good when you say that" or "I don't feel respected right now."
• When I provide book talks, I will add descriptions of the authors. For example, I may say, "The author of this book, ____ is a cisgendered Black American woman." Calling out the authors will let students know that anyone can become a writer, let students know that I support writers of all races, genders, etc., and it will help me make sure my classroom library becomes even more diverse. 
• When students are in partners or groups, I will ask them to first find out a difference they have with each other, and then something they have in common.
• I will post a message that says, "Black Lives Matter." I want my students of color to know they matter to me just as much as everyone else. I want them to know our class (in-person and virtual) is a safe space. (Thank you for pointing that out in a webinar on Aug. 6, 2020, Dr. Tron Young.)
• I will create a space of curiosity - where we all have room to learn from multiple sources, especially each other's stories.
• I hope to have an activity or writing prompt where I can ask students, "Share your earliest memory of race" or "When where you first instructed about race" or "When did being your race first impact you" or "How has being your race impact you?" (I'd love help with wording this one.)
• I will work towards finding a way students can change the skin tone of their "reactions" via Zoom, so we see our differences in color in multiple ways.
• I will use Rudine Sims Bishop's idea of "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors."
• When we are discussing ideas for school, I will inquire as to which perspectives we're missing.
• I will continue to read (voraciously) and share perspectives of BIPOC.

If I do not speak up against biases or prejudices, it means I condone it.

I will make mistakes.

I will work towards being comfortable - with being uncomfortable.

I will renew my pledge to be an ally and to be anti-racist each and every day.

I will continue to strive to be a better person and better educator.

Resources I've used to help me with what I plan to say or do:

• Speak Up at School
• Use Media to Teach Better, Know Better (PBS)
• White Fragility Reading Guide
• On Race, Being White, and Education Right Now
• Mindset Changes Needed for More Equitable Schools
• Flipgrid Community Panel Discussion on Race, Equity, and Justice
• So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• This Book Is Anti-Racist... by Tiffany Jewel

Would you like to join me in this pledge? Put your name in the comments below, along with your Twitter handle, and I'll connect with you once a month to see how we're doing and where we can use more guidance.

Day 120 - Hope

After three days of trying to stay away from the media or news or... everything hitting us left and right, and after three days of dealing with a migraine and heartache, I am emerging today, I am fresh from my first haircut since February, and I'm choosing to focus today on HOPE.

I would think "It's amazing what a haircut can do for your outlook." Yes. I know this is true, but I also see signs everywhere - through the murk and distractions - through the politics and news - signs that I need to continue to have HOPE. It may sound corny, but a quote a friend shared with me on Facebook is back in my brain today -

"Do not succumb to discouragement." ~Sr Pastor Dr. Michael Eaddy

• My students have been posting helpful links on Instagram (probably other social media, as well, but I'm only connected to them through Instagram). Posts about Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, atrocities across the nation (and how to help), clothing lines from which to steer clear, why voting for Kanye won't help, reasons WHY others should care about soooo many causes. 
• Students in my area are signing petitions and attending school board meetings...
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• Commercials on television, ads on my phone games, and news broadcasters all show others wearing masks. This message is from Uber:
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• Artists are doing their thing - helping us see so many sides of the angst in the world. (Alicia Keys HERE)
• Sports are trying to start up again - in bubbles. Athletes are understood when they say they're skipping the season to keep their families safe. My hope here is that teachers are provided grace when we say we, too, would like to keep our families safe.
• Athletes are speaking out against injustice - with players in their own leagues, with owners, with sponsorships... I am seeing beautiful role models. My pick-me-up show is PTI - I suddenly follow sports way more than I used to. Thank you to ESPN for sharing how Dream reacted to this woman:
• 
• I'm seeing posts about what educators can do to stay safe if IL schools truly are to go back to the school building full time in a month. I'm also seeing that some schools are sharing ways to keep some students and educators safe through hybrid models.
• Just under 50 participants in my district signed up for the book club I'm co-facilitating around So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo.
• I had a two-hour talk with two other white women regarding race and the anti-racist LiveBinder yesterday. It, too, was promising. We had tons of questions and knew we'd mess up. Still, we kept the conversation going.

There is HOPE in this world. Some days it's hard to find through the pandemic, politics, killings, threats, arguments, slander and bullcrap. Today I am physically and mentally healthy enough to see it, notice it, name it, and share it.

PLEASE try to take the breaks you need. Please reach out to others when you need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen. You are NOT alone. I'll be reaching out when needed, as well.

Oh, and a haircut may have done me some good, too...
 I'll never again not think of haircuts as a luxury.

Before - and - After

Updated 7/16/20 (Day 125):

• My district has three book studies going on this summer to help educators and administrators keep the conversations going about equity.
• The line above - means educators who were quiet on Twitter for a bit are becoming more vocal about their ideas about How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. I have hope that this means they'll continue to use their platforms to share more widely with the world. If I don't see them on Twitter, I have hope that they'll become more comfortable sharing more publicly at some point. Their tweets from a district chat last night show me they believe it's important.
• My district's superintendent is hosting tons of Zoom meetings in this week ahead to answer questions from all staff.
• My mom and I had a great (Google Duo - like FaceTime) talk last night. We both cried, and yet we're learning more about how to talk to one another about the tough issues.
• This thread from a doctor is so amazing, as it brings up so many OTHER issues I haven't really heard others share (yet).

Day 98 - How are you "acting"?

Friday, June 19 2020

I use Twitter for teaching, Instagram to keep up with my former students, and Facebook for family (and some friends and some teachers).

Family includes cousins from across the nation - I tried to count how many I have... it's nearly impossible. My dad comes from a family with nine children and my mom with six.

Anyway... I normally just "like" or "love" posts here and there. If I don't agree, I just don't click anywhere. No biggie. My sister posted a video the other day - she's been quiet on Facebook for a long time. What she posted was so NOT the issue (in my mind), so I replied with a reaction video to that video. I think we both agreed on two of the points. It doesn't matter. She's been quiet on there since she posted. One of my cousins, however, spoke up, wanting to know which way we "leaned," and how that affected our family conversations.

I replied back that I really never knew how closely race tied in with politics. She replied that even though she may be living in a bubble, she's been learning from her church and "I want Jesus and my surroundings to be the filter through which I see the world." She also added she's never made a decision about another person through anything but their words and actions. ...

I have trouble with conflict. I wanted so so so bad to say, "That's great. I'm glad that works for you," and be done with it. Instead, I replied, "I hope everyone is doing what works for them. I, personally, feel a need to act. I believe Jesus supports my actions to help those less fortunate than me."

I love the next line she replies with, because I, too, have wondered how some people are acting. She writes: 

...how are you "acting"?

I am a gabber. You get me going, and it's hard to get me to stop. This past school year, my goal for myself was to LISTEN more. To NOT boast or brag. To be HUMBLE. These are skills I'm working on. However, when she asked me how I'm "acting" using those quotes, I felt I had to respond, and it's time for me to share with my readers, as you may be wondering the very same thing:

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I love that question! 

• I’ve been educating myself more on race and sharing my own learning / thoughts on one of my blogs since July of 2018 - http://passionpurposeproduct.blogspot.com/search/label/Being%20the%20Change
• I read, read, read - diverse authors, genres and topics. I listen to podcasts and webinars about equity in education.
• I read and then purchase classroom library books that cross many cultures and topics, and I share these books with my seventh graders. (I’ve learned a lot through the #DisruptTexts movement and by keeping up with new middle grade and young adult books that come out.)
• When we’re in school, I make sure to make time for my students to discuss issues that come up. I am only a guide during these, and I try to provide for them a safe space and techniques for respectful discourse.
• I curate a resource online for educators and others - tinyurl.com/AntiRacistLB
• I share new resources i find through my Twitter account (which I use for teaching), and at times through Facebook (which really isn’t my favorite).
• I share “stories” on Instagram for my former students regarding educating themselves and where they can find more information. (Due to being a teacher in a public school, I keep politics and religion out of it.)
• I donate when I can - Greater Chicagoland Food Depository is where I’m focused now. Donors Choose for teachers in areas with more than half low-income families was where I donated to in 2019.
• I’ve recently subscribed to “The Flip Side” to read how both the left and right share certain issues facing our nation.
• I pray.

There is so much more I want to do:

• I want to continue to curate lessons (with colleagues) for my students regarding how to read all types of media better. (Media literacy is something I need help with, too.)
• I want to safely stand in protest of something I believe.
• I want to do more research on candidates for our local elections, so I know if/when they voted for policies that directly or indirectly exclude others.
• I want to contact my mayor and ask if our police officers have body cameras and if they undergo training about implicit bias.
• I want to shed my implicit biases that make me hold my purse closer to my body when walking downtown or make me think - even if just for an instant! - that every teen with their pants hanging down or with their head in a hoodie is “looking for trouble.”
• I want to be eloquent in how I share - meaning I need to educate myself - OH SO MUCH MORE!

Do you have resources for me that I can either read now or add to the resources I curate? I welcome any and all. I’m trying to soak up all I can, so that I can better serve the needs of my students.

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This goes for readers on here, as well. Please let me know what else I can do. Thank you.

tinyurl.com/AntiRacistLB 

Day 82 - Genius Hour... Again?

Day 82 - Wednesday, June 3 2020

I was able to share about Genius Hour again today - on the Teachers Connect platform this time. I can't help but imagine... what if we had started Genius Hour AFTER George Floyd was killed?

I know my "genius hour" has now shifted to sharing resources on Instagram for my former students. Each day I will share a different resource from the Anti-Racist LiveBinder I curate. That has become my project that I'm picking up again... studying my own whiteness and learning more about what this nation has done to oppress Black humans. The last time I posted on my progress was in August of 2019, and then school took over my life. I know Black humans do not have a "pause" button on racial issues that Whites do.

IN school, I felt less afraid of having the tough conversations, and I believe students felt respected when I was able to make the time for them to ask questions, share stories, and listen to each other. We focused on listening without judgment, sharing our thoughts or ideas in a calm manner, not attacking each other but the issue at hand.

I really didn't feel up to sharing about Genius Hour today. However, the need for students to learn what they want to learn is so important. I know in my heart, that had we started Genius Hour after the protests began, that they'd want to learn more about them, and more about why this is happening. I wish with all my heart that they are doing so now. I hope my daily Instagram resources help them to do so. Today's was the fact that the movie Just Mercy is free on many platforms during this month of June.

This is America today. Day 82 of quarantine. Let's all learn more about the reasons behind this, so we can help alleviate the pain and fear:

I do not know the origin of this photo. Please let me know if you know!