A reel of pictures from the last year.
Check-In:
Happy FIRST anniversary to Leading Within Systems of Inequity in Education: A Liberation Guide for Leaders of Color !!! In the past year, I have talked to leaders about Leading-Within through book signings, conferences, fire-side chats, podcasts, radio shows, and webinars.
I’m thankful to everyone I met and talked to over the past year. I’m exhausted but appreciative to those who embraced my story and the stories of the global majority leaders who entrusted me to share their experiences.
We are just getting started!
Twelve things I’ve learned over the past year:
Marketing a book is harder than writing one!
We all have our own stories but the connections between our stories are strong
Virtual conversations can be powerful but to be in person is worth the planes, trains, and automobiles to make it happen
A good song/playlist (90s hip-hop preferred) sets the stage for a great conversation
Even if it feels like I’m saying the same thing over and over again, it’s new to the people I’m speaking to
Take a picture otherwise it didn’t happen!
Putting “guide” into the title was important because folks want and need the HOW to keep moving forward
“Practice love and rage” is a fan favorite competency. It pushes thinking and affirms the need/role of emotions in our work as leaders of the global majority.
When the conversation about the book turns to how whiteness shows up in leaders of the global majority, things get real.
In today’s wave of censorship and the unraveling of laws, the different ways to “take a stand” shared in Chapter 7 are important for leaders of the global majority working within school systems that are conflict adverse.
I talk about liberation a lot and defining it is important for the audience but I think everyone needs to define it for themselves (see pp. 137).
Signing my name in my book is cool EVERY time.
What Others Are Saying About Leading-Within:
Keeping it Going….
Here are a few ways you can continue to support Leading-Within:
Go to Amazon and rate or review the book there! Reviews are a great way for others to see that this book is worth the time to read.
Post about the book on social media using the hashtag #leadingwithin. Even better if it includes a picture of you WITH the book!
Host a book club with your affinity/ERG group. Two study guides are also available on the ASCD website - one for leaders of color and one for white co-conspirators that are perfect for starting a group conversation. For book clubs with participants who have purchased and committed to reading the book, please reach out to me so I can support your journey!
Connect with me to speak to your organization or group about topics covered in the book, like ‘practicing love and rage’, ‘building a coalition’, and ‘taking a stand’.
If this is your first time reading, please go back and read my Introductions post.
Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think. If you like it, please share it with your network!
Congratulations, Mary! I am so excited for you and the tremendous work you are doing. :)