Photo of a small American flag placed in a middle of a grassy field. The sun is setting behind it. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Check-In:
Mississippi Goddam! White supremacy has its foot on the gas pedal with no signs of letting up. I had to wait till late Sunday to rewrite this check-in because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Texas is currently hot as hell and it seems like our country is in its own slow burn. The sad part is that it has been burning for so long.
The first draft of this check-in was solely focused on the 4th of July. It emphasized that Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the slave is the 4th of July?” given on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York still rings true:
The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
But then this week the Supreme Court gave more evidence:
Affirmative action for college admissions has been turned upside down
There have been many pieces already written about these decisions- diving into each one (particularly the double standards of the affirmative action ruling) as well as showing how they are all connected. I won’t try to match the eloquence of others. I’m just thinking about what this all means for me and you as leaders of the global majority.
White supremacy continues to take over the road with a level of commitment and dedication that sometimes feel insurmountable. But we must be equally committed to liberation. In my interview with Shelley, she shares her commitment to her students despite the standard being different for her. In Literacy Is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching, Kimberly N. Parker, Ph.D. shows us how community can cultivate liberation.
What are you committed to doing to take back some of the road of white supremacy?
#mondaymotivation: America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. -Frederick Douglass
Interview with a Leader of the Global Majority:
Shelley is a middle school principal in a medium-sized district in Texas. She has been in the role for over seven years. The comments below are Shelley’s and do not reflect the opinions of her school system.
Mary: What have you learned and unlearned about your identity, upbringing, and other formidable experiences since taking on this role?
Shelley: I have learned that my upbringing, childhood circumstances, and tragedies have all helped shape me as a leader. We don’t know our students’ stories, not the entire book, and my experiences have taught me that we teach the whole child, we care for the whole child, and we respect the whole child, not just the part we want to acknowledge. I had teachers who did this for me, and in retrospect, I know that I am obligated to do the same.
Shelley: I have unlearned that I have to work myself all day and all night as an educator. I watched my mother make herself available to parents via phone calls, home visits, etc all at any point of the day and night. There were no boundaries. While she loved what she did and thought of it more as a ministry, I have now unlearned that same behavior that I once mirrored. I know now that I need healthy boundaries such as a time to stop working, a day off to reset, and a self-care routine in order to remain the best version of myself. While I appreciate my mother’s example of an amazing work ethic, I do believe that it was an unhealthy, unrealistic expectation.
Mary: What challenges do you face as a Black female principal in a space dominated by whiteness?
Shelley: One of the recurring challenges I face in this role is working among others who struggle to accept my assertiveness and take communication as aggressive. While I am always careful never to raise my tone, my questions are often taken with offense and result in concerns regarding my speaking up. However, I see my counterparts speak curtly and are rewarded with accolades and recognitions.
You can read more from Shelley in “Leading Within Systems of Inequity in Education: A Liberation Guide for Leaders of Color”. Let me know if you would like to be interviewed and/or recommend someone to be profiled in this section.
What I’m Reading: Literacy Is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching by Kimberly N. Parker, Ph.D.
About the author(s): Kimberly Parker, Ph.D. is an award-winning educator who has been working in literacy communities with young people for more than 20 years.
Book Audience: Any educator who is invested in moving themselves and their practice into culturally relevant instruction.
Book Overview:
There are a lot of books you can go to to learn about Culturally Relevant Teaching; however, what I appreciate the most about Parker’s approach is that is grounded in connection and community. The recognition and appreciation that our classrooms are their own community is a powerful one.
Chapter breakdown:
Chapter One: Starting with Ourselves: Why Culturally Relevant Literature Instructions Begins with Us First
Starts with emphasizing the importance of self-work as a teacher of culturally responsive teaching. Parker gives personal examples of how whiteness showed up in her own thinking and teaching. She also gives 5 foundational beliefs (pp14-15) that the book is grounded in:
Humanity is not up for debate
Racism exists. Anti-Blackness and anti-Black racism also exists
Black, Latinx, and POC communities have always valued literacy
White supremacy and white supremacy culture permeate everything we do, think, feel, and believe.
We have to work actively, and in public, every single day if we want to be culturally relevant, antiracist people and educators.
Chapter Two: Digging Deeper into Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
This chapter breaks down the 3 tenets of culturally responsive teaching. What I appreciate the most about this breakdown is the emphasis on “Tenet One-Academic Success” and that there is danger in lowering academic expectations using CRP as the reason (p 36). I also appreciated the time to unpack cultural competence and linguistic justice (p. 39-42) particularly the unpacking of the use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the classroom.
Chapter Three: Defining Culturally Relevant Intentional Literacy Communities
Introduction of culturally relevant intentional literacy communities (CRILC). Parker defines CRILC as a space where educators work deliberately with students to create a literacy environment that systemically normalizes the high achievement of everyone within that community (p. 52).
The values of CRILCs are (pp 53-63):
asset-based
encourage and nurture vulnerability
driven by collectivism and sociopolitical change
The actions of CRILCs are (pp 64- 71):
eliminate traditional barriers to literacy
address and heal reading trauma and curriculum violence
deliberately teach and hand over the habits, skills, and disposition required to be a high literacy achiever to every single student
Chapter Four: Routines and Traditions of CRILCs
Introduces a variety of routines and traditions that are important to CRILCs including independent reading (pp82-85), reading conferences (pp. 86-88), classroom libraries (pp -92), and literary citizens (pp 93-96).
Chapter Five: Preparing for and Succeeding in Conversations and Interactions in CRILCs
Introduces frameworks for engaging in critical conversations including the 4 agreements from Courageous Conversations (p. 107) and a way to use a conversation to move to action (p. 109).
Chapter Six: Putting it All Together: Toward Your Transformative CRILC Practice
Emphasizes some final crucial components that teachers need to be conscious of in the implementation of CRILCs including how to address harm to students and/or community members including the use of the n-word and damaging texts (pp. 122-127), discussion strategies (pp. 133-142) and feedback strategies (pp. 143-148).
Overall, I appreciate Parker’s building on CRP and giving concrete strategies for how to implement them in the classroom.
Next Book: You can find a full list of my book recommendations here. Please note that I am an affiliate with Bookshop.org and receive a small compensation for your purchase when you use the book links provided.
Resources:
Moms for Liberty was named a hate-group and yet it’s a GOP kingmaker.
A recent study shows more than half of the disparities between white students and students of color can be traced back to a shockingly small group of teachers.
This Fakequity post gives several rituals for starting meetings (hint: it’s not with work)
Upcoming Events:
I’m coming to Chicago on Thursday, July 13th to participate in a fireside chat for current and prospective members of Surge Institute’s Black Principals Network. There are only 15 slots available and registration is required! Register here: https://lnkd.in/gMeaUU3c
The ONE year anniversary of “Leading-Within” newsletter! I will mark the anniversary with some reflections, distribution of a survey to collect your thoughts, and a break! I will be taking August off!
If this is your first time reading, please go back and read my Introductions post.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think. If you like it, please share it with your network!