^^ That's the party favor from my 60th birthday. A mug. And a banned book you got to choose. And a copy of Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. A social justice sticker. Your state rep & senator's address. Oh, and a postcard (BYO stamps, though):
I believe that if we have the tools, we can build a better world.
I wish I had savvier tools, but I do have mugs, and books, and postcards to help us spread the word. Rainbow stickers to signal "I see you". And energy to help us build.
Build a world of care for the youngest and oldest, the healthy and the sick and fragile. The immigrant, the trans child, and every Black person. A place where we repair the institutional, generational harm of our country toward Indigenous people and lands. Where we learn and understand the Executive Order that put Japanese citizens in internment camps, the racism present in the GI Bill, the legacy of enslaving other humans. I can make a list, but it will never be complete. And it will never need to be complete, because my heart says, "Do right by all, do not ask questions about the who, just go ahead, jump in there. The way to be well yourself is to live in harmony with all the others. Bring your energy, bring your picture books, too; take along your belief that we are better together."
I did not spend my youth as an activist or even very activated for justice.
I dropped out of college because I partied too much.
I took 10 years to finally get a diploma and step into my calling as an educator, and in my unique bachelor's degree program, professors and mentors called me in to look beyond my own comfort and see how intertwined our lives are. I remember some impactful moments:
- Being a part of all-staff discussions about justice in our classrooms
- Hearing Jonathan Kozol speak in Boston, taking pages of notes about the new learning, new ideas, new ways of seeing the system of education (spoiler alert: savagely unequal then, savagely unequal now)
- Reading Gloria Ladson-Billings' book, Dreamkeepers and asking myself questions about my work as a white teacher of Black students
- Getting a copy of Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom and my eyes opening to the political work of teaching
- Having a mentor share Peggy McIntosh's essay, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
This is Margaret. I have the Book of Alchemy, so I should pull it out for SOLC. What a great prompt and response! I admire your grit and determination.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret! The Book of Alchemy will be a go-to for me this month - let me know if you decide to use it, too - would love to see what inspires you!
DeleteI’m not sure when my activism began. I’ve always been interested in the world outside my front porch. Maybe that’s the dreamer in me, but when I started teaching in Arizona, my first job, I began questioning so much and thinking in terms of “what if” as what I i served pertained to my own life. I wish you and I could sit and pen our postcards together over a cup of coffee. There’s so much I want to say and hear about all these ideas and how I know you better from this slice.
ReplyDeleteI love how Slicing builds connections like this... comments and building community are best gifts of leading a writing life here. I know Slicers gather at NCTE - and it will be in Chicago in 2 years, such an easier place to travel than the coasts. We should try to Slice every day there in 2027!
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