Learning all the time

Yesterday, I had the chance to push my understanding of what deep racial equity work in schools can look like, starting with our youngest learners. (Please consider following the profound work of Ki Gross, who runs Woke Kindergarten, to start re-building and re-learning yourself.)

While I learned so. very. much. in those two hours, I'm reflecting this morning on one of the first things Ki said: "What do we need to build?" 

I recognize that in my own racial equity work, I employ a lot of "stop" language (and not always with a "please" before it, but I'll add it here, to remind myself!):

1. Please stop creating syllabi with 95 percent white authors, most of whom are men.

2. Please stop decorating the hallways with Dr. Seuss.

3. Please recognize that lifting up "grit" as an equity strategy puts the burden on the learners to navigate the harm.

(These are examples of three emails I've sent to leaders in my own district.)

So I'm clear about what I want us to knock down, right?

But, Ki pushes me: what do I want us to build?

Let me re-work 1, 2 and 3. Let me be specific and action-oriented.

1. Can we (please) rebuild our high school curriculums with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, immigrant & refugee, female voices included just as often as white voices? Here is a great list of anthologies from We Need Diverse Books to help us start rebuilding!

2. Can we celebrate a wide range of authors that also provide rhythm, rhyme,  repetition and joy in their books, without harmful stereotypes? Here is a post from Teach for the Change we can check out for such great ideas!

3. Can we ask educators to re-think learning activities so that all children can access the learning? Can we revisit the idea that "grind culture" starts with our youngest students being ready for AP classes (6, 8, 10 years from now!) as a goal? Here is a thought-provoking article from Bettina Love to help us start rebuilding! And though it might be hard, I think we need to read this article, too.

And then, I think to myself - these are good things, yes. And I love a helpful resource, a smart list, an article that pushes our thinking.

But: what do I REALLY want us to build?

What is my real ask?

1, 2, 3:

We have been so well-intentioned, and yet... we harm students.

Black students are harmed when they don't see themselves in the curriculum, or worse yet, when they are depicted as animals, as others. Our good intentions fill our schools with posters of "try hard" and "show grit" and "get tough", yet our very system is asking kids to spend their cognitive and emotional energy on navigating a day that hurts them.

And white students are also harmed, when they read only white authors, see disgusting tropes of Black people, and see mostly Black friends getting "sent to the office" and being suspended.

We need to ask our educational leaders to get urgent.

We need to work for change. We need to repair. We need to be brave, not safe.

White parents, we need to listen and learn, to center the voices of Black parent leaders here:

What do we need to knock down? We will help.

And more importantly: What do we want to build? We will help.

My district and high school's 2017 Office of Civil Rights Discipline Data
		District	High School	Days missed (OSS)/District	Days missed (OSS)/HS
Enrollment	Black	44.7	47.2
	White	40.7	41.5
	Two or more	7.6	6.6
In School Suspensions	Black	75	100
	White	14.3	0
	Two or more	7.1	0
Out of School Suspensions	Black	85.2	83.6	946	670
	White	8.6	11.5	51	42
	Two or more	4.3	4.1	24	16

Find your district's data here:

https://ocrdata.ed.gov/search/district