08/20/2020
MY COMMITMENT in addition to the actions below, as a business owner, community member and as part of my purpose in this world:
⭐️ I am committed to using the WHOLE LEARNING NJ platform to continue to educate, lend support to those in the field of education, and provide resources for families and current or former students. I will ensure that my posts are inclusive and support and highlight organizations that focus on diversity, anti-racism, and multicultural learning.
⭐️ To the best of my ability, I will share information from trusted sources that share my beliefs, and specifically the values of inclusivity and support of marginalized groups.
⭐️ I am committed to using my SIP in SOMA platform to share out more local businesses, resources and events that create education, awareness and support Black Lives.
💜 I took a lot of time off from social media recently for my own personal mental health and to focus myself on what matters to me as a person, a mother, a friend, an educator, a family member and a community member. And that time coincided with the protests gaining momentum and the death of George Floyd. I wanted to make sure that I came back to these platforms with a message that shares my beliefs, connection and hope.
🤔 I am comfortable having uncomfortable conversations - as a teacher there has been no end to the “interesting” questions and statements posed by my students about s*x, race, religion and politics. And in all of those experiences, what I valued most was the openness of a child. Little judgment, anger, or meanness was present - more curiosity, interest and a desire to understand. The world is open and they are listening and leaning in to learn.
❤️ Having conversations with some adults has been a whole other experience - we have our beliefs, values, and conditioning that attributes to uncomfortable conversations becoming personal, angry and shaming. And my experience has been to clam up when it gets personal or to unleash a passionate oration. It all has depended on my social anxiety in the moment. But, I persevere because although you may not like what I say or agree, I am not here to be liked. I am here to use my stories and what I have learned to reach and teach.
📖 I could write a book about my experiences, but we don’t have time for that. I explain what I believe and why I believe it through stories. I hope that my story resonates and is something you can learn from, but more importantly, I hope you take ACTION on some of the steps I share below.
❤️ Black Lives Matter and have mattered to me my whole life. Once I learned my first lesson about the horrors of slavery as a child, I felt this pain in my chest - I almost cried with the inhumanity in the middle of class. My bodily response to the pain and injustice forced upon others has been palpable my whole life. I do not become desensitized to pain and violence upon others - I become connected. It was the first lesson of many about injustice and started my education about hatred in the world.
❤️ I was a white ally before I knew the term when a racist joke was carelessly thrown about during a family dinner when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I was accused of ruining the dinner by speaking the truth and calling out the racism for the hatred it was and the wrongness of that hatred. I left the table angry that I was being yelled at for standing up for being mean. There were many times my family accused me of “ruining the day” or making our reunion “awkward.” It wasn’t me that thrust hate speech and careless racism into the day, it was the family member who thought their racism was funny. But, I never backed down and I never, to (some) of my family’s chagrin, “learned my lesson.”
❤️ When I became an educator, I took my first class that focused on diversity, multiculturalism and anti-racist work to understand the children I would be teaching in East Harlem. I was excited and believed the class would be filled with like-minded, empathetic educators like me - finally! But, I was surprised as white men and women declared that they were color-blind. BUT, this time, there were others and the professor that joined in the conversation. I got my first lessons in “teachable moments” and how to share my point of view and educate people without shaming them. My professor modeled how to educate and discuss rather than shame and let the conversations and debates devolve.
❤️ I have made many mistakes and have been very grateful to my colleagues who have told me, point blank, that I need to speak up during meetings to be an ally. I have made racist or stereotypical remarks and I was fortunate enough to have friends, of all races, point them out to me and give me the time and opportunity to apologize and learn. At first, I kept the anger at myself going long after the forgiveness from the person. But, I realized, I needed to forgive myself and use the stories to learn and teach others. And the learning continues. I work in Newark now, and I continually ask for feedback - I always want to know what I am doing well and where I can learn - you may hear me ask for “glows and grows” as an educator.
⭐️ Recently, my friends and colleagues have shared articles, anti-racist reading lists, movies, documentaries and podcasts to gain more insight and keep my education going. Most have shared three actionable steps over and over that I believe are easy to achieve on a daily, weekly and monthly basis:
1. Donate money to organizations that provide legal support or bail support to those arrested in the recent protests. The NAACP has been mentioned in almost every list.
2. Give your support to businesses owned by people of color. In our town we have lists of the businesses circulating and I will be sharing more as the weeks go on.
3. Write to your politicians - local, state, federal - and tell them to make changes to the laws that will reduce (and eliminate) mass incarceration of black people, make changes to bring about police reform, and hold the police officers responsible for the deaths of too many black men and women accountable for their murderous actions. There are many more reasons to write, but these are just to name a few.
Here is my take on another call to action that is free, easy and necessary:
🏫 Educate yourself and speak out.
1. If you are white, become an ally and let people know. It’s so important that we stand up against hate and racism for the benefit of our world. We don’t always know what to say, so say that - “I don’t know what to say, but I care and I am taking action. Black lives matter to me.”
2. Teach your kids about the injustice, racism and to stand up when they see something or hear something they think is wrong. My purpose is to model for my children and all those I educate, the necessity of compassion, uplifting those around us who are marginalized by society and the law, and to speak a truth that Black Lives Matter.
3. Keep having those hard conversations and reading, listening and watching to learn.
🙏 Thank you for your time.
THINK before you post - I am happy to answer questions, but please be kind. This is not the platform for hateful messages or vitriol.
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