Dear Educators,
Black girls are not loud - they want to be heard.
Black girls are not seeking-attention - they are seeking a connection.
Black girls are not aggressive - they know what they want.
Black girls are not bossy - they are leaders.
Last, Black girls are not adults.
I asked my daughter what was her dream job. She replied, “Do you really think the ancestors wanted me to dream of labor?”
She is definitely my child. 😂
Dear Educators,
Do not write off parents, particularly those of color, who do not attend Open House. Many are managing multiple jobs, young children, and other obligations. Be graceful and endeavor to build bridges, not walls. Lack of physical presence does not mean indifference.
@TravisDHughes
I’ve been married for over 20 years and couldn’t imagine my partner lecturing / resenting / prodding me to do anything I didn’t want to do. Especially if I was seven months pregnant.
I feel sorry for your wife. 😢
Dear Scholars,
Do the work that sets your soul on fire.
Do the work your Mama and them can read.
Do the work that sets you free.
Do the work so that you may sleep at night.
Do the work so that your children may live.
Nothing else matters.
What is Critical Race Theory?
CRT is a tool used to expose the impact of racism. CRT acknowledges the permanence of racism and insists that we always fight against it. CRT was born in the mind of the civil rights activist, legal scholar, and professor, Derrick Bell (1930 – 2011).
Driving in Western, New York.
I see highway patrol pulled over a young Black girl.
She and I lock eyes. Something tells me to make a u-turn and check on lil Sis.
So I do.
Officer: Do you know her?
Me: Yes. That’s my Sister.
Me to Sis: Sis, You good?
Sis: Yes. I’m good.
Just reviewed a manuscript.
*If you are writing about Black children please read the work of James Anderson, Vanessa Siddle Walker, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kofi Lomotey and Linda Tillman to unpack how Black scholars write about and on behalf of Black children and families.
1/2
“The bottom line is this: You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, … I’m an old-fashioned writer and, despite the odds, I want to change the world.”—James Baldwin in The New York Times, September 23, 1979.
Good morning Educators,
Low income Black and Brown students do not need saviors. They need social and economic justice, adequate housing, and anti-racist teachers.
Please maintain high expectations and know that everything doesn’t have to be for a grade.
Have a great day!
Morning Thoughts.
Instead of “learning loss” let’s call it “Pearson’s loss” and shift the conversation to helping young people and families survive, in many cases dual pandemics, instead of assisting Pearson as they drive up the market and frame children as data points.
I spoke to several Black HS and college students this afternoon. I asked them what was one thing they wanted me to know.
They wished for more Black educators who actually liked Black people.
*Are we ready for this conversation?
Dear “Not All White People,”
If a comment is made about white people but does not apply to you, personally, please move on. You are centering yourself. I know that white people are not a monolith. By you saying, “not all white people,” you are missing the forest for the trees.
Good morning, Y'all,
Quinta told the truth!
The vast majority of network leaders that operate charter schools would not enroll their children in the schools they open in marginalized communities.
Let me be clear. Especially to men. Black girls are NOT women. I do not care how ‘grown’ or ‘fast’ you think they look or act.
BLACK GIRLS ARE CHILDREN.
There are NO exceptions. PERIOD.
Black girls are children and must be treated as such if they are to be happy, healthy, and whole people. When you have a moment check out my policy brief (see link below) and let me know if / how I may help.
#BlackGirlsMatter
As school districts ban Toni Morrison's first work, The Bluest Eye, I am reflecting on how much she loved Black people out loud. Unapologetically.
Morrison discarded the white gaze and centered Black lives and dreams in all of her work.That's her legacy and I am grateful. Ase
In 2019 a 6-year old Black girl was arrested in school for having a tantrum.
In 2020 a 15-year old Black girl was jailed for not doing her on-line school work.
On Wednesday a mob, that included senators, lawyers and police officers stormed the Capitol - and remain unpunished.
Dear Teachers,
I hope the only assignment you require for the holiday break is for students to rest and to enjoy their friends and families - and I wish the same for you.
So… I’ve been wrestling w/ “trauma informed teaching” and how it presupposes children, oftentimes Black and Brown, have a history of trauma: rather than a propensity for academic greatness.
Wondering is there a way to shift this new framing of pedagogy.
Yesterday a young white female teacher asked me, “How can I effectively teach Black children?”
My response, “Remember that Black children are children and deserve the same love, care, and opportunities that you would afford your own children.”
Thinking aloud.
Teachers, please don’t ask your students, ‘How was your summer?’
Instead, ask, ‘How are you?’ and wait thoughtfully for a response.
#thebelovedcommunity
Dear Colleagues,
I have no desire to speak with your students next week / month in honor of Black History Month.
I am, however, willing to speak with your students during the other 11 months of the year.
And White folks hustling equity and anti-racist workshops and webinars to other White folks is a prime example of White privilege and Capitalism.
Yeah, I said it!
"Learning loss" is an oxymoron.
I am discovering that over the last few years young people learned skills to sustain themselves and their families. Many formed relationships with people they once took for granted. They, indeed, learned and are now more focused in the classroom.
Dear Educators,
Many of you are highlighting Black leaders, inventors, and intellectuals this week / month. Moreover, many of you will be discussing slavery. Please note, Black people were never slaves in America.
We were forcibly enslaved. Language matters - it hits different.
Why is it so hard for y’all to understand that Black and Brown people love their children too?
If you want to open schools, great. Send YOUR children. I am staying home w/ mine.
Many of the terrorists and thugs who stormed our nation’s Capitol yesterday, are returning to their jobs as teachers, lawyers, and bankers today - like nothing happened.
Dear Educators,
If your ‘reimagining’ of schools re-opening in the fall does not include students, teachers, and parents and an overhaul of the paradigm of schooling (ie education policies, standardized testing, school configuration) you are merely reproducing the status quo.
Confession: I do not read Student Evaluations. The data are skewed against Black women so, after my third year in the academy, I decided not to read them.
Instead, I meet with each of my students 1:1 at middle and end of the semester to discuss what is / not working for them.
I am virtually observing a Kindergarten classroom. OMG
The learning, the laughter, the love! 💕
A little girl just asked could she sing her answer - and I am here for it! 😂❤️
Too often young scholars mimic "seminal" (read white) researchers who do not love or care for Black people. Hence, their scholarship lacks substance and confirms longstanding deficit / anti-Black mental models.
We can and must do better. 2/2
Scholars of Color,
Do not waste your talent making your work palatable to white people, journals, and institutions. That’s not your job.
Do
#thework
that gives life and light to your people and communities. That’s your job.
We must decolonize the academy if we are to thrive.
Many of you are just realizing what we always knew...
Black girls are insightful.
Black girls are smart.
Black girls are creative.
Black girls are thoughtful.
Black girls are industrious.
Black girls are beautiful.
Black girls are determined.
Black girls are our future.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
Maslow over Bloom.
PSA.
1. Central Park is not in Harlem.
2. Why are you shouting at young people you don't know?
3. Shouting "Smells like failure" is NOT an act of love.
I am sure of this.
Dear Black People,
I want to thank you for showing up at the polls.
I want to thank you for being kind and loving in spaces wherein kindness and love was not offered.
I want to thank you for believing in other Black people when the rest of the world counted us out.
I love us.
Looking at all these faux celebrations of Black history, while Black people remain under a constant state of attack...
I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.
-James Baldwin
Dear Teachers,
Education is not the same as schooling,
There is too much suppression and oppression in schooling.
With every lesson, we must ask ourselves: Is it liberating? Does it lead to joy? Is it centered in love?
Last takeaway.
For the love of all that is good in this world. Avoid framing Black children w/ deficit quantitative data based on standardized tests that were not intended for us. Black children are not broken - the schoolhouse is.
Dawn Stanley said that it's the relationships she has w/ her players and the significant people in their lives is the secret to her success.
*Effective Leadership = Loving Relationships = Strong Community
Morning Thoughts,
My daughter is wondering if her school will move to on line learning.
Schools do so much more than schooling.
Schools provide children with food.
Schools provide children with shelter.
Schools provide children with routines.
Schools are important.
Today, as we mark the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling (May 17, 1954),
let's be clear:
Many of the nation's public schools remain segregated and are inadequately funded.
Dear Educators,
We play the long game. Meaning, we usually don’t see the impact we have made on young people until 5, 10, or even 20 years later. So, when given the choice, please choose people over policies, mercy over retribution, and love / kindness over apathy.
Please know that this list is by no means complete. I just mentioned a few names of friends and colleagues whose work I know and cite. Importantly, they love Black people and I love them for it.
*If our work as scholars is not grounded in love why bother - and why read it?
Spoke to a group of young people this afternoon and made reference to the sitcom, Cheers. No one in the room knew what I was talking about, Tears🥲
Then, this one student said, "Dr. Watson, we were all born in the 2000s."
Real tears. 🥲