ARTICLES
Leaving Well
A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. While this may be true in some cases, there are many good reasons for quitting. People who have learned how to quit and found the courage to do so, quit many things. People quit bad associations, bad relationships, and unrealistic commitments – things that have caused them pain and things that have been barriers to their growth. Few people I know regret quitting anything except, perhaps, an exercise program or a diet.
Learning the Codes of a New Environment
Have you ever been somewhere you thought you were supposed to be and wondered, “What am I doing here?” Perhaps it was a social function, or maybe a conference, or even your job or a family gathering. You may have felt completely invisible or hyper visible. No one paid any attention to you, or everyone wondered who invited you. This could be a pattern in your life, or a rare occurrence. But when it does happen, the emotional impact is the same: surprise and sometimes shock after realizing no matter how warm the welcome, you just don’t fit in. These people are Fish out of Water.
Uncivil Behavior
Micro oppressions. Micro aggressions. Micro assaults. Silent assaults. Ridicule in the name of humor. Marginalization in the name of group unity. It happens everywhere. We live in a society where it is considered humorous to make fun of people. To watch them fall and then point at them and laugh. News readers report the news and then snicker about the people they report on. Late night talk show hosts mock celebrities, politicians, and ordinary people in their monologues. People who are perceived as non-compliant, defiant, defenseless, dangerous or different get bullied. And most of us do not have the courage to say, Ouch, No, or Stop.
There Is Nothing Wrong With Those Kids: How Implicit Bias Affects Black And Brown Students
In 1970, I was kicked out of a teacher education program in California. More accurately, the letter I received said, “You may continue to take [i.e. pay tuition for] classes, but we will not endorse your application for a teaching credential.” My offense that triggered this action was to challenge the deficit-based approach and perspectives of my professors. They were teaching us to teach the black and brown children we might encounter as sick white kids. Meaning, we should fix them so they would become like the suburban, middle-class, white children we should be so “fortunate” to teach.
Fostering Connections in Classrooms & Communities
In schools, our children are often judged by one descriptor – words that are not of their choosing. Black kid. Trouble maker. Underachiever. Poor kid. These words are one-dimensional substitutes for relationships. These words set up our kids for failure. These words say, educators don’t see the most important aspects of who these kids are and they also don’t care.