On the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday this year, I am going
to be out in the streets of Philadelphia with thousands of other folks, raising the issues of economics, education, and police oversight – indeed, continuing
the work of the Civil Rights movement.
I will march as white woman who is working to dismantle
racism and white supremacy in my life, my community, and my work.
I will march as a friend, community member, and comrade to
many people of color who are at the frontlines of the current moment, leading
the struggle for human dignity, survival and community-determination that has
lately been manifest in the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
And I will march as an educator, who works with students of
color in the public schools of our city, and sees the “fierce urgency of now”
alive in my students’ demands to receive the type of quality education that
they deserve.
Tomorrow I will be out in solidarity with my students --
many of whom are unjustly profiled and mistreated by the police in our city; have
parents who work 2 or 3 jobs, but barely make enough to cover all of their
family’s expense; and are robbed of realizing their fullest potential or
actualizing their life dreams, because our so-called leaders have criminally left
their schools underfunded and deprioritized.
I want to urge all of my fellow Philadelphia educators to be
out tomorrow at the MLK Day of Action Resistance and Empowerment. To join in what is
expected to be the largest demonstration for MLK Day in Philly’s history.
And then, on Tuesday, I want to urge all of us to dig in and
do the collective work it’s going to take to make the march’s vision, unity and
demands real.
Let’s start in our classrooms.
We need to fill the gaps in our own knowledge (about race,
the prison industrial complex, unions, community organizing, the work of
‘average people’ in the Civil Rights movement, etc.), so that we can be the
teachers our students deserve. So that
they can learn their community’s histories and have their own stories at the
center of their curriculum. So that we
can provide actual responses to the questions burning in their hearts about why
the world is so unjust, why they are feeling so afraid, what we can actually do
to change these oppressive systems that feel so crushing all around them.
We need to not be afraid of breaking down injustice in our
classrooms, of confronting the realities of white supremacy and
institutionalized racism that yet pervades our society. It is our responsibility to provide that
language and lens to our students so that they can speak and theorize about their
own lived experiences in a way that is connected to larger concepts and
history.
And, speaking to my majority white colleagues, I want to
urge all of us to do some important internal work to confront racism: to investigate our
own lives, to look at the blindspots we have because of our white privilege, to
push our own thinking about race and racism, to interrogate our unquestioned
takes on the world, and to acknowledge those moments where we let our
stereotypes propel us instead of working to truly understand our students. And then, let’s talk about this more
together. Let’s push each other to
deeper levels in our practice. Let’s
become the educators our students truly deserve.
And, then, let’s move beyond our classrooms.
We all know that our responsibilities as educators don’t end
when the 3:04pm bell sounds. Similarly,
our work for justice has to extend beyond the school doors.
It’s time for us to join in the movement work that is taking
shape in our city.
To see true racial, economic and educational justice, we’re
going to have to fight against corporate dollars, entrenched politics, and closed
minds. This means that we’re going to
need to join each other more than ever.
We need to recognize that our power comes from the strength of the web
of relations we are building across this city, and put in the work to build
those connections. Workers, parents,
students, people of faith, community members, and educators must continue to
build toward the unity felt at tomorrow’s MLK Day of Action, Resistance and
Empowerment.
Another world is possible and necessary. I am inspired by the movement that is growing
throughout this city, this country.
Fellow educators, I am excited to do this work with
you.
Here are some links:
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