Why now? What now?
These two questions, posed by my colleague and friend, Dwayne Samuel continue to echo in my head. We have had many, many conversations in the past four years and some of them have been about race: he is one of two black teachers at my school. I am ever mindful not to place the entire onus of responsibility for these conversations on him, but these past two weeks, as I struggled with how I might address some of the trauma our students might be feeling, I found myself asking his advice and checking in on my many friends who continue to be frustrated by inaction. His question, Why now? is a valid one
Meanwhile, the teacher advisors for the WE Club, spearheaded by the student leaders of the club, organized a conversation among teachers and students designed to safely share what we were feeling and how we might address those feelings at our school. Mr. Samuel posed the provocation, “Why now?” to the students. Listening to the “Why now?” from our white students and our black students was enlightening. We were reminded that while social media is currently emphasizing this moment, that there have been many moments in History which have led up to this moment. It was a powerful conversation with laughter and tears, vulnerability, passion, and sharing. To hear students share their stories of belonging or experiences of racism was perhaps the most impactful.
What Now?
While two of our students shared that they feel completely welcome as black students at our school, this was not the experience of the others in that same conversation. When I think about the Now What? provocation, I know that will look different for everyone just as the experience of racism might be different.
I really appreciated the words of Amber Colemen-Mortley (@MomOfAllCapes) in this Talking to Kids about Race Let’s K12 Better podcast. Thanks Dave Burgess for sharing!
Expose our children to the triumphs and challenges of others…Find narratives that breathe life into the variety of perspectives available in cultures and communities that are not your own. When we have a catalogue of what is possible, we begin to dissolve our assumptions about who people are.
I know that social media can be a very toxic place, but for me, it’s a place to interrupt my own narrative and meet new people I would never have the opportunity to meet in person. What if we look at social media as a place to “breathe life” into our own perspectives?
Our family attended a local protest. I wanted my daughters to see that protesting to stand up for others for a cause is an important action to take. We walked and chanted together with others (mostly 6 feet apart) and I couldn’t help but notice that the loudest voices and the largest demographic was young people. For me, the most powerful moment came as we all took a knee together. We didn’t capture it on film, but the emotion of that moment will stay in my heart. A young black man turned to the crown as thanked us (mostly white crowd in a mostly white neighbourhood) for showing up. Showing up for our black community and in particular the black students in my school is what needs to drive our What Now? Today, she invited two friends to go to another local protest.
As an advocate of student leadership (on and offline), I have seen the power of student voice and in the #BlackLivesMatter cause, both in our Google Meet conversation, on my own social media feeds, and in person at the protest, I see such hope as young people come together. Let’s continue to be good role models for our young people by learning more about the issues, modelling what it looks like to challenge each other constructively and not condemning one another. And let’s give them room, because change is going to happen and our young people will be the ones to spearhead it.
These are a few resources that were shared with me this week:
Today’s Parent: Resources for Talking about Race
Understanding Black Stories by Cineplex
Juneteenth is June 19 and a celebration of Black History. Check out the resources here.
The 4 Big Questions on Social Justice have a follow up 4-part series scheduled for July. Register here.
Stay well,