tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39180567258496555952024-03-12T20:56:59.539-07:00Discussing Diversity"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice." Theodore ParkerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-50650342415130037972015-02-10T14:08:00.000-08:002015-02-10T14:26:06.784-08:00Family Acceptance ProjectDr. Caitlin Ryan from the <a href="http://familyproject.sfsu.edu/home">Family Acceptance Project</a> came to our school in 2012 and screened the documentary, "Always My Son," about the parents in a Latino-American family accepting their son's gay identity. The FAP uses "a research-based, culturally grounded approach to help ethnically, socially and religiously diverse families decrease rejection and increase support for their LGBT children." Dr. Ryan has examined the interactions within hundreds of families with LGBTQ children, identified accepting or rejecting patterns, and <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/123/1/346.abstract">linked those interactions to health and well-being outcomes for the LGBTQ children.</a> Using this information, the project counsels and supports families who need help in accepting their LGBTQ child. <br />
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A wonderful and profound thing about the Family Acceptance Project is the manner in which it respects the cultural, religious and ethnic framework of each family, and helps each family accept its child's LGBTQ identity within that framework. Because of this, the group has had great success with families from traditionally conservative backgrounds which are not accepting of LGBTQ identity. Dr.Ryan begins with the assumption that families act out of love and a desire to protect their children. For families joined to faith or cultural communities in which LGBTQ identities are shunned, acknowledging a child as LGBTQ opens the child and family to social and spiritual exclusion. The FAP understands this fear and places the family's actions of rejection of the child in the context of a desire to protect the child. Then by educating the family about the malevolent effects of LGBTQ rejection on the child, and supporting their desire to protect the child from those bad outcomes, they nudge the family towards acceptance.<br />
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One of the statistics which Dr. Ryan presented which struck me was that 11-13% of middle school students, across a broad range of ethnic and racial identities, identify as lesbian, gay, transgender or questioning. If you have, see or teach middle school aged children, this means about 1 out of every 10 children you know is questioning or coming to terms with a LGBTQ identity for which there is relatively little support in our larger heterocentric culture.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-23453856658635585882012-04-07T11:29:00.000-07:002012-04-07T11:29:24.138-07:00White Privilege Conference<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I returned from the WPC 13 in Albuquerque last week, and it was again, tremendously thought-provoking. I wrote this essay, "</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ByHtFZI5N6UMkyEnTsxHBs7Vk32oTdoqjnqXhsj25lI/edit">Some thoughts from a white first time attendee of the White Privilege Conference for other white attendees</a>," last year and would like to share it with you. WPC14 will be in Seattle next year, April 10-13, 2013 and will continue to develop its exploration of socially just parenting. Please consider joining the discussion.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-13442748039517229902012-04-07T10:06:00.004-07:002012-04-07T11:01:28.398-07:00Latinos in Hollywood and Mock Spanish<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My sister sent me this link about stereotypes for Latinos in Hollywood. It is a reminder that the media we view has a perspective and message, which is often not the message we want to encourage or receive. Esai Morales talks about stereotypes from a male perspective and it would also be interesting to examine the way Latinas are stereotyped in Hollywood.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KaZPZcTPQ-c" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On a more academic note, Dr. Jane Hill, emeritus professor of linguistics and anthropology at the University of Arizona, has written extensively about the racist discourse of Mock Spanish which references the stereotypes Mr. Morales describes. Take a look at her essay, <a href="http://language-culture.binghamton.edu/symposia/2/part1/index.html#racism">Mock Spanish: A Site For The Indexical Reproduction Of Racism In American English</a>. The first chapter of her excellent book, <u>The Everyday Language of White Racism</u>, is also linked in the left hand column. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-1867291445654856092012-02-18T14:18:00.001-08:002012-04-07T09:30:30.563-07:00The Un-Fair Campaign<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hello Friends,</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I want to share with you this new </span><a href="http://unfaircampaign.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">website and project</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> of the Un-Fair Campaign, a group from Duluth, Minnesota. They have created a series of billboards, bus signs and public service announcements to educate the community about white privilege and racism. Their website has a wealth of links and resources. Take a look. My children found the posters particularly interesting and they provoked some great conversations in our family. </span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Fondly, Josie</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images2.dailykos.com/i/user/152086/unfair_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images2.dailykos.com/i/user/152086/unfair_poster.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I want to point your attention to a wonderful website maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center, <a href="http://www.tolerance.org/">Teaching Tolerance</a>. It is a resource for teachers and parents and describes itself as "a<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">p</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">l</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">ace to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools." I subscribe to the e-news which comes out every other week or so with excellent links and short blurbs. One of my favorite links in a recent e-news was this one: </span></span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Sorting People</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> from the PBS, </span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Race: Power of an Illusion</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> website. The teacher describes </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.tolerance.org/blog/sorting-people-and-sorting-out-students">using the exercise in her 6th grade class</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">. Click onto the Sorting People link yourself and give it a try. You may be surprised at the results.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">When I first started reading the Teaching Tolerance website, I was moved by the writing, but felt a little underwhelmed by the title. Mere tolerance seemed a pretty low bar, a state of disdainful acceptance and gritted teeth reserved for annoying things like long bathroom lines or mosquitoes. Surely we can do better than just barely tolerate each other? Then I thought about how the word is used in immunology in the sense of tolerance to allergies. I read a recent <a href="http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/307/4/345.full">interesting medical paper in JAMA</a> which talked about childhood food allergies and the idea that a window of opportunity existed in childhood to expose children to allergens and to promote food tolerance. The keys for healthy food tolerance, according to this paper, were early, progressive (larger and larger amounts), and persistent exposure. Maybe the same is true for the development of empathy and our ability to perceive our common humanity. While I believe that the window of opportunity doesn't shut after childhood, I do not doubt that a commitment to social equity requires progressive and persistent exposure, learning, and reflection.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Cheers to all who continue on this journey,</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Josie</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-36061040611704033792012-02-16T14:06:00.001-08:002015-02-10T14:28:29.533-08:00Social Class and Wealth<div class="gmail_quote" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had a <b>Parent Diversity Roundtable</b> today<b> </b>on<b> </b>the topic of <b>social class and wealth</b> in the United States. It was well attended, and although we really only scratched the surface in the 90 minutes allotted, it was a good beginning. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">First we estimated how wealth is currently distributed in the United States between the 5 population quintiles and then estimated an ideal wealth distribution for maximizing societal well-being. We then compared our composite responses to actual US wealth distribution, with surprising and discomforting results. Our results mirrored the findings in this article, </span></span><a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/11/what-we-know-about-wealth" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What We Know About Wealth</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> from Harvard magazine in which two professors performed the same exercise for a large sample of Americans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We viewed </span><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/richard_wilkinson.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, an excellent 16 minute clip from a TED talk which examines the significant negative societal impact of income inequality within prosperous democratic societies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We discussed the ways in which working class and poor people are both condescended to and feared in our society. These two short pieces, </span><a href="http://www.classism.org/anger-firstgeneration-student" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The anger of a first-generation student</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> , an essay from a working class student at Wellesley College and an excerpt from </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/resources/essays7.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nickel and Dimed in America</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> by Barbara Ehrenreich's book of same title give two perspectives from a working class viewpoint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Looking forward to further discussions!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Josie</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-69324075904388069952012-01-03T12:59:00.001-08:002015-02-10T14:52:06.568-08:00Welcoming the new year<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Happy New Year to everyone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Before the school break, we held a screening of </span><a href="http://www.newday.com/films/Its_Elementary.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's Elementary:Talking about Gay Issues in School</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, with a great discussion afterwards. One of the points noted was that "diversity education" is often perceived as of use and of interest to only a small, subset group of individuals. While an important part of this work is providing safety for those who are socially vulnerable, in actuality, diversity education is about building life-long skills to negotiate community and conflict for everyone. Diversity education helps a child successfully answer the question, "How can I meet my needs without hurting other people?" To be successful adults, (and I define successful in the sense of full psychological and spiritual emancipation) our children need to be able to respect, communicate and work with people of different skin colors, different languages, and different economic backgrounds. The more information and skills we can encourage to help our children move beyond the constraints of their own viewpoint, the more successful they can be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">To continue the conversation, here is a link to an online booklet, </span><a href="http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2011/06_queer_youth/index3.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Queer Youth Advice for Educators</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. You can read it online, print a PDF or order a hard copy. It is a collection of insights from LGBTQ youth about their educational experiences, and ways in which they felt supported or abandoned in the process. A compelling read.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-83207016529539579652011-12-08T13:50:00.001-08:002012-04-07T09:34:50.021-07:00Jay Smooth on ways to discuss race and racism<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MbdxeFcQtaU?feature=player_embedded" width="460"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This video has been featured recently on several websites, a testament to the thirst out there for helpful suggestions on how to address the topic of racial identity and racism. Jay Smooth, who produces a video blog, </span><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Filldoctrine.com%2F&ei=vSzhTpuTLaGGiQKC4fH7Dg&usg=AFQjCNFzCv6j0fZTU5etRNl2O0cHBJIPGA"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ill Doctrine</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, is the speaker, and does an excellent job of presenting a shift in the way we can think about racism and microaggressions. He advocates moving away from the good person/ bad person dichotomy to considering racist acculturation as something akin to tooth plaque, something out there in the environment which accumulates and requires daily and intentional action to address and remove from our being. His presentation is a really nice way of minimizing the stereotype threat most self-identified white people feel that they will be perceived as bad racists, a minimizing which allows for the possibility of genuine insight and empathy to emerge from "race" discussions.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-90357975693792667022011-12-03T17:51:00.001-08:002011-12-08T13:57:51.079-08:00An inspiring speech<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FSQQK2Vuf9Q" width="460"></iframe><br />
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An inspiring speech which Zach Wahls gave to the Iowa House Judiciary Committee on Jan 31, 2011 about being the son of a married female couple. Must have been such a proud moment for his parents.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-90066616413884701452011-11-24T10:58:00.001-08:002012-04-07T09:42:32.090-07:00Reconsidering Thanksgiving<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear Parents and Teachers</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Like many of you perhaps, I love the combination of cooking, eating, Fall and family time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But it’s also a great jumping off point, with our children, to challenge what we think about this holiday, and its history, from a new perspective. Thanksgiving is of course a bittersweet day, at best, for many of the indigenous people of North America for whom the day is a reminder of betrayal and loss.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I put together some resources; movies, books and other notes that may be interesting to consider over the holiday. I particularly enjoyed the PBS American Experience documentary series, entitled “We Shall Remain.” The first episode of the five part series is </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_1_trailer"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After the Mayflower</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. It tells what we now believe unfolded between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. Through interviews with historians and re-enactments, this episode examines the Wampanoag's assistance to and alliance with the Pilgrims and the tragic events over the next 50 years. It’s quite a story. It is appropriate for general viewing but does contain some powerful descriptions and images which may be too much for very young viewers, for instance, a facsimile of a severed head. This occurs in the film after 1:09 minutes if you want to preview before deciding if appropriate for your whole family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are some other resources I found thought provoking too:</span><br />
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<a href="http://childrenshospitalblog.org/should-i-correct-thanksgiving-stereotypes-my-kids-see-on-tv/#more-10455"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Should I correct Thanksgiving stereotypes my kids see on TV?</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://oyate.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&Itemid=110"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oyate: Recommended children's books about Thanksgiving</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://racerelations.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=racerelations&cdn=newsissues&tm=7&gps=307_97_1086_704&f=11&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&st=10&zu=http%3A//www.understandingprejudice.org/teach/thanksgiv.htm"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Teaching about Native American Issues</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Have a very happy Thanksgiving. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Josie</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-27887693008294521692011-11-17T14:29:00.000-08:002011-11-24T11:08:48.566-08:00Parent/Guardian Diversity Education Series- Part One<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello Parents, Guardians and Teachers,</span></span><br />
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</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had a great session with Nathan Shara this week. Nathan, a facilitator with Seattle Safe Schools, led us through an exercise to examine how we develop protective shields to negotiate the world, which protect us against social identity vulnerability, but can interfere with our ability to see and communicate with others. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He started by drawing a heart which contained qualities of a newborn child. Participants offered qualities, such as "curious, trusting, capable of a range of emotions, unself-aware" etc. Around the heart we listed things which might be said to that child as he or she grows up, and considered how those messages varied if the child were light or dark skinned, able bodied or not, girl or boy etc. Messages proffered included, "you're sweet, exhausting, stupid, too sensitive, weak, a problem, ugly," etc. Nathan talked about how these messages are heart attacks, or attacks on the heart, and how in response, we develop shields to protect ourselves. Examples of shields were,"I won't care much about school work because everyone says I can't be intelligent," or " I'm going to numb out because I'm not allowed to be emotional." He then had us perform this exercise for ourselves, listing our heart qualities, the messages we have taken in and the shields we developed as a result. It was a moving exercise.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may wonder what this type of introspective work has to do with social equity or learning how to help our children with gender identity development, the stated objective of the workshop. I think one of the aspects which makes social equity work so compelling, if challenging, is that it involves both political and personal transformation. Neither is enough, and indeed both journeys, the internal and the external, fuel each other. When I started this work, I wanted a ready made answer, a book or a role play guide, to teach me the skills of parenting my children through a social equity lens. But the books and the expert guidance are not enough, unless the transformation is also occurring within. The example we embody to our children and peers, as parents grappling with uncertainty and making ourselves vulnerable to learning and tenderness in our own hearts, is the basis for any political change we will be able to accomplish in our families, our school or the world. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because of time constraints, we watched just a few minutes of <i>It's Elementary</i>. I am happy to announce a screening of the full length version of the film, with discussion after, on <b>Thursday, December 15th, in the Community Room, from 8:45 until 10:45 am</b>. Here is a link to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWyj_OfQpnU&feature=player_embedded" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">trailer for the film</a>. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Josie</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-71905040045656549892011-11-12T11:58:00.000-08:002011-11-24T11:06:15.719-08:00Cultivating healthy gender identities in our childrenHello Parents, Guardians and Teachers!<br />
<br />
I want to make sure that you are aware of the parent/ guardian diversity education event at our school this coming Monday, November 14th, in the Community Room from 8:45 am - 10 am. Nathan Shara from Seattle Safe Schools is coming to facilitate a discussion on gender identity in our children and how we can foster healthy gender development. <br />
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This week I thought of how applicable and necessary this conversation is for families as I read this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/education/widespread-sexual-harassment-in-grades-7-to-12-found-in-study.html?_r=1&sq=sexual harrassment&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1321125097-EARDaKURi1dIA9JSs+OgqQ">article from the New York Times</a>, about a just released study which reports that almost 50% of 7-12 graders experience sexual harassment at school. Given what we know about how gender identity is restricted and defended, with femininity characterized as pretty and passive and masculinity idealized as active and virile, it is not surprising that the harassment girls report involves being perceived as overly (hetero)sexual, with taunts of "slut" and "whore." For boys, the bullying revolves around being perceived as not traditionally heterosexual enough, with being called "gay" the most commonly described harassment. <br />
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The scope of this problem for our children and in our schools suggests that this is a concern for all families. We can learn how to help our children both defend themselves and resist the impulse to harm others by understanding how to cultivate healthy gender identity in our children. I hope you can come and participate in this important discussion.<br />
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JosieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-41432626387918088992011-11-01T20:19:00.000-07:002011-11-01T20:25:05.565-07:00Where Children Sleep<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dear Parents, Guardians and Teachers,</span><br />
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="background-color: white;"><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I want to share with you a link to a very compelling book, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><u><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222;">Where</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222;">Children</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222;">Sleep</span></u>,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> by photographer James Mollison. In his words, "</span><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">The book is written and presented for an audience of 9-13 year olds' intended to interest and engage </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">children</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">in the details of the lives of other </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">children</span> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: 12px;">around the world, and the social issues affecting them, while also being a serious photographic essay for an adult audience." </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #6d6d6d; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></div><div original_target="http://www.jamesmollison.com/wherechildrensleep.php" style="background-color: white;">Take a look at this link. <a href="http://www.jamesmollison.com/wherechildrensleep.php" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>jamesmollison.com/<wbr></wbr>wherechildrensleep.php</a> 27 sample photographs from the book are accessible by clicking on the numbers at the top. This is a book one could use to engage children in empathic understanding of others, and begin to explore critically ideas surrounding equity, affluence, and privilege. </div><div original_target="http://www.jamesmollison.com/wherechildrensleep.php" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</div><div original_target="http://www.jamesmollison.com/wherechildrensleep.php" style="background-color: white;">Josie</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-65330126328155562752011-10-24T14:21:00.001-07:002011-10-24T14:21:31.482-07:00Gender Spectrum Parenting<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
<div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519114" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Hello Parents and Teachers,</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_131949117951990"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_2_0_16_131949117951993" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I have been thinking recently about how children develop healthy gender identities. Last year, Nathan Shara from Seattle Safe Schools came and spoke with our parent group about biological sex, gender identity and gender expression. What struck me about his presentation was that before it, I saw gender identity as a particular concern of the LGBTQ community. After however, I recognized that all of us, LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ, are restricted and harmed by rigidly defined gender roles.</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_131949117951990"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519104"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519107" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span> </span>For most children and adults, our gender identities match our biological sex, so gender and sex appear synonymous, and this synchronicity is considered “normal.”<span> </span>Gender therefore appears (incorrectly) to be a biological imperative, rather than a social construction. For many adults and children however, biological sex and gender identity are not the same and growing up in a world with tight definitions of maleness and femaleness is a profound source of painful non-belonging. <span> </span>As I noted above, this pain does not just affect those who are gender fluid, but causes all of us to limit ourselves. What man or woman, boy or girl could embody all the “ideals” of maleness or femaleness, and at what cost? Last year I was surprised to see that our kindergardeners had absorbed messages about what boys and girls were “allowed” to do and had started gender policing each other. One of my son’s male friends had been teased at school for wearing nail polish. Another made the observation that, as the after school chess club was entirely male, “girls must not be good at chess.”</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519104"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519110"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519113" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Our children have taken in since birth hundreds of messages every day about what boys and girls are allowed to be, (and indeed, the message that one is only either a boy or a girl,) so it should not have surprised me, as it did, that they use these messages to make sense of their world. Often it is parents who are knowledgable about LBGTQ issues through personal experience, or who find themselves parenting a gender questioning child, who educate themselves and proactively strengthen their child to resist these messages describing restrictive gender roles. However I might argue that every child would benefit from learning to question these messages, not only to prevent teasing and bullying, but to allow our children to experience their full humanity.</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519110"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">In this effort of education and inquiry, here are two resources which provide insight into these issues: <a href="http://www.genderspectrum.org/child-family/understanding-gender" rel="nofollow" style="color: blue !important; cursor: text !important; text-decoration: underline !important;" target="_blank">Gender Spectrum</a>, a website providing gender sensitive support for children and teens, and <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/08/06/same-baby-different-color/" rel="nofollow" style="color: blue !important; cursor: text !important; text-decoration: underline !important;" target="_blank">Sociological Images</a>, which provides commentary and insight into the social messages we and our children receive every day. The links will bring you to specific bookmarks within each site which I found particularly helpful for this topic.</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="yiv2095498501MsoNormal"><span class="yiv2095498501Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_2_0_16_1319491179519117" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Josie</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-23104739574075983442011-10-09T18:57:00.000-07:002011-10-09T19:17:15.517-07:00Movie NightHello parents and teachers!<br />
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I want to bring your attention to several great DVD's which are available from our school library. (Did you know that parents can create their own library account and borrow material?) These DVD's are also available at the Seattle public library.<br />
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</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lDhllwPvemk/TpJNln5EBEI/AAAAAAAAAA4/YRW2GjmEyY8/s1600/that%2527s+a+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lDhllwPvemk/TpJNln5EBEI/AAAAAAAAAA4/YRW2GjmEyY8/s200/that%2527s+a+family.jpg" width="141" /></a><br />
The first, That's A Family, gives children from a number of different families an opportunity to present their family to the audience.The families are adopted and biological, gay and straight parented, inter-generational and multiracial. It is appropriate for children and adults and can help start conversations with your children about diversity appreciation and empathy building.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4pn1_H-aMEs/TpJRW_Zr8CI/AAAAAAAAAA8/kokVftVxfD0/s1600/race.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4pn1_H-aMEs/TpJRW_Zr8CI/AAAAAAAAAA8/kokVftVxfD0/s200/race.png" width="141" /></a>The second DVD is Race: The Power of an Illusion. It was produced by PBS and is an excellent documentary for adult audiences. It is three parts of 50 minutes each. The first covers the myth of a biological basis for race, the second a history of race and the third a look at the results of this history in the present day. The school library just purchased this video and we may be viewing part of it in a workshop later this year, but it is available now for your viewing. Here is the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm">link</a> to the PBS website about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-3063708990616271132011-10-09T12:58:00.001-07:002012-04-07T09:25:55.183-07:00The Heterosexual Questionnaire<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello Parents and Teachers interested in socially just parenting!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the things I read over the summer which has stuck with me was a short essay by M. Rochlin titled, “The Heterosexual Questionnaire,” from <u>Privilege: A Reader</u>, edited by Michael Kimmel and Abby Ferber. I have included part of it below from an open Internet source for you to read. Take a look.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Is it possible your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. If you’ve never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay lover?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. Do your parents know you are straight? Do your friends and/or roommates know? How did they react?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. Why do you insist on displaying your heterosexuality? Can’t you just be what you are and keep it quiet?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9. Why do heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into their lifestyle?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11. With all the societal support for marriage, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What struck me about this piece, and will likely strike you as well, was how well it illustrated the concept that certain social identities are considered “normal” in dominant US culture. Others, not considered “normal,” are made marginal or pathological. Dr. Steve Jones described these as “one up” or “one down” social identities. The normalization or invisibility of a social identity can be difficult to see if you share that identity, but is often obvious to those who do not share the "normal" identity. This checklist which poses questions from a perspective of homosexual normality, highlights the often invisible normalization of heterosexuality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are given information continuously from birth about how these various social identities are valued in our dominant culture, so if you ask older elementary students, “Which is it considered better to be? A ___ or a ____?” they will be able to give answers in line with our dominant United States culture, even if they personally think differently. Some examples from Dr. Steve Jones of our dominant cultural norms: </span><br />
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<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: auto 6.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-left: left; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-overlap: never; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: .05pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Social Identity</span></b></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“One up” group</span></b></div></td></tr>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gender</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Male</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Age</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Boomer</span></div></td></tr>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Class</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Upper</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Religion</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christian</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Education</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">College+</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Racial Identity</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">White</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ethnicity</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">European American</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sexual Orientation</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heterosexual</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mental function</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fully mentally able</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 10;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marital Status</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Married</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 11;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Language</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">English</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 12;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nationality</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">US citizen</span></div></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 13; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.45in;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Physical ability/ appearance</span></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 103.5pt;" valign="top" width="138"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Able bodied, attractive</span></div></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Unfortunately, the value hierarchy of the dominant culture does not need to be taught to be absorbed, as children are already exposed to it hundreds of times per day in large and small ways. However what does need to be explicitly taught is the ability to recognize, reconsider, and eschew the validity of this hierarchy of social identities. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take care all,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Josie</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-11070454322163498452011-09-22T19:29:00.001-07:002011-10-12T11:51:49.623-07:00Curriculum Night<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_13167443118174434" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_131672286114037">Hello Parents, Teachers and Colleagues,</div><div id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_1316722861140281"></div><div id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_1316722861140283">Last night was curriculum night at our school where our wonderful teachers explained their pedagogy to us adult caregivers. Listening to the teachers describe their teaching philosophy prompts me to review with this group what I see as the fundamental backbone of social justice parenting- the goals of an anti-bias curriculum. These four principles provide structure for our self-education as teachers and parents and a framework for teaching our children. They come from the extensive work of Louise <span id="yiv2069401081misspell-0">Derman</span>-Sparks and Patricia Ramsey, and I have paraphrased them somewhat here. (For full details, look to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Bias-Curriculum-Tools-Empowering-Children/dp/093598920X/ref=pd_sim_b34" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_13167228611403117" style="color: #234786;">their first book</span></a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-All-Kids-White-Multicultural/dp/0807746770" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_13167228611403176" style="color: #234786;">their most recent</span></a>.)</div><div id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_13167228611403198"></div><div id="yiv2069401081yui_3_2_0_20_13167228611403200"><b>1. <span id="yiv2069401081misspell-1">Nurture<var id="yiv2069401081yui-ie-cursor"></var></span> a healthy self and group identity.</b> What does this mean in practice? Well for my family in which I am raising 2 white boys, it means raising boys with a healthy male gender identity and healthy white racial identity not based in superiority. For another family with different social identities, it may mean raising a daughter of color with a healthy female gender identity and a healthy black racial identity, without internalized racism or gender inferiority. </div><div></div><div><b>2. Support an empathic engagement with difference.</b> This is the goal that is commonly thought of when we think of multicultural education. Ideally, it is <span id="yiv2069401081misspell-2">integrated</span> into a child's daily experience and promotes empathetic appreciation for our common humanity and our myriad differences. The development of empathy through this goal enables children to have the capacity to understand how bias hurts. </div><div></div><div id="yui_3_2_0_1_13167443118174433"><b>3. Develop the ability to think critically about bias.</b> Children are inundated daily with messages about the relative worth of our various social identities in the dominant cultural hierarchy. Certain groups are "one-up" and certain groups are "one-down" in this hierarchy, which may appear so normative to us that we don't recognize the hierarchy unless we are a member of a "one-down" group. Children (and adults) need guidance to develop the ability to think critically about this hierarchy and not passively accept the norms of the dominant culture, especially if they have many "one-up" social identities. </div><div></div><div><b>4. Cultivate courage and action.</b> This goal follows from the 3rd goal as children are natural social justice advocates with a strong belief in fairness. In practice, this goal involves teaching children about a variety of ways to act in the face of bias. </div><div></div><div>We are currently involved in fine-tuning the program for our Discussing Diversity series and will use these principles to guide our learning and our discussion. I am looking forward to a great year and hope you can join us!</div><div></div><div>Josie </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-33436932397466994752011-09-13T21:02:00.001-07:002011-09-19T21:01:03.741-07:00School Begins Again!<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_131596854991628196" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div>Hello Colleagues and Parents interested in social justice,</div><div></div><div>A big welcome to Jabali Stewart who is our new director of diversity at our school! It is terrific to have him here and I for one feel very lucky. There is new energy and collaboration afoot to create a second year of our Discussing Diversity parent education program. Look for new information about the year's plan which will come out soon. </div><div></div><div>In the interim, I want to share with you a blog I have found, Coloring Between The Lines, written by a children's book writer and illustrator, Anne Sibley O'Brien. Recently she has been exploring some adult nonfiction looking at how to talk to children about race. Take a look:</div><div></div><div><a href="http://coloringbetween.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #234786;">http://coloringbetween.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div></div><div id="yui_3_2_0_1_131596854991628195">One of the books that shifted my perspective the most is the one she recently reviewed, <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Children-Learn-Race-Racism/dp/0847688623">The first R: How Children Learn Race and Racism</a></u>, which is a sociological observational study looking at the way preschool children in a multicultural classroom manifest <span class="yiv1914093130mark" id="yiv1914093130misspell-1">racialized</span> power relationships. Many people believe that children are "innocent" to <span class="yiv1914093130mark" id="yiv1914093130misspell-2">racialized</span> inequality and must be explicitly taught before they behave in a racist manner. However this book suggests that children are aware of and are replicating <span class="yiv1914093130mark" id="yiv1914093130misspell-3">racialized</span> patterns of inequality from our larger society far far earlier and more frequently than adults are aware. While sobering, this realization has helped me know that we can't teach our children to celebrate <span class="yiv1914093130mark" id="yiv1914093130misspell-4">multiculturally</span> unless we are also teaching them about social justice, how to resist bias and how to be creators of positive change.</div><div></div><div>Looking forward to a wonderful year!</div><div></div><div>Josie</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-8475394921344849782011-06-10T12:54:00.000-07:002011-08-29T21:03:57.759-07:00Summer Reading List- Part Two<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Parent and teacher colleagues,</span></div><div style="font-family: tahoma, new york, times, serif;"><div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><div style="color: black; font-family: tahoma, new york, times, serif;"><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is the second part of a summer reading list- some books I recommend, all of which are engaging, well-written and have changed the way I think about educating our children and engaging the world:</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria-Conversations/dp/0465091296" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_0"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why are all the Black Kids sitting together in the Cafeteria?</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum</span> is an excellent and thoughtful exploration of racial identity development for children and adolescents. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. If you read the book above and enjoy it, move on to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Talk-about-Race-Conversations-Resegregation/dp/0807032859/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307732249&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_2"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can We Talk About Race</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, also by Dr. Tatum. It is an expansion of four lectures she gave over a period of time on topics related to racial identity and education. Profound and thought provoking.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Rent-Negro-damali-ayo/dp/1556525737/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_3"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How to Rent a Negro</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_4" style="border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium;">damali ayo</span> is a sharp satire about the tendency of white folks to embrace "diversity" but to engage simultaneously in micro-aggressions and othering of people of color. Be prepared to be discomfited if you self-identify as white. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whistling-Vivaldi-Stereotypes-Affect-Issues/dp/039306249X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307733039&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_5"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whistling Vivaldi</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_6" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">Dr. Claude Steele</span> is a review of the most recent science of stereotypes for non-academics. It looks at the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_7">negative effect</span> stereotypes have on their target group's performance and how they can be overcome by simple re-framing. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Definitely not beach reading is <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Language-Blackwell-Studies-Discourse/dp/1405184531/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1307733685&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_8">The Everyday Language of White Racism</span> </a></u>by Dr. Jane Hill. This is an academic text by a highly esteemed linguist and I recommend it strongly. The first chapter is excerpted to the left under "documents you may be interested in."</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. If you are interested in more detail about the principles and framework of an <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307735326_9" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">anti-bias curriculum</span>, look at <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-All-Kids-White-Multicultural/dp/0807746770/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307734016&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What if All the Kids are White? Anti-bias Multicultural Education for Young Children and Families</a></u>. This book gets to the practical aspects of implementing an anti-bias curriculum in a school where the majority of students are non-children of color. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking forward to next year and a revised and restructured program for Discussing Diversity!</span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-34748889119968707372011-06-05T14:39:00.001-07:002015-02-10T14:33:31.909-08:00Kindness/ Love is not a pie<div style="color: black; font-family: tahoma, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Parents and Teacher Colleagues,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been thinking about this question: In the service of what do we strive for social justice? There are a lot of strong feelings that come out through this work; anger, outrage, shame. This is to be expected, because these are powerful dynamics, all have suffered, and many, many have suffered deeply. But it feels to me that working for social justice <u>in the service</u> of anger is limiting and risky. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307309205_0" style="border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium;">Dr. Cornel West</span> wrote in <u><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307309205_1">Race Matters</span></u> that his goal was to speak truth to power with love. Dr. Hsiao-Wen Lo, one of the diversity speakers this past year, spoke of the need for greater compassion in this work, not just in the direction of people with privilege to people with less privilege, but from privileged people striving to be allies, to other privileged people who may not be <span style="line-height: 115%;">as far along in the work. Her remarks were powerful for me, because the meta-message of what she said was, the work is the expansion of compassion and empathy in a fundamentally restructuring way. i.e. Love is not a pie. The generosity in how she framed the task with such inclusion and expansion was profound. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So I am thinking about what it looks like and feels like to do this work in the service of love. Love not in the context of "being nice" or "liking."Rather love of self and the expansion of empathy and dissolution of self so that love of self encompasses love of other. It is a powerful force of wholeness. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This poem, Kindness, one of my favorites by Naomi Shihab Nye, speaks to this expansion of empathy.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Before you know what kindness really is<br />
you must lose things,<br />
feel the future dissolve in a moment<br />
like salt in a weakened broth.<br />
What you held in your hand,<br />
what you counted and carefully saved,<br />
all this must go so you know<br />
how desolate the landscape can be<br />
between the regions of kindness.<br />
How you ride and ride<br />
thinking the bus will never stop,<br />
the passengers eating maize and chicken<br />
will stare out the window forever.<br />
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Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,<br />
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho <br />
lies dead by the side of the road.<br />
You must see how this could be you,<br />
how he too was someone<br />
who journeyed through the night with plans <br />
and the simple breath that kept him alive.<br />
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Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, <br />
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. <br />
You must wake up with sorrow.<br />
You must speak to it till your voice<br />
catches the thread of all sorrows<br />
and you see the size of the cloth.<br />
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Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,<br />
only kindness that ties your shoes<br />
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and <br />
purchase bread,<br />
only kindness that raises its head<br />
from the crowd of the world to say<br />
it is I you have been looking for,<br />
and then goes with you every where<br />
like a shadow or a friend.<br />
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<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307306374_1" style="background: rgb(220, 238, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: black;">Naomi Shihab Nye</span><br />
from The Words Under the Words: <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307306374_2" style="border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium;">Selected Poems</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-65891905229699522152011-06-01T10:27:00.001-07:002012-04-07T09:07:12.604-07:00Summer Reading List- Part One<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Parent and Teacher Colleagues,</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Summer is almost here and as we take a break from the school routine, I want to share with you a couple of interesting websites related to social justice parenting. Some of them are dormant, but contain a lot of interesting material in their archives.</span><br />
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</span><a href="http://cocoamamas.com/about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_0"><span style="color: #366388; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://cocoamamas.com/about/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Raising cocoa children in a bittersweet world." An on-going parenting blog for mothers of color. </span><br />
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</span><a href="http://whiteantiracistparent.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_1"><span style="color: #366388; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://whiteantiracistparent.blogspot.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This site is dormant but has very interesting observations from a white mother working towards anti-racism as she raises her child. </span><br />
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</span><a href="http://sociallyjustparenting.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_2"><span style="color: #366388; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://sociallyjustparenting.org/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> A recent and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_3"><span style="color: #366388;">active site</span></span> written by a friend of Dr. Moore. "Resources for raising our children to create a more socially just world."</span><br />
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</span><a href="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_4"><span style="color: #366388; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This is a dormant site but contains a wealth of material in its archives. The writer is a white male who casts a discerning eye on white culture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, one of my favorite sites, </span><a href="http://loveisntenough.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306949054_5"><span style="color: #366388; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://loveisntenough.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Raising a family in a colorstruck world," formerly known as anti-racist parent, is already linked on our blogsite.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take a look and enjoy!</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Josie</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-14632416393675892022011-05-27T20:50:00.002-07:002012-04-07T09:05:36.541-07:00Dr.Martin Luther King Jr<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Parents and Colleagues,</span></div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you read the interview <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_0">Dr. Martin Luther King Jr</span>. gave to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_1">Playboy magazine</span> in 1965? It is amazing to read. He presents his philosophy and the force of his vision, which are far removed from the simplified versions we hear about every February. </span></div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's an excerpt about this from <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_2">Tavis Smiley</span>'s interview with <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">Dr. Cornel West</span>:</span></div><br />
<div><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>West:</strong> I mean, I think it's very important because you see a lot of chit-chat about Martin every year and Martin has been so domesticated and tamed and defamed, you know, what we call the Santa Clausification of the brother.<br />
<strong>Tavis:</strong> Wait a minute. Hold the phone, hold the phone. The Santa Clausification of Dr. King, which means what, Dr. West?<br />
<strong>West:</strong> He just becomes a nice little old man with a smile with toys in his bag, not a threat to anybody, as if his fundamental commitment to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_4" style="border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium;">unconditional love</span> and unarmed truth does not bring to bear certain kinds of pressure to a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306553756_5">status quo</span>. So the status quo feels so comfortable as though it's a convenient thing to do rather than acknowledge him as to what he was, what the FBI said, "The most dangerous man in America." Why? Because of his fundamental commitment to love and to justice and trying to keep track of the humanity of each and every one of us.</span></em></div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take a look at the interview for yourself if you haven't already: </span><a href="http://holygypsy.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/martin-luther-king-jr-playboy-interview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Interview </span></a></div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Have a memorable Memorial Day.</span></div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Josie</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-14632034460358988642011-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:002011-11-20T18:38:10.993-08:00How to talk about privilege<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div>Colleagues in parenting and teaching,</div><div></div><div>I have found the process of explaining the concept of white privilege to white adults to be a tricky business. Have you found this to be true? </div><div></div><div>With children it has been easier for me. It was my children who first expressed the concept of white privilege to me by noting that if people with <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305692565_0" style="border-bottom: rgb(54,99,136) 2px dotted;"><span style="color: #366388;">dark skin</span></span> were discriminated against, our family was lucky to have <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305692565_1" style="border-bottom: rgb(54,99,136) 2px dotted;"><span style="color: #366388;">light skin</span></span>. I remember my alertness at that moment, and the thought of, "We're not supposed to talk about that!" So I have felt myself the reluctance and the sense that if white privilege is acknowledged, the whole house of cards will fall down.</div><div></div><div>I have found that other forms of privilege are far more acceptable to talk about with white people, class privilege and education privilege being the favorites that are brought up to redirect the conversation away from the uncomfortable topic of racial identity hierarchy and the privilege attached to whiteness. I have found the topic of white skin privilege, as opposed to discussion of other privileges, to be particularly provocative and that it often engenders not just resistance but active rebuke. </div><div></div><div>There are several reasons for this difference I think. To admit to being the recipient of class and education privilege is a way to modestly brag about one's accomplishments. People tend to believe they have earned the privileges that come with being at the top of the class and education hierarchy. Since white culture values the ideas of meritocracy, Protestant work ethic, and individual competition and attainment, and middle class white Americans have a fair amount of anxiety about how far we and our children will climb in the class/education hierarchy, it is deeply disturbing to be reminded that whiteness is an unearned advantage. Perhaps people think, "I'm struggling here to get my piece of the pie. Now I have to look out for other people too?" and feel overwhelmed and angry. Lastly, discussing white skin privilege or any racial issue raises the fear for white people that they will fulfill the dreaded stereotype that "all white people are racist."</div><div></div><div>So what to do? Recently I had the pleasure of attending a terrific workshop led by Dr. Steve Jones at the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305692565_2"><span style="color: #366388;">White Privilege Conference</span></span>. Here is a <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxBeo_DougYFOWRjMTlmYjMtNzYxNi00NmY3LWIwNTctMzBhZDI1YjNlMDlh&hl=en&authkey=CKnQmc0D">paper</a> he wrote which discusses privilege and uses the easier-to-access model of right and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305692565_3"><span style="color: #366388;">left handedness</span></span> to explain it. I send this out as another tool that can be used to facilitate conversation and negotiate resistance. </div><div></div><div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-40442433093855000822011-05-07T10:55:00.000-07:002011-06-11T17:01:41.854-07:00Discussing Diversity: Religion<div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had our last Discussing Diversity session <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_0" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">on Thursday evening</span> with Dr. Pamela Taylor, Associate Professor at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_1" style="border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium;">Seattle University</span>. For those who were unable to attend, here were some of the highlights:</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>1. Given the dominant <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">Christian tradition</span> in the United States and the current deep fear of Islam, Dr. Taylor started the session with an exercise with facts and quotations from holy books and we had to decide which applied to Judaism, Christianity and/or Islam. This exercise made clear the deep commonalities between these three <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">Abrahamic religions</span>, which are surprising even to those well versed in their own religious tradition. We also viewed a trailer for the documentary, "Three Faiths, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_4" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">One God</span>: Judaism, Christianity, Islam" which Dr. Taylor recommends for those interested in learning more this. Here's a link. <br />
<div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnMNfd1Iwo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_5">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnMNfd1Iwo</span></a></div><div></div><div>2. We then had a far ranging discussion touching on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_6">atheism</span>, Buddhism, Hinduism and our own personal stories. Noted was the challenge of respecting the traditions of our families and of others without being silent about the unfairness in the practice of religion towards the LGBTQ community and other religious traditions, for example. </div><div></div><div>Dr. Taylor's advice boils down to things we have already learned to be true about an ideal <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_7" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px;">anti-bias curriculum</span>: </div><div>a. Know your own traditions and beliefs and celebrate them with your children (<strong>Knowledge of self and group identity.</strong>)</div><div>b. Be knowledgeable about other people and groups. Read about and experience different traditions. (<strong>Empathic engagement with difference.</strong>)</div><div>c. Be mindful of your language and speak out against jokes and slurs and harmful myths and stereotypes. Silence sends a message that you are in agreement. (<strong>Ability for critical thinking and taking action</strong>.)</div><div></div><div>3. Some children's books that I have found helpful are: (click on links to take you to Amazon if you like)</div><div></div><div>Buddhism: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindness-Treasury-Buddhist-Children-Parents/dp/1558965688" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_8">Kindness, A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents</span></a></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Once-Was-Monkey-Stories-Buddha/dp/0374335486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304787812&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_9">I Once Was A Monkey, Stories Buddha Told</span></a> </div><div></div><div>Hinduism: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Ganesh-Got-Elephant-Head/dp/1591430216/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304788062&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_10">How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head</span></a></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Favourite-Stories-Rosemarie-Somaiah/dp/0804836876/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304788167&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_11">Indian Children's Favourite Stories</span></a></div><div></div><div>Judaism: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Bible-Stories-Jewish-Children/dp/0824603621/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304788252&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_12">Classic Bible Stories for Jewish Children</span></a></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/JPS-Illustrated-Childrens-Bible-Katz/dp/0827608918/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304788365&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_13"><u>JPS </u> <u>Illustrated Children's Bible</u></span></a></div><div></div><div>Christianity: <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Illustrated-Bible-Selina-Hastings/dp/0756609356/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_14">The Children's Illustrated Bible</span></a></u></div><div><u></u> </div><div>Islam: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Prophets-Holy-Qu-ran/dp/1597841331/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304788544&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_15">Stories of the Prophets in the Holy Qur'an</span></a></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Muslim-Child-Understanding-Through-Stories/dp/0807553077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304788594&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304790559_16">Muslim Child</span></a></div><div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918056725849655595.post-50587544055250356842011-05-02T11:05:00.000-07:002011-05-22T14:04:54.420-07:00Good Whites and Bad Whites: A false Dichotomy<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div>Parents and Colleagues</div><div></div><div>I would like to share with you an <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/19eKIoyPcyYG-l4XMt2LY7s-iNe56Lngd_7YwXqCBLdM/edit?hl=en&authkey=COz2574K">essay</a> I wrote recently about the tensions which can exist for white people who are interested in race and racism. Take a look.</div><div></div><div>Josie </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0