A Primer for Racial Justice
VIDEO O’Shea, Summer. “Why White People Shouldn’t Say the N-word Using an Analogy of Wounds.’ TikTok.
CODE WORDS AND VOCABULARY
"What I Hear When You Say Code Words." PBS.org. PBS uses interviews and video clips to examine how words matter in our discussions of how the world works especially in the context of race relations. "Racial Equity Tools Glossary." Racial Equity Tools, "Words and their multiple uses reflect the tremendous diversity that characterizes our society. Indeed, universally agreed upon language on issues relating to racism is nonexistent. We discovered that even the most frequently used words in any discussion on race can easily cause confusion, which leads to controversy and hostility. It is essential to achieve some degree of shared understanding, particularly when using the most common terms. In this way, the quality of dialogue and discourse on race can be enhanced." “Education Glossary Terms.” ADL. "Glossary of Bias Terms." Washington University at St. Louis, "In order to best facilitate dialogue, the [WUSTL] Bias Report and Support team believes that it is important to share a common language of social justice terms." this page offers terms of Identity, Types of Bias, and Other Helpful Terms (like Ally, and Privilege). Lee, Rosetta Eun Ryong. "Race and Ethnicity – What's the Difference?" PDF file. "Though there are similarities between race and ethnicity, there are also a number of differences, which demand that we examine race and ethnicity separately. Especially when working with immigrant youth of color, their examination of identity may be very nuanced and complex as they struggle to find both a racial and ethnic identity. According to research, as the number of generations increases in the family, racial identity takes on more importance than ethnic identity for multi-ethnic youth.” YOUTH ACTIVISM
Coulson, Nick. “15-year-old Author Shares 5 Tips for Young Activists: You Don’t Have to Wait to change the World.” Good Morning America, 1 July 2020. “Author and activist Marley Dias, 15, founded the movement #1000BlackGirlBooks in 2015 after her teacher assigned three books to read during the school year -- all featuring white boys and their dogs as main characters.” Dias, Marley. “Marley Dias talks Institutional Racism.” National Education Association. Video 1:46 minutes. “For 11-year-old Marley Dias, the call to activism began with books. Frustrated by not seeing other Black girls as the main characters in the books in her school library, she decided to take action and make a change. The wildly successful social media project, #1000blackgirlbooks, Dias launched nearly a year ago with the help of her mother, hit a nerve—and has exceeded its goal of collecting and distributing 1,000 books. The sixth grader already knows that racism and other built-in barriers are “keeping kids like me from reaching our full potential.” Tackling racism, she says, begins with a conversation. In a new national video on institutional racism, Dias looks to educators across the country and asks: ‘Do you care enough to look closer, to talk to each other. To your students, to your communities?’ And ‘To change the dialogue?’ “ Nadworny, Elissa and Sequoia Carillo. “'Climate Change Is Racial Injustice': Students Speak Their Truth In Winning Podcast.” NPR Morning Edition, 17 June 2020. “Climate Change & Environmental Racism.” Flossy podcast, Canarsie Studios. This is one of the two winners of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge, which drew more than 2,200 entries. High schoolers from Carnarsie, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, discuss environmental racism in depth. They take their mic to a Manhattan climate march and interview youth activists, and afterward, talk openly about the small turnout from Black activists. The students talk about how this issue disproportionally impacts Black lives and how many of the students have felt the effects of climate change directly from natural disasters, especially from hurricanes. Ultimately, they call new activists to come to the forefront to create change. Listen to the episode via this article and learn more about the latest NPR Student Podcast Challenge. |
Code Words & Vocabulary
Microagressions Youth Activism Bailey, Nancy. “The Racism Behind Firing Librarians and Closing School Libraries.” Nancy Bailey’s Education Website, 26 May 2021. “If a school has no school library or a flimsy excuse for a library, students are denied access to books and reading material. They miss opportunities to learn information and become proud of who they are. Look for racism behind the decision.”
MICROAGRESSIONS
The Manifestation of Microaggressions. Comments by Pedro Noguera, PBS. This is part of the PBS series of short videos "What I Hear When You Say" found here: https://www.pbs.org/whatihear/web-series/code-words/ "Microaggressions." "this project is a response to "it's not a big deal" - "it" is a big deal. "it" is in the everyday. "it" is shoved in your face when you are least expecting it. "it" happens when you expect it the most. "it" is a reminder of your difference. "it" enforces difference. "it" can be painful. "it" can be laughed off. "it" can slide unnoticed by either the speaker, listener or both. "it" can silence people. "it" reminds us of the ways in which we and people like us continue to be excluded and oppressed. "it" matters because these relate to a bigger "it": a society where social difference has systematic consequences for the "others." but "it" can create or force moments of dialogue. This blog created by Columbia University students seeks to provide a visual representation of the everyday of "microaggressions" in a Pinterest or Padlet style format. This project was founded in 2010 and is in a state of constant revision. Wing, Sue Derald. "Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Is subtle bias harmless?" Psychology Today, 5 Oct. 2010,. This is a long-ish but very clear explanation of the concept of "microaggressions." It is not written for K-12 readers, but is not inappropriate for them. It will be most useful to the adults in their lives. BLACKTIVISTS
Nettles, Arionne. “The Blackivists on Documenting Movements.” Chicago Reader, 16 June 2020. “A group of Black archivists is helping communities create their own narratives, filling in what history books have left out.” SCHOOL- TO-
PRISON PIPELINE Jordan-Makely, Chelsea and Dr. Jeanie Austin. “Outside and In: Services for People Impacted By Incarceration.” Library Journal, 8 Sep 2021. “Yet the needs of people in jails, prisons, and other detention centers often go overlooked, in part because of lack of funding but also because of what Tracie D. Hall, executive director of the American Library Association (ALA), has described as “the egregious invisibility of the detained.” This othering mindset has catastrophic impacts on access to information, books, and other services that libraries of all types could provide for the millions of people who are incarcerated and detained.” This also contributes to the schools-to-prison pipeline not directly discussed here but important. |