"Abolitionist Teaching and the Futures of Our Schools"

 Monday, June 14, 2021

on: "Abolitionist Teaching and the Futures of Our Schools"

"A conversation with Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammad, Dena Simmons and Brian Jones about abolitionist teaching and antiracist education."

ARGUMENT:

This panel discussion hosted by Brian Jones, Benitta Love, Gholdy Muhammad and Dena Simmons unpack, reveal and discuss the power of Abolitionist Teaching. Together they argue that abolitionist teaching must be the direction of schools in the future. Further, in the words of Benitta Love the panel discussion argues that “Abolitionist movement is a push for everybody’s humanity” (Love).

QUOTES:

• On talking about the “beating the odds award” in Georgia. Love says “you have all these things that you know are barriers and instead of removing these barriers, you’d rather measure me against the barriers” (Love).

The "Beat the Odds" award referenced by Benitta Love encapsulates the very need for abolitionist teaching. Currently, instead of eradicating corruption within our schools, we instead measure students, teachers and schools against these inequities in order to determine their ability to "Beat the Odds." Abolitionist teaching removes the inequities and barriers in order to ensure success of students. This shift in action is crucial for the future of Schools in America. 

• “We’re not trying to abolish those buildings. We are trying to abolish the conditions that create those buildings. We’re trying to eradicate those conditions that make it possible to treat children like this in schools” (Love).

This quote clarifies what Abolitionist movements attack. It is not the buildings (although many school facilities need equitable improvements to infrastructure) it is an attack on mindset, an attack n framing and an attack on the practices that allow students to be squandered. It is a call to action to reframe what schools are, what schools show be, how schools should teach and what schools should teach.

• “How can you be more human? Because this thing of abolitionists work and equity and culturally and historically responsive education is humanizing. It’s like seeing humanity as one body. And when an arm or a limb is hurt, is oppressed, is marginalized, and you don’t feel anything, you don’t deserve to be called human. That’s where we’re at in education” (Muhammed).

This quote lies at the center of Abolitionist teaching as understood by Muhammad. Abolitionist teaching is the platform for humanizing education. Starting at this principal, Muhammad, Love and Simmons build out what Abolitionist practices are, what Abolitionist teaching is and what Abolitionist learning looks like.

• “[abolitionists] came together to strategize, as they were experiencing joy in literature and learning, they were plotting, they were strategizing, they were improving the social conditions not just for black folks but for all of humanity. They had four learning goals, these were like their four learning goals for every time they came together to read, write, think, speak, debate, they were cultivating four different areas: identity. They were asking themselves, how can my reading, understanding, learning help me to identify who I am? Who I’m not, who I wanted to be? They wanted to understand their collective black identities, their original identities of Africa, and then they also wanted to learn about people who were different from them. The second goal is skills, they wanted to cultivate math skills, language skills, arts and history and science. The third was intellectualism. They wanted to become smarter about something… And the fourth goal is criticality. They wanted to advance their understanding of power, equity, racism and other anti-oppressions. They didn’t want to be passive consumers of knowledge, or passive producers of knowledge. They wanted to question and name oppression and wrong. These four things are so important for our students because what child does not need identity, skills, intellect and criticality? … when you teach these four goals together everyday, you’re teaching genius. You’re teaching the whole child. You’re teaching in the lens of Black excellence. That’s why I said Black excellence is the way forward” (Muhammad).

This final quote captures the work of Abolitionist thinkers as portrayed by the panel discussion. This quote outlines a premiss for a black and brown model in education. This quote also captures a repeated theme throughout the discussion that is education must teach all four of these collective learning pursuits, not just one!

 

CONNECTIONS:

 RADICAL IMAGINATION and ABOLITIONIST TEACHING 

The way of thinking presented in "Abolitionist Teaching and the Futures of Our Schools" requires a Radical imagination. As outlines in "Why social movements need the radical imagination" the Radical Imagination is defined as, "the radical imagination is the ability to imagine the world, life, and social institutions not as they are but as they might otherwise be." Khasnabish builds onto the definition of Radical Imagination stating, "the radical imagination is about drawing on the past, telling different stories about how the world came to be the way it is, remembering the power and importance of yesterday’s struggles, and honoring the way they live on in the present" (Khasnabish). 

While the work of the speakers on the "Abolitionist teaching and the Future of Schools" panel do draw on the past, specifically the school of abolitionist thought, they call into action more than just imagination, they recognize the need to eradicate the systems of schooling rather than to reimagine them.

This connects to the final quote that Sir Ken Robinson leaves the audience with in his Ted Talk, "There's a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin. 'There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don't get it, or don't want to do anything about it; there are people who are moveable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it; and there are people who move, people who make things happen.' And if we can encourage more people, that will be a revolution. And that's what we need" (Robinson).

The movement, the need for change and the encouragement towards a revolution around schooling in America is a common theme shared between Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk and A conversation with Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammad, Dena Simmons and Brian Jones about abolitionist teaching and antiracist education.

THE DEATH OF HEART

"There are days, and this is one of them, when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your failure is in it. How precisely you're going to reconcile yourself to your situation here, and how you are going to communicate to the vast headless, unthinking, cruel white majority that you are here? I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of heart, that is happening in this country" (Baldwin). This Baldwin quote calls into the spotlight the self reflection required to make change. In A conversation with Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammad, Dena Simmons and Brian Jones about abolitionist teaching and antiracist education. Muhammad, Simmons and Love use this framework to call in the need for Abolitionist teaching in United States Education. This connects to the Spirit Murdering committed by the cruelty of white supremest schools:

“They are spirit murdering our babies. Right, everyday you walk into the classroom with all of these things that Gholdy and Dena talked about and it’s on you that murders your spirit daily. Then the other thing that I will say is that is something that I heard a social justice lawyer, social movement lawyer, Derrick Marnell say this idea of managing inequality, that’s what we do in education, we want to manage the inequality. So we have positions, we have directors, we have all these things that manage the inequality, we all know we have the inequality, but we are not in the business of eradicating the inequality, we’re not in the business of removing the inequality, we’re in the business of just managing the inequality” (Love).

The "death of heart" discussed by Baldwin and the "spirit murdering" outlined by Love, Muhammad and Simmons are deeply reflective of the harmful impacts that white supremacy has on young black and brown children in our country. The proposed solution to beginning healing argued in this video is a
eradication of schools and an implementation of Abolitionist teaching that embraces black excellence and humanizes education for all.

Until next week,

Emily

"I Am Not Your Negro"

Monday, June 7, 2021 

on: I Am Not Your Negro 

James Baldwin and Peace in America 

Kino Lorber | Written by James Baldwin | Directed by Raoul Peck 

ARGUMENT

In "I Am Not Your Negro" James Baldwin argues that ACTION is essential in any journey, learning, or purposeful experience. He does this through a synthesis of lived experiences. Baldwin, himself, poses his aim to put the journey's of Medgar Evers, Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr. in dialogue with each other. In his journey of doing this, he reveals truths about the Black Experience and his own experiences. This creates a deep, complex and raw dialogue of action and experience.

"The three men, Medgar, Malcom, and Martin were very different men. Consider that Martin was only 26 in 1955, he took on his shoulders the weight of the crimes and the lies and the hope of a nation. I want these three lives to bang against and reveal each other as in truth they did. And use their dreadful journey as a means of instructing the people whom they loved so much who betrayed them, and for whom they gave their lives" (Baldwin).

A JOURNEY IS...

In the film, Baldwin opens with an introduction to the "Journey to tell the truth." He explains that, "A journey is called that because you do not know what you will discover on the journey, what you will do with what you find or what you find will do to you" (James Baldwin).

This quote made me think deeply about the journey that I am currently on as a scholar of Social Issues, as I begin my career as a teacher, as I journey through my learnings and time as a Teach For America Corps Member. I have learned a lot, which is implied of any journey; however this is not the entirety of a journey as defined by Baldwin, a journey also entails what you do with the information that you discover and what that information does to you. A journey, as defined by Baldwin in the onset of the film, is a call to action. A journey cannot simply be what is learned because a journey of meaning create change within a person through experiences and actions. This definition of a journey is deeply powerful and sets up the context of a journey for the journeys of Medgar Evers, Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin that interact throughout "I Am Not Your Negro."

This idea that a journey cannot be simply one of witness, but must be one of action connects for me ideas presented in Kimberle Crenshaw's Ted Talk, "The urgency of intersectionality" . In her Ted Talk, Crenshaw lands on the call to action that we cannot fix problems that we cannot see. Crenshaw pitches intersectionality as a necessary recognition of people's intersecting identities in order to see people fully and be able to acknowledge, see and therefore fix problems. This idea that once we see something we can (and must) fix the surfaced injustices ties into Baldwin's definition of journey in that once exposed to an experience, someone on a journey is called to react, "what will you do with what you discover? What will it do to you?" (Baldwin). While seemingly different ideas, both are deeply involved with the role that visibility and experience has in initiating change.

ACTIVE ACTION:

"We do not have a right to be free, we have a duty to be free" (Martin Luther King Jr.).

(Link: Address to MIA Mass/ Meeting at Holt STreet Baptist Church The Martin Luther King, JR. Papers Project)

This quote ties into the theme throughout the film of active duties, active responsibilities and active journeys. Baldwin continuously makes it clear throughout the film that we cannot be passive, our learnings cannot be passive, and our actions cannot be ideas; rather, intense action is required in all that we do. Especially when it is along the lines of justice, freedom and duty.

This idea is re-connected through Baldwin's definition of a hero in the film. To my initial surprise, Baldwin held the view that White people were the heros. Heros to Baldwin did not mean they were good people, heros to Baldwin were people that took vengeance into their own hands. Baldwin does not admire the cruelty of Whites, just their ability to take vengeance. To use an example from the film, Baldwin does not see Uncle Tom as a hero, "because Uncle Tom refused to take vengeance in his own hands, he was not a hero for me" (Baldwin). He goes on to say, "my countrymen were my enemies" (Baldwin). He explains that Whites were more often his heros because they, "took vengeance into their own hands, it was theirs to take" (Baldwin). Baldwin's perspective on heros supports the film's theme of active action. Baldwin sees heros as people who take action, inflicted punishment and retribution for wrong doings. Baldwin's definition of a hero is also one that call for active action as does his definition of a journey. This connects back to MLK's quote, "we have a duty to be free" as each of these require intense action.

WHAT SEGREGATION MEANS; MEANS OF SEGREGATION 

In the film, Baldwin spoke on the segregation of him and his white friends outside of school, "He doesn't know, he really does not know, what it was like for me to leave that door, to leave school and go back to Harlem. He doesn't know how Negros live and it comes as a great surprise to the Kennedy brothers and everybody else in the country, I'm certain. Again, you know that like most white Americans I have encountered they have no, I'm sure, nothing against Negros. I'm sure nothing against Negros, no I know I'm not really sure that's the question. The question is really of apathy and ignorance, which is a price we pay for segregation. That's what segregation means.  You don't know what's happening on the other side of the wall because you don't want to know" (James Baldwin). 

This is a loaded quote that ties together the problems of invisibility, the ignorance created by segregation, and the need for action that is at the center of Baldwin's "I Am Not Your Negro." This quote relates to "I Am Not Your Negro" as it centers the experience of Baldwin in light of the world around him. This is a theme throughout the film used to illustrate the need for action and change. This quote reaches far beyond the film as well. This quote speaks to the inability to fix a problem that you cannot see as discussed in Kimberle Crenshaw's Ted Talk, "The urgency of intersectionality". As Baldwin is sure that his white friends have not seen and, therefore, do not know the reality of his experiences. As a result, they do not understand the real problems that he and his community face and as both Baldwin and Crenshaw conclude, his white friends can not yet be part of the solution. n order to fix a problem, ones eyes must be open to that problem.

Throughout the film, Baldwin introduces experiences so that they can play off each other and reveal truths. This quote is an example of that. As Baldwin believes that result of any journey is seeing, feeling and acting. By depicting this truth, Baldwin calls the audience into action. This is a strong theme of the film: it is not enough to be complacent. In this quote, it is not enough to have "nothing against Negros." Whites must be active in fixing the problems of segregation. This directly brings the material from this course's Week 1: "You can’t be neutral on a moving train” into conversation with the film.

Article Connection: The Moving Walkway of Racism Link

Thirdly, this Baldwin quote on the meaning of segregation through the example of his friends connects to Redlining. Systems of redlining effectively remove black people in "white" neighborhoods. This system of maintaining segregation perpetrates the issues outlined by Baldwin, "I'm sure nothing against Negros, no I know I'm not really sure that's the question. The question is really of apathy and ignorance, which is a price we pay for segregation. That's what segregation means.  You don't know what's happening on the other side of the wall because you don't want to know" (James Baldwin). 

Mapping Inequality, Redlining in New Deal America 

(Screenshot of a New York closeup from Mapping Inequity, Redlining in New Deal America.) 

Until next week,

Emily

“Unnatural Causes”

 Monday, May 24, 2021        Asynchronous Learning 

On: In Sickness and In Health; Episode 1

“Unnatural Causes”

Argument:

This episode, of "In Sickness and In Health" argues that inequitable distributions of wealth in our country leads to unequal and inequitable distributions of sickness and disease. This science-based argument leads to a call for action to distribute wealth equitably in order to become a healthier country. 

Questions Explored: 

• "Is inequality making us sick?"

• “Why are we getting sick in the first place? Is it our American diet? individual behaviors? Those behaviors themselves are determined in part by economic stages"

• "How do we carry social class in our bodies? How does it get under our skin?"

• "We know that social class is the most important determinant of health, above any other respect. But what does social class mean? is it housing, medical care, education or is it power, confidence, a sense of security?" S. Leonard Syme; Epidemiologist; UC Berkeley  

Quotes: 

"There are ways that our society is organized that is bad for our health, there are ways that we could reconfigure ourselves in ways that are better for our health."

This quote stood out to me as organization is a cause for bad health. This seems unthinkable. However, studies, science and lived experiences continue to prove this quote true. The fact that the structure of our society is carried out through the health of our citizens shows the depth of our society's problems and the complexity of solving them.

"When the brain perceives a threat it signals the adrenal glands to release potent stress hormones, among them, cortisol. They flood your bloodstream with glucose, increase your heart-rate, raise blood pressure. They put your body on alert."

Stress response is typically not a bad thing. Our body's response to stress is natural and designed to help us survive. However, our bodies were not designed to be in a constant state of stress. Episode 1 of "In Sickness and In Health" looks in detail at the causes and the effects of the human body being in a state of constant stress. Ultimately the human stress response, when over worked, leads to poor health and shortened lifespan. Initially, before watching this episode of "In Sickness and In Health" I would have attributed these poor health conditions to lifestyles such as food consumed, lack of exercise and poor living conditions. While these all do contribute to health and are all harmful circumstances of poverty, science shows that regardless of physical influences, the impact of stress proves to be the cause for health conditions that lead to shortened life. 

"A normal stress response spikes up when needed, and then turns off. But what happens when pressures are relentless and you lack the power and resources to control them? When the stress response stays turned on for months? Or years? These systems begin to work overtime, we produce too much cortisol. Chronically cortisol can impair immune function, it can inhibit memory and it can actually cause areas of the brain to shrink." 

The world that we have created as a society is not normal; therefor, the "normal stress response" is not effective. This quote highlights the change in effect of the normal stress response from helpful to harmful when it is overworked. This leads to higher rates of disease, increased aging, diabetes, heart disease and more.

The Cold Study

One study referenced in Episode 1 of "In Sickness and In Health" was The Cold Study. In this study, scientists exposed subjects from different socioeconomic statuses to equal doses of the common cold. The Cold Study revealed that individuals with higher status and therefore less chronic stress caught less colds than individuals with more chronic stress due to lower status. This study tests how effective the immune function of individuals is. The results support the argument that poor, working class individuals are more susceptible to illness and are therefore have poorer health. This is not the fault of the individual, but rather the impact that our society has on their physical being.

Demand & Control

There is a clear relationship between demand & control and the output of chronic stress. Individuals that have highly demanding jobs, but also autonomy within their jobs, do not suffer from chronic health conditions; these are the more affluent members of society. However, individuals with equally demanding jobs, but no autonomy within their jobs, suffer from chronic health conditions; these are the members of society living in poverty.

No control over work variables, High demanding job, Chronic Stress,  Illness and Poor Health 

Until next week,

Emily 

Introduction!

 Blogging: Take 1. welcome! 

Hi! I am Emily Keith. I am a first year, first grade teacher teaching at Achievement First Iluminar. I found teaching through Teach For America.  I graduated undergrad from Providence College last spring and immediately started my work as a member of the TFA 2020 Corps. I started my journey at RIC through the RIC-TFA partnership, I am now working to complete my IMED in Education. I am so excited to have the opportunity to complete my masters in education. For me, a masters degree is bettering myself for my students. I look forward to growing towards being my best, strongest, most intentional version of myself. As for hobbies, if drinking coffee counts, that is my main hobby. In addition to coffee, I love laughing 😂 with my family, collecting sea-glass, walking my dogs 🐶 🐶, practicing yoga and making art 🎨.