#raisingequity

February is Black History Month and I would love to encourage all educators, parents and adults in general to incorporate these best practices into their daily lives throughout the year. My definition of educator is very broad. If you have a sphere of influence to speak into the lives of future generations, then you’re an educator as far as I’m concerned. I believe in intentional education and thus we should never limit an entire group’s history and contributions to 28 days.

- Be intentional in your read alouds, independent reading and book list choices. Make sure that you incorporate books that provide a well rounded perspective on history, literature, geography, language arts and even math. 

- Diversify your homeschool social media feed. Connect with, read works by and learn best practices from other homeschooling parents and educators of colors.

1. Follow My Reflections Matter and incorporate their diverse resources to your educational plans.

2. Check out Negra Bohemian a self described:  a free spirit redefining motherhood through a socially conscious, faith-led and wandering lifestyle.

3. Check out Trippin’ Momma to be inspired by a single mother who’s recovered from domestic violence and is exploring the world on her own terms.

4. Follow Dr. Kira Bank and her work on Raising Equity.

5. Follow my friend Sarah’s adventures in her blog and be inspired to take adventurous trips with your kids to destinations like Dubai, Hong Kong and Kenya.

6. Follow The Spring Break Family and be encouraged to take adventures with our kids even if they’re not homeschooled.

7. Check out Our Kitchen Classroom and learn how to connect food with culture - travel.

If your a Christian, read this: No Days Off...

“This February, lay down the burden of ambassadorship and let Black History Month be your swimming lessons. May it be a reminder that each stroke forward transforms our weaknesses into strengths, powerlessness into purpose. We’re not treading water. Kingdom ambassadors make new wave moves. Look back and see how God is moving us forward.”

Additional resources Click on bold sections for more information:

- Learn about Racial Identity from Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum. 

https://youtu.be/l_TFaS3KW6s

- Check out 100 Read Aloud Books for Black History and Beyond.

- 30 People from Around the World.

- Learn the truth about the Green Book by watching this documentary.

- Have your preconceived notions rocked by A blessed Heritage’s writings on faith and black history.

- Host a Black Living History Wax Musuem event at your school, home or community.

- Black History is American History.

- Race: The Power of Illusion.

- Read about why Martin Luther King JR. Day is not a day off and start planning your service project for next January.

- Why we shouldn’t forget that U.S. presidents owned slaves.

Published on Feb 2, 2017

"When you sing that this country was founded on freedom, don’t forget the duet of shackles dragging against the ground my entire life." This how poet Clint Smith begins his letter to past presidents who owned slaves. In honor of Black History Month, Smith offers his Brief But Spectacular take on the history of racial inequality in the U.S.

Learn about the musical, historical and African roots of Puerto Rico’s Bomba.

- Watch online Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement.

- 28 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month by the NAACP.

- Watch and be inspired by: Black Made That.

- Meet The Fearless Cook Who Secretly Fed — And Funded — The Civil Rights Movement.

- Watch Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History on Netflix.

- Check out Wu-Tang Clan's GZA shows his genius in Liquid Science on Netflix.

- Add diverse puzzles by Puzzle Huddle to your bookcases.

- Decolonize your family bookshelves and learn more about awareness by following The Consious Kid.

- 28 More Black Picture Books That Aren’t About Boycotts, Buses or Basketball (2018).

- 5 Reasons You Should Celebrate Black History Month.

- Beyond The Painful Chains Of Slavery: Phillis Wheatley, The First Published Female African-American Poet.

- Continue learning throughout the year with various subscription options of the Because of Them we Can boxes.

- Check out Black Then for a wealth of information.

- Check out Story Corps:

StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

- Diversify your podcasts. A friend sent me this pod cast and I had to share: Black and White: Racism in America.

Exposure to Black Theater and Arts.

- Check out my review of Hamilton. 

- Go watch Black Violin. 

- Go see Alvin Ailey - American Dance Theater.

- Diversify your holiday traditions and enjoy the Hip Hop Nutcracker or the Urban Nutcracker. 

- Exposure to the history and sounds of Gospel music.

- Singin’ Us to Glory: The Life and Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer.

- Black History Month is a chance for white parents to learn how to talk about racism.

Pin for later:

- Incorporate Black History Sites into your family travel. This has been a huge way for us to incorporate our story into our learning. These are some of our favorites or ones on our bucket list:

 1. National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

You can read more about my family’s trip to this history packed museum by clicking here.

2. The Tuskegee Airman National Historical Museum in Detroit, Michigan.

3. The National Underground Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

You can read more about my family’s road trip to the freedom center by clicking here. 

4. Frederick Douglass National Historical Park in Washington, DC.

5. International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, NC.

6. Martin Luther King, JR Memorial in Washington, DC.

7. Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO.

8. Museum of African American History in Boston, MA.

9. North Star Underground Railroad Museum in Ausable Chasm, NY.

10. Visit Martha’s Vineyard and learn about the Polar Bears.

- Check out this blog post with a large list of destinations to include in your Black History Travel Bucket List: Must See Destinations to Learn About Black History.

- Study the history of Soul Food and host a Soul Food Feast for family and friends. 

The Soul Food Born of the Harlem Renaissance.

Read An Illustrated History of Soul Food with your kids. 

This is a great video of the celebrates African American food and chefs.

- Teach the history of the Harlem Globetrotters and then enjoy a  game. 

- Take a #foodies road trip to some of America’s top Soul Food Restaurants which are full of history, music and culture.

1. Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, NY.

2. Amy Ruth’s in NYC.

3. Luella’s Southern Kitchen in Chicago, IL.

4. The Coast Cafe in Cambridge, MA.

5. Roscoes Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles, CA.

6. Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta, GA.

- Provide opportunities for your students to read, memorize and recite black poetry. Some of our favorites are. 

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed— Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above. (It never was America to me.) O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe. (There’s never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”) Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars? I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak. I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one’s own greed! I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years. Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That’s made America the land it has become. O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home— For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore, And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came To build a “homeland of the free.” The free? Who said the free?  Not me? Surely not me?  The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we’ve dreamed And all the songs we’ve sung And all the hopes we’ve held And all the flags we’ve hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay— Except the dream that’s almost dead today. O, let America be America again— The land that never has been yet— And yet must be—the land where every man is free. The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME— Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again. Sure, call me any ugly name you choose— The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives, We must take back our land again, America! O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath— America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain— All, all the stretch of these great green states— And make America again!

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994 the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used with permission.

Still I Rise

Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

From And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc

Lift Every Voice and Sing

James Weldon Johnson, 1871 - 1938

Lift every voice and sing, Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list’ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won. Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chast’ning rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered. We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way; Thou who hast by Thy might, Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land.

From Saint Peter Relates an Incident by James Weldon Johnson. Copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935 James Weldon Johnson, renewed 1963 by Grace Nail Johnson. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.

Dreams

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes published by Alfred A. Knopf/Vintage. Copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated. All rights reserved.

About Ruth: I’m a wife and mami of 4 active and globe-trotting kiddos. I’ve always loved a good adventure and truly believe that it’s possible to travel with kids. Join me, as I share our adventures and inspire you to get out of the house with your kiddos. Whether you’re planning a family vacation, a road trip or a trip of a lifetime to an exotic destination, I’ll share insights, trip reports and information that will inspire you. Check back often to stay up to date on things to do with kids at your next travel destination.

Why a mother of four young black children joined a Black Lives Matter protest in the midst of a pandemic.

I didn’t speak with my twelve-year-old black son about George Floyd’s murder until this Saturday afternoon. That was six days after. Why? I had no safe action item available in the midst of a pandemic that would aid us in having this conversation. We spoke with our fourteen-year-old daughter about what was happening in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 which was the day the George Floyd was murdered. Yet due to work responsibilities, the lack of time to process myself and the feeling of helplessness that I felt as a black mother of black boys living in white suburban town, I wasn’t ready to engage. On Saturday, May 30, 2020, our Jack and Jill chapter held a virtual meeting and a mother shared this prayer (see full prayer below).

“We pray again for our black men and boys, that our society recognizes their humanity and that the indiscriminate taking of their lives comes to an end – now.

We pray that your inexhaustible grace and peace permeate every aspect of our lives, allowing us to live as you intended, in covenant with you and in love, intentionality and good.

Finally, we pray for the healing of our nation and the world, and that we, individually and collectively, be instruments of your peace.”

As my sister Andrea prayed, my heart mourned, and tears flowed. At that meeting I received this year’s distinguished mother award to for our chapter. I left that meeting encouraged, but also broken. Later that day, I took a car ride with my son and shared what was going on in the world that week. I watched the shock in his eyes as he asked me why? Even though we’ve had this same conversation with him over and over again, he still can’t comprehend why. It’s always the first question that he asks. I then explained that the families of two of his homeschool classmates are out protesting in Minneapolis. I showed him live videos from Facebook posted by my friends Iliah and Melissa have posted. Their eyewitness account of what is really happening there helped me better parent my black son. He knows Iliah’s daughter and Melissa’s son through outschool classes that we coordinate for our social justice driven children to take together. Their voices and activism turned a hopeless conversation into hopeful one.

Sunday morning our family gathered for virtual church and I knew that our pastor was going to specifically mourn the murder of George Floyd and call out the social injustice and systematic racism permeating our country. For the first time in the midst of black bodies being murdered I didn’t’ “leave” church unseen. Our black children ages 14, 12, 8 and 7 saw themselves loved and acknowledged by the body of Christ. This is how to live out the commandment to love the Lord your God with you all your heart; with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22: 37-39) How are you loving your neighbor? Are you being silent out of fear? Are you concentrating on their perceived need for prayer, rather on your need for internal introspection and heart checking?

After church service, I told my kids: go make signs, we’re marching at 3 PM. Regardless of Covid19 we were going to do something and decided that the cause was worth the risk. My husband is a physician and thus we took appropriate precautions to protect our young children. We wore masks and marched near the back of the crowd while maintaining social distancing. We marched near the police escorts and made sure to greet the officers and be respectful, because even in the midst of our pain and suffering, we are always taught to code switch. Even my eight-year old’s daughter’s sign said: Please don’t kill us. Thank you.

Why do we march? We march because it allows us to be in the presence of fellow mourners, activist and social justice champions. We march because the shouts of “I Can’t Breathe,” “Don’t Shoot,” and “No Justice, No Peace” drown out the complicit silence of neighbors who say nothing. It gives us strength and hope to be around other people willing to risk it all for a cause they believe in. The realities of what is feels like to be a black family in America in 2020 didn’t change one bit after our time spent in Hartford protesting, but our outlook sure changed. We were uplifted to be in the company of others who are willing to say and do something. Our youngest son randomly shouted “no justice, no peace” last night right before bed. That right baby, I will always fight for your humanity and God given right to exist.

A prayer from the Mothers of the Greater Hartford Chapter of Jack and Jill, Inc.

Let us take a moment to ask the presence of God, however we understand and acknowledge that power to be, to be present among us now.

In this moment, and at this time in our country and around the world, we find ourselves unmoored, uncertain and living in ways we never imagined.

As we do, we pray for your grace. May we be gentler and kinder to one another, always. We pray for our people, especially our black men whose lives are being extinguished every day without remorse, and in ways that are heinous and senseless. We pray for the families of these slain men, families whose grief and loss are unimaginable. As mothers, we know the depth of the unconditional love we have for our children. Help us stand in spirit and in love with these families.

We pray for the healing of our nation, straining under the oppressive weight of conspiracy theories, overwhelmed health care systems and unemployment in unprecedented numbers.

We pray for strength, to be present for those we love and to care for ourselves.

We pray for first responders and health care professionals who risk their lives each day to save ours.

We pray for the families and loved ones of those lost to COVID-19. Please comfort them in their grief and loss; the loss of more than 100,000 souls.

We pray again for our black men and boys, that our society recognizes their humanity and that the indiscriminate taking of their lives comes to an end – now.

We pray that your inexhaustible grace and peace permeate every aspect of our lives, allowing us to live as you intended, in covenant with you and in love, intentionality and good.

Finally, we pray for the healing of our nation and the world, and that we, individually and collectively, be instruments of your peace.

Amen

By: Andrea Barton Reeves

Want to read more? Check out this blog from my friend Sarah Smith.

http://stayathomemomyeahright.com/2020/05/31/dear-white-people/

My amazing sistah, Dr. Kira Banks is offering a great discount on this workshop to help us (adults, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends) learn how to teach the children in our lives about consent. 

Here’s my review of this course and reasons why you should take it:

This course left me feeling hopeful that while the world seems out of control on this issue, I can make a difference in my home and in my interactions with others (sphere of influence) to raise a different generation of humans. All adults who interact with kids should take this course. The concept of agency is so important for me as an adult who was raised in a Latin (machista) culture that really didn’t give children agency over their own body. This is a huge cultural shift that my husband and I have decided from day one to be very intentional about in our home. 

This course offers opportunities to know and understand the history that allows  sexual violence to flourish in our society. Dr. Banks teaches the language to help us name the issue and understand ways to break the cycle. She does this by providing historical, cultural and clinical references and examples. You will leave the course with a broader understanding and empowered to respond to on the spot questions that children in our life of various ages may have. I’m excited to be better equipped to model a new reality for all children and thus raise a generation who will not sit back and watch the #metoo cycle continue. 

Check this out (limited time discount code):

She’s offering this workshop for just $10 for the month of October. The current events suggest the time is now for us to do our part to break the cycle in our own families when it comes to this issue of consent and sexual violence. 

This 2-part series on talking #MeToo and consent with kids isn’t just for homeschooling parents, it’s for any adult that interacts with children on a daily basis. It’s for anyone who wants the backstory on #MeToo, patriarchy, and sexism.

Dr. Banks is making this course accessible to all by reducing the course cost and contributing to resisting the patriarchy and committing to being an adult who rejects sexual assault as commonplace and raising a generation of kids who will create a new normal. Don’t miss out.