1 in 3

If you’re a black baby born today [in America], you have a 1 in 3 chance of spending some time in prison or jail. If you’re Latino, it’s a 1 in 6 chance. And if you’re white, it’s 1 in 17. And so coming to terms with these disparities and reversing them, I would argue, is not only a matter of fairness and justice but it’s, I would argue, a matter of national security.  -Nicholas Turner, President and Director of Vera Institute of Justice

Quote taken from an NPR article, 20 Years Later, Parts Of Major Crime Bill Viewed As Terrible Mistake, by Carrie Johnson posted on September 12, 2014

As a recently married black woman living in America, these statistics frighten me. I’m shaken, not necessarily because I fear that I might be imprisoned, but because I fear that my future children will grow up in a country seemingly structured to perpetually subjugate them. History tells me that if I raise my black children in the racialized social system of this country they will work until they drop with little to no financial gain. And as if that weren’t enough, statistics now tell me that they have a 1 in 3 chance of being imprisoned.

Where is the justice?

 

Black in Japan

Every time I see a black person I turn and look him straight in the eye. There is a major part of me that wants to reach out and connect with him. But every time I look at him he stares at me inquisitively. It doesn’t seem like he has a yearning to connect. Maybe he hasn’t been raised in a society that thinks so little of him. Maybe he isn’t a subordinate citizen here. It’s possible that he is not reaching out to me in the way that I am reaching out to him because he is comfortable, stable, free. I am still trapped in a Black American state of mind. Wanting, hoping, needing to connect to another second-class citizen… but where are they?

 

My Upcoming Presentations

I will be presenting at the 2013 NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) and Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in December, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC.

Below are the descriptions of my presentations:

Building Inclusive Communities for People of Color: Programs and Initiatives (Lecture)

Fraud, Theft and Violence in the Classroom: The Colorblind Dilemma: The notion that any of us should consciously seek to become colorblind in our society, and more specifically in our classrooms, is outdated.  By ignoring students’ unique qualities educators are committing a grave error. Participants of this workshop will understand the history of colorblind theory and how and why it should be replaced by more inclusive philosophy. We will explore how language directly affects behavior. Topics to be addressed: innate bias, intentional education, deliberate acknowledgment and false belief. All will leave knowing how to support a community that values diversity and welcomes, respects, empowers and connects all of its members.

Expanding Our Toolbox: Curricular and Professional Skills for Excellence (Interactive)

Making a Difference for Students of Color with Learning Differences: Participants of this workshop will become familiar with the different obstacles students of color with learning disabilities face in independent schools. Through interactive exercises and dialogue, participants will experience what it’s like to have a disability, explore the educational and social stigmas attached to being a student of color with a disability, and brainstorm ways to build a more inclusive community within their school. This presentation will deal mainly with grade 5-12 issues while highlighting methods, strategies and interventions that can assist these unique students’ transitions into independent schools and toward success.

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About the Conference

2013 PoCC Theme: The Capital’s Mosaic: Independent School Leaders Building an Interconnected World

2013 SDCL Theme: Foresight is 20/20: Capitalizing on Our United State

The mission of the NAIS People of Color Conference is to provide a safe space for networking and a professional development opportunity for people, who, by virtue of their race or ethnicity, comprise a form of diversity termed “people of color” in independent schools. PoCC serves as an energizing, revitalizing gathering for people who experience independent schools differently.

Who should attend POCC?

In 2001, the NAIS board affirmed that PoCC is “a conference by and about people of color and inclusive of all.” What does that mean as you decide who from your school will attend? This decision is up to you, and all participants will be welcome, but its primary purpose is for people of color (and experienced allies and practitioners of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities). We encourage you to see PoCC as different from a diversity conference for newcomers to diversity work. (NAIS offers other opportunities for the whole gamut of diversity training, beyond race, at the Summer Diversity Institute, the diversity track at the Annual Conference, and now the Summer H.E.A.D.S. institute for heads and other members of the leadership team to deepen their commitment to and knowledge of strategies to advance all types of diversity at their schools.) The purpose of PoCC is to help participants understand their roles in advancing in their schools equity and justice around racial and ethnic identity. The affinity group work offers a safe environment where these conversations can happen effectively.

In November 2006, the NAIS board reaffirmed the mission and purpose of PoCC by stating: “PoCC should be designed for people of color as it relates to their roles in independent schools. Its programming should include offerings that support people of color as they pursue strategies for success and leadership. Its focus should be on providing a sanctuary and networking opportunity for people of color and allies in independent schools as we build and sustain inclusive school communities.”

-For more information click here.