Bringing the Love
Today I sat in on a webinar given by artist, Tran Vu put on by Assets 4 Artists. She was giving a talk about resiliency in a time of crisis. For me, the biggest message was one of kindness to the self. That this is a traumatic time and there are so many things conspiring against anything resembling a sense of balance or normalcy, so we have to allow that amidst all the things we should, could, or ought to be doing, there also needs to be space where those things are not done. She shared an image of a straight line reaching a destination, and then the same drawing with a squiggly random line and talked about how our paths to a destination are rarely a simple path.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. I have so many tasks, so many things needing my immediate attention. I am able to give little spurts of attention, but when I actually am able to devote my full attention, it is a surprisingly satisfying, but also a disappointingly rare feeling to knock a few things off my list at once.
As it is, I try to focus on Zoom meetings and try not to multitask, but often I will, and my attention is split between answering an email and the person talking. I see we are all facing the same challenge, everyone on the Zoom meetings start out with the best of intentions, but when there's a moment of lag, a few long winded speakers, then the focus drifts, and when someone asks a question there is an awkward silence of a grid full of Zoom people try to refocus and comprehend what was being asked of them.
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It is almost like lace.
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In the midst of this, all day long, I am having conversations about race, racism, dismantling the white supremacist culture, dismantling institutionalized racism. It is all important work and I try to recognize each person who reaches out because that is part of my job. I need to ferment these kinds of conversations, help give people praise and impetus to continue doing the hard work. But I also wish this was already embedded into the culture, that everyone had some degree of competency in talking about racism, about how to address it in one's curriculum, about how to help students process what they are seeing on our campus and out in the world. I wish this for our whole nation, our world, not just our campus. But the reality is we are all on a spectrum of development, and that spectrum is very broad, even among educators. Just as I continue to learn and evolve, so too will everyone else, if they choose to.
My inclination is to shift my attention to the students, who today talked about what felt like an absence in their curriculum, that they did not feel informed about the diversity equity and inclusion co-curricular activities, and wanted to know what they could do to enact change. It is the college's responsibility to make sure they are aware of what opportunities we do have. It is also our responsibility to make sure the absences in our curriculum are filled with substance. And, we have to help our students engage in actions that help the college and community evolve and experience change. I think this is one of the joys of teaching, watching students come alive with intellectual activity, to become passionate about a poem, outraged by an aspect of history, or feel the profound impact of understanding the implications of climate change. My mentor, Julie Graham once explained to a student, that the most effective way to be an activist was to become a teacher. You can impact far more people more profoundly than you ever could carrying a sign in a thousand marches. This feels like one of those moments where the students are asking to learn more, and what teacher doesn't enjoy that?
I joke that I need a vacation so I can get caught up with work. For a while I worried what a vacation might look like in a time of quarantines and social distancing. But, I am looking forward to the letting go of routine for a little while. I am tired. I want to lay in the hammock, feed the chickens knotweed, play music, and take naps. I am already relishing the moment. Just a week and a half away.
This evening, my last Zoom of the day was a webinar with Dr. Barbara Love talking about Racial Trauma in Troubling Times. I unfortunately missed the first half, but when I did tune in, she was immediately compelling. She had a vibrant charisma that somehow transcended the limitations of Zoom. She made me rethink what could be possible in the medium. She was a teacher. At this stage of her talk, she was giving broad general advice and answering questions. She talked about understanding and identifying when there were moments that called for action, discerning whether it was a moment for yourself to act or not, and understanding why one might act or not act, might consciously choose a different role. She talked about the capacity to ask if everything you do is something that furthers racial and social justice, or if it does not. Dr. Love was energizing and inspiring. She didn't say anything new in the last few minutes of her talk, but she said it in a way that captured my attention, and that was a beautiful thing. I ended up moving my cutting board and cucumbers in front of the computer so I could listen and watch as I prepared dinner. I'm pretty sure we all need more people like Dr. Love in our lives.
This morning, I woke up and wrote about the light filtering through the trees, about how the layers of green in the forest progressively filter out more and more light until the closest leaves are embraced in darkness. The days in this pandemic, these moments of civil rights protest, are like that, beautiful shades of light overlapping one another. At times almost oppressive in their presence, the branches and leaves overlapping, and then, slowly at first, you can see the day emerging, the dawn arriving leaf by leaf.
Have a good evening, stay safe, and be strong,
Leo
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Franklin helping with the knotweed.
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From Our Friends:
From Lillian Ruiz:
You May Be Your Black Colleagues’ Amy Cooper – #BLM Guest Post
An Amy Cooper Higher Ed Self-Reflective Checklist
From METRO:
The Emotional Impact of Watching White People Wake Up to Racism in Real-Time
From Jen Simms:
Join Academics for Black Survival and Wellness Week
June 19-25
A weeklong personal and professional development initiative for academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action.
From Bunker Hill Community College:
The Museum of African American History celebrates Juneteenth with
A Night of Poetry and Conversation featuring
In conversation with Camara Brown
Friday, June 19, 2020
6 p.m.
About the Author: Malcolm Tariq is an award-winning poet and playwright from Savannah, Georgia. He is the author ofHeed the Hollow (Graywolf Press, 2019), winner of the 2018 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and is a 2020-2021 playwright resident with the Liberation Theatre Company. A graduate of Emory University, he has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Michigan. Malcolm lives in Brooklyn, New York City, where he is the Programs and Communications Manager for the Cave Canem Foundation, a home for Black poetry.
From Diverse Issues in Higher Education:
by Patrice Rankine
Race is foundational to our nation, its original sin. We live in a racist society, so we all do racists things. Racism, moreover, is systemic. We can no more escape it than we can avoid breathing in polluted air.
From CC News Now:
In response to the murder of George Floyd, a predominantly white Southern community college is partnering with a diverse two-year college in a Minneapolis suburb to explore issues of racial justice and equity.
From Teaching Tolerance:
Teach the History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth—celebrated across the country on June 19—marks an important milestone in the struggle for freedom. But the lessons of this holiday can and should be taught year-round. Learn more about how the history of Juneteenth acknowledges hard history while also empowering students to be advocates for change.
From UMass:
Popular Education in the Age of COVID-19: What is it and why do we need it now?
Please register now for the first session in the series, "Beyond the Coronavirus Crisis: Popular Action for Community Solidarity"
The virus crisis has led to widespread failures in healthcare, education, housing, food distribution, and employment. Government austerity measures threaten people's access to resources for basic well-being. Rather than working to unite people in our common humanity, government officials continue to promote xenophobic and racist ideologies and in response to the uprising against racism, police are responding to peaceful protests with violence and oppression.
Drawing from Brazilian educator, Paolo Freire, popular education begins with everyday people sharing their lived knowledge to shape critical analysis of power, injustice, and strategies for social change. This forum will provide a space for community members, workers, students, and academics to share perspectives on the systemic breakdown and how to collaborate on collective action.
This event is led by MTA-UMass unions in solidarity with community members and students.
Organized by UMass MSP and PSU. Co-sponsors: Arise for Social Justice, Western Mass Extinction Rebellion, Western Mass Science for the People...
From the Daily Yonder:
Q&A: When Small Towns March
By Tim Marema |
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The coalfields town of Hazard, Kentucky, is one of thousands of cities around the country that have held marches in response to the killing of George Floyd. An organizer of the march says the overwhelming response is going to change how people see racial-justice work in small towns.
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From Academic Impressions:
"You Have a Degree, But Who Do You Know?": Why Student Loan Debt is a Racial Justice Issue
Article | MarketWatch
21% of black students who graduated with a BA, compared to 18% of whites, defaulted on their student loans 12 years after entering college. And 12 years after starting college, white men have paid off 44% of their student loan balances on average, while black men saw their balances grow by 11%.
Taken together, these data indicate that student loans, a tool that's supposed to help borrowers move up the economic ladder through education, are actually widening the racial wealth gap. Read more.
From Inside Higher Ed's Podcast:
[NEW] Episode 11: The Pandemic’s Impact on Education and Work for People of ColorThe pandemic and unrest over racism in society have further exposed existing inequity in higher education and the workforce. For example, survey data from the Strada Education Network show that black and Latino Americans are more likely than white Americans to have been laid off during the crisis, and to have changed or canceled their postsecondary education plans.
Today's Online Teaching Tips:
From Alyssa Arnell, GCC's History Dept. Chair:
Greenfield Community College and local partners are seeking proposals for individual, small group, and panel presentations for the 2020 Western Mass Virtual Valley Online Conference, to be held on Thursday, August 20, 2020. This free one-day conference is an important opportunity to bring local educators together to share, learn, and inspire each other as we head into the fall term in online learning environments.
The theme of the 2020 conference is “Last Minute Tools and Strategies for Online Classroom Education.” As many prepare to teach in the fall, this conference is designed to provide ways to assess and review online classroom content as many of us prepare to each in online in the fall. Please come, participate, and share your knowledge.
Proposed sessions should reflect the theme of the conference and speak to a broad audience of educators from across disciplines and from high schools to community colleges. Our conference tracks include:
- Online Technology in the classroom
- Fair use, privacy, Section 504 compliance
- Classroom equity
DEADLINE: July 10th, 2020 Submit your proposals by completing the form available HERE
Please direct your questions to Alyssa Arnell at arnella@gcc.mass.edu.
From John Nordell:
One of my students found this site where you can create your own virtual museum/gallery:https://www.artsteps.com/explore
From Inside Higher Ed:
This actually seems like a really cool article!
‘We’re All in This Together’
Most instructors were novices in a new environment last spring,
and many sought help. In preparation for fall, colleges and others
share their expertise freely. Here are some new initiatives.
From YouTube:
| We’ve just launched a series of bundled learning toolkits on the Creator Academy with topics ranging from Pivoting your Content, to Going Live, to Production, and more. Check them out to get the support and ideas to help you manage and optimize your channel in this fast changing environment. |
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From Magna:
Our Summer Enrichment Courses give you flexibility to learn at your own pace, while discussion boards help you build a network with colleagues around the country. Along with the courses listed above, here are a few others to consider if you are focused on online teaching and learning: Take advantage of these expert-led courses at a special reduced price and make this summer a turning point in your professional development! |
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Also from Alyssa Arnell:
I just wanted to share information with you about an online teaching conference presented by the California Community Colleges. The Conference runs the next two days. This conference seems to have it all! Sessions cover online biology labs, inclusive online content, how to create online career programs, and improving online support for students. Remember, the schedule is on Pacific time.
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