Yo, Miss! (No. 16)
A Spring Break of Sorts
We were on spring break last week. I attempted to unplug for a bit. But, as most of you reading this already know my news FOMO (fear of missing out) is strong.
However, I really tried my hardest to unwind. It was unseasonably warm here in New York City, so I spent some time soaking up the sun in Central Park and reading this book:
If you read my previous Substack, I brainstormed a lesson idea comparing Tennessee Representative Justin Pearson’s speech about the Fourth of July with famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s 1852 “What To the Slave is the Fourth of July” speech.
I took a break from taking a break (see, I have a problem, I told you!) and I created the full lesson on this topic for PBS NewsHour Classroom and you can access it here
If you are a teacher and decide to use this lesson, please let me know how it goes!
For the rest of the week, I did try to spend time away from all my screens. I caught up with some friends. I even took a little day trip to Rockaway Beach before heading back to school.
As I started planning out my lessons for the week ahead, I was enraged by the news about the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who was shot twice by an 85-year-old-white man after going to the wrong address in Kansas City, Missouri. Yarl went to THREE houses before someone finally helped him.
I wrote this thread about it on Twitter and here on Instagram:
But if you have fully unplugged from social media (good for you!) and I will share my thoughts on it here as well:
Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager, wasn’t only shot in the head once but then he was shot AGAIN once he was on the ground. Then, after he miraculously got up, he had to go to THREE different houses until someone would help him.
Yet, in states across the country, teachers have been told they can’t discuss “divisive” topics like racism in class. Books have been banned from school that are about these topics too.
Republican lawmakers passing these laws claim it is because it makes kids uncomfortable in class. They also spit out word salad explanations such as “talking about racism makes kids racist”…
These anti-history and anti-education laws help no one except the right wing politicians so they can fire up their base who want to maintain their white supremacy and fight our growing multiracial democracy.
In fact, we need to be discussing individual acts of racism as well as systemic racism in America’s classrooms. It is the only way we can work our way to becoming a society where a young Black teenager does not get shot in the head just because he rang on the wrong doorbell.
So, I will keep speaking out against these despicable “anti-CRT” laws and I hope you all will too. Then we need to keep creating online spaces for kids to learn the banned content in their states until they can vote for lawmakers to reverse these backwards education bans.
Thank you for reading and for your support. I will be back later this week with recommendations and updates. Here’s my LinkTree if you want to find where else I am online and gift me a snack or coffee :)