This is a tough one.
When I was a kid I used to have moments where I could actually feel the world move. I would lay there in the grass of Central Park and stare up at the gray-blue sky. There is a moment when you can feel yourself grow still and you can see the clouds drift past. That is when you widen your awareness and you start to feel that everything is moving. We are on this giant living planet and it is moving. If I stand still for too long and think about it, the way the world is moving around me terrifies me. Not so much in the physical sense. The world has always spun and will spin beyond the last of my great great great great grandchildren’s days. But what will that world be? What am I doing to preserve a space for my children where they can feel safe to bring up children of their own.
I’ve shielded my kids from the bad side of what it means to be black in America. Clearly the shield is cracked and the light of the real world is leaking in. I have been having honest and open dialogue with them about what is happening now, but I do not know what to say about what is to come. Certainly there will be blowback for all of this. Anytime a minority class has tried to buck the systemic chains of oppression, the blowback has been severe. Couple this with the fact that the GoP does not and will not ever see the democratic party as a valid form of leadership and we have a difficult road ahead. What world will I be responsible for leaving to my kids? I claim responsibility, because as an educator I am in a position to make some small measure of change. I have not.
I do not know what that change will or should look like.
Perhaps the change should start with narratives. Black Narratives Matter. As do any narrative that reminds us that stories come from many places and look many different ways. I do a good job of that in Mythology, I think. However, the work in ENG and Sci-fi has not been as strong. I have to do better.
Some Thoughts:
- Been nearly a full week of Tabata workouts. I can do the 4 minute for one more week before I clearly need to add time and grow. I’ve lost no weight, but that will come in time…
- I hope.