“I decided it is better to scream. Silence is the real crime against humanity.”
-Nadezhda Mandelstam
How do the words above resonate with you?
Pause here for a moment and free yourself from distractions:
Take a deep breath in... exhale slowly... deep breath in... exhale slowly... deep breath in... exhale slowly... calm your mind and be present...
Silence is the real crime against humanity.... I have to agree...
You mean too much to me to remain silent. With so much going on in the world we all have a responsibility to do better.
What are you not speaking up about?
Think about that for a moment...
How is your silence helping?
...who is it helping...
How can we repair this relationship?
...whether we like it or not, we are in this thing together... what can we do..?
*Gay Hendricks reminds us that in any relationship, each participant must assume 100 percent responsibility of what goes right, and 100 percent responsibility of what goes wrong.
We are in a complex relationship. A huge set of unique individuals living together in one world. We must work together in order to fix what’s broken. It is our responsibility to do the work... repair this relationship for future success.
*Responsibility is a celebration of wholeness. A relationship between two or more people who are each 100 percent responsible for their lives. It’s not a relationship if this is not happening.
If we are not taking 100 percent responsibility for our actions, we are reducing ourselves to an entanglement of victims and oppressors.
“Your silence will not protect you.”
-Audre Lorde
What are you willing to do to become part of the solution, as the struggle continues to dismantle systemic racial oppression and inequality infecting this country?
Let’s talk about the “school-to-prison pipeline:
Wikipedia states, in the United States, the school-to-prison pipeline (SPP), also known as the school-to-prison link or the schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track, is the disproportionate tendency of minors and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated, because of increasingly harsh school and municipal policies.
**Ijeoma Oluo further clarifies, that the term is commonly used to describe the alarming number of black and brown children who are funneled directly and indirectly from our schools into our prison industrial complex, contributing to devastating levels of mass incarceration that lead to one in three black men and one in six Latino men going to prison in their lifetimes, in addition to increased levels of incarceration for women of color.
**Factors that contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline process:
Racial bias of school administrators
Racial bias of teachers
Lack of cultural sensitivity for black and brown children
The pathologizing of black children
Zero tolerance policies
Increased police presence in schools
Undoubtedly, these are complex issues.
How can we address and confront the school-to-prison in conversation?
**Ijeoma Oluo shares these tips in her book So You Want to Talk About Race:
Include SPP in your broader discussions of racial inequality and oppression. There is a deep interconnection between police brutality, mass in incarceration, and the wage gap.
Talk to your schools and school boards. Even if you don't have black and brown children you should be asking what their disciplinary procedures are, suspension rates, racial achievement gap, graduation rates, and what the plan is to address it.
Recognize the achievements of black and brown children. The everyday wins, not just the rare exceptions.
Normalize black and brown childhood. Remember whiteness is the default in our society.
Challenge language that stereotypes black and brown kids.
Discuss deeper causes of defiant and antisocial behavior in black and brown youth. Resist attempts to treat the behavior of black and brown children as both the cause and symptom of the problems they may be facing in schools.
Don’t erase disabled black and brown youth. Disabled kids of color are the most likely to be made victims of overly punitive school discipline and criminalization.
Challenge the legitimacy of white-centered education. We need to ask for truly diverse and inclusive education for all of our kids.
“We cannot give back childhoods lost. Help us save our children now.”
-Ijeoma Oluo
How will you help save our children?
Don’t miss your opportunity! Be intentional, encourage others to do the same and watch what happens.
You got this!
Coach Tavia
#learnandgrow, #leadbyexample, #bethechangeyouwanttoseeinothers, #justdoit, #levelup #youmatter, #blacklivesmatter, #standup, #speakup, #leverageyourprivilege, #Changeiscoming, #dontgiveup, #dontlosehope, #libertyandjusticeforall, #truth, #ittakescourage, #lifecoach, #leadershipcoach, #leadershipdevelopment, #letsgo
References:
*A Year of Living Consciously: 365 Daily Inspirations for Creating a Life of Passion and Purpose, by Gay Hendricks
**So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
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