Educating Ourselves

Hi Friends!

So many resources and bits of information for all of you this time! I’m working through a backlog of wonderful resources I’ve been collecting (thank you to those of you who send me things to share!), so please bear with me and the length of this email.

First, we need to settle on a date for the Integrated Schools presentation. We had planned on a weekend in January before the Kindergarten Information Night currently scheduled for January 28. I believe January 12 or 13 would be our best opportunity. I’ll be booking a library location, I think, unless anyone has a better venue suggestion. We’ll need an internet connection and ideally a projection screen/laptop connection for the live feed.

(1) Do you have a date/time preference?
(2) Can you help during the event? (setup/cleanup, refreshments, supplies)
(3) Can you help get the word out beforehand, either to email lists or otherwise?
(4) Do you have any questions/concerns about this event?

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a consultant who is working with the school district to address its diversity and inclusion. If you would like to contribute to the data and feedback he is collecting, I will happily pass it along to him.

I spoke at the School Board Elementary School Boundary Process hearing last night, and there were quite a few of our group members there, too! Thank you for taking the time to advocate. It was very interesting hearing so many parents in the room talk about segregation and preventing Columbia Pike from becoming another Route 50. No matter your perspective on individual opinions, the number of people willing to name segregation and speaking about keeping diverse communities together was encouraging.

One of our group members has a student at W-L and is interested in advocating with the principal about the pending name change (or at least taking down the Lee portraits while it’s being discussed). If anyone would like to join her in this effort, let me know and I’ll connect you.

Some community events:
(1) Challenging Racism is hosting Table Topics on Thursday, November 29 at 7:30 pm at the Central Library (Quincy Room). All are welcome.
(2) Leslie Mac is hosting an Allies in Action Bootcamp from March 28–31 in the Highlands of North Carolina.
(3) None of Us is Free Until All of Us Are Free workshop series, December 12 at 7 pm.
(4) Wilma Jones is speaking at the Black History Museum of Arlington on Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 pm about her book My Halls Hill Family: More Than a Neighborhood.

Updates and resources:
(1) One of the first four black students to integrate Arlington’s schools died in October and this write-up about that moment in Arlington’s history is worth reading.
(2) After the Philadelphia Starbucks incident, two witnesses created an organization called From Privilege to Progress, which has some wonderful resources and suggestions for how to show up against racism.
(3) A few of our members let me know about the New York Times Race/Related newsletter edited by Lauretta Charlton. It’s free!
(4) The FBI recently released its latest hate crime count for 2017. The SPLC countered quickly to describe the ways in which that report (which has significantly increased numbers over past years) is not even close to counting all of the incidents of hate crime in our country.
(5) Color of Change, SURJ, and Matt McGorry teamed up for Bold Conversations to encourage white people to talk to white people about racism (language heads up for the video). SURJ Families also has resources around the holidays (sorry I didn’t get these out before Thanksgiving!). And here’s some encouragement — people can change their views!

Thank you for reading, listening, and speaking up.

Emily
Listen. Amplify. Follow.