Posts

Final Paper Proposal: COVID-19; The Great Equalizer or The Great Divider?

Image
   History repeats itself and this is blatantly obvious when examining COVID-19 and its impact on BIPOC. For generations, Blacks have been at a disadvantage, and not just from a socio-economic perspective. Regardless of financial status, BIPOC are still suffering and dying at a much higher rate than Whites. Research indicates that the trauma and stress resulting from decades of structural legacies of racism is a key factor that must be addressed when considering why BIPOC are hardest hit by the pandemic. Living conditions, low-wage jobs, and lack of quality of healthcare all play a role in the transmission of the virus. However, it goes much deeper than these factors. The structural and systemic generations of racism have inflicted unimaginable trauma and stress upon certain groups of people, ultimately impacting their physical health.     How do we use this virus to create systemic change for BIPOC? What can we learn from the virus as certain communities were hardest hit by the pandem
4 comments
Read more

I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin & Race in America

Image
     James Baldwin once said, "American history is longer, larger, more various more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." In his documentary,   I Am Not Your Negro , he discusses the systemic racism we continue to see today, as he talks about three monumental African American figures, all known for their different approaches to social justice and equality. Similar to the documentary,  13th , it paints a picture of the harsh realities that Blacks have endured for centuries. As images of Blacks being beaten and tortured are juxtaposed with images and scenes of Whites enjoying their freedom and everyday living, one can't help but wonder how things got this bad and why they really have not improved all that much by the year 2020. Baldwin does an extraordinary job articulating the gross inequities and conditions that Blacks were faced with (and continue to face today). As he discusses Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X, it bec
6 comments
Read more

Race, culture, class, and gender: The Borderlands

Image
      "When social change begins it cannot be reversed, you cannot un-educate a person who has learned to read, you cannot humiliate the person who feels pride, and you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore." ~Cesar Chavez     This quote so perfectly sums up what the TUSD's Mexican-American Studies program managed to accomplish during its short time.  Denying a certain group of people an education that focuses on their history and culture contributes to the structural racism that plagues schools and society as a whole.  Ethnic studies and the dire need to make it part of the curriculum is a nationwide issue.  Recently, students from the Providence Public School Department attempted to sue the Department of Education for denying them equal access to an Ethnic Studies program.  At the beginning of the documentary, Precious Knowledge , the young man made a powerful comment, "I've never met a kid with a dysfunctional relationship to learning; but, I ha
4 comments
Read more

The School-to-Prison Pipeline

Image
     The documentary, 13th, reveals the harsh torture that Blacks and Browns have endured for decades upon decades.  Sadly, politics and economics continue to be a motivating factor behind influential White supremacists and leaders to this very day.  The sobering statistics, images, and innocent names and faces of POC who were killed unjustly serve as a painful reminder of the decades of trauma we have knowingly inflicted upon fellow humans.  The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and it continues to grow at an exponential rate.  With the demise of slavery, which once served as our economic system, four million former slaves were suddenly free, as they were no longer someone's property.  What do you do with these former slaves?  How do you rebuild the economy?  These were just some of the questions posed during the documentary.  Well, as the document reminds us, there are loopholes in the 13th amendment- loopholes that do not protect criminals.  The solut
2 comments
Read more

Actions Speak Louder than Words...

Image
 
Post a Comment
Read more

Sickness When in Wealth

Image
      History repeats itself and this is blatantly obvious when examining COVID-19 and its impact on BIPOC. For generations, Blacks have been at a disadvantage, and not just from a socio-economic perspective. Regardless of financial status, BIPOC are still suffering and dying at a much higher rate than Whites. Research indicates that the trauma and stress resulting from decades of structural legacies of racism is a key factor that must be addressed when considering why BIPOC are hardest hit by the pandemic and natural disasters, as well. Living conditions, low-wage jobs, and lack of quality of healthcare all play a role in the transmission of the virus. However, it goes much deeper than these factors. The structural and systemic generations of racism have inflicted unimaginable trauma and stress upon certain groups of people, ultimately impacting their physical health. BIPOC do not have higher cases of diabetes and heart disease because of the amount of melanin in their skin, or becaus
4 comments
Read more

My manifesto:

  I am a teacher who stands up for my students against inequality and systemic racism , who is in favor of permanent change against oppression , who is a supporter of justice against injustice , and who is a defender of BIPOC against white supremacists . I am a teacher who favors the permanent struggle against racism and against social injustice . I am a teacher who rejects the status quo because it is responsible for violence, hatred, and injustice . I am a teacher full of energy , in spite of negativity . I am a teacher who refuses to remain complacent . I am a teacher proud of my students . If I do not struggle for my students , then I will no longer be doing my job .
9 comments
Read more