Seneca has been proud to partner with Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy for over a decade. This small Oakland school has had an explicitly social justice-oriented mission since its inception. As they state on their website, “Street Academy exists to resist race, class and other inequalities in our public schools, in our society and in our world.”
It’s timely to highlight Street Academy at this moment, in which we’re all called to reflect on how deeply we’re truly living the values we claim, particularly the values of equity and justice, both on the individual level and as parts of our organizations and systems.
Last weekend, Director of School Partnerships Toshia Mears sent to our All-In Leadership Team an article titled Your Black Colleagues May Look OK - Chances Are They’re Not. I really needed to see this article. I wish I hadn’t needed it so badly, but I definitely did.
It helped me realize how frozen I get when faced with horrific examples of the centuries of dehumanization and structural racism against Black people in America. Reckoning with the truth of the unearned privilege I receive as a white man; acknowledging how disconnected I’ve been from what’s been in the hearts and minds of my Black colleagues forever, and so acutely since the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery; feeling stuck in my white shame, not knowing what to do or say; freezing up.
It’s timely to highlight Street Academy at this moment, in which we’re all called to reflect on how deeply we’re truly living the values we claim, particularly the values of equity and justice, both on the individual level and as parts of our organizations and systems.
Last weekend, Director of School Partnerships Toshia Mears sent to our All-In Leadership Team an article titled Your Black Colleagues May Look OK - Chances Are They’re Not. I really needed to see this article. I wish I hadn’t needed it so badly, but I definitely did.
It helped me realize how frozen I get when faced with horrific examples of the centuries of dehumanization and structural racism against Black people in America. Reckoning with the truth of the unearned privilege I receive as a white man; acknowledging how disconnected I’ve been from what’s been in the hearts and minds of my Black colleagues forever, and so acutely since the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery; feeling stuck in my white shame, not knowing what to do or say; freezing up.
I again saw myself reflected in this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle, in an article entitled Being a white ally of African Americans means more than just protesting: “Emmy Award-winning comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell of Berkeley said that ‘right now, a lot of white people are frozen by the (feeling), “I don’t know what to do, so I’ll do nothing.” That’s why black people get brutalized by police officers over and over again, because white people go, “That was so bad, I feel so bad.” But then a couple of weeks later (they say), “Back to my yoga classes,”’ Bell told Conan O’Brien on his TBS show last week.”
I recognize a pattern in me that has three steps:
I recognize a pattern in me that has three steps:
- I am ignorant of and disconnected from the realities of racism and racialized brutality;
- I become aware - at least for a moment - of how ignorant and disconnected I am;
- I immediately go into a frozen, ashamed place.
Whether I’m in step one through step three of that pattern, I’m of no use to anyone. So, my commitment is to learn from the feelings of shame and embarrassment about my ignorance or inaction, but not to stay stuck in them.
Real change takes time and ongoing commitment. I don’t want to be heading back to the yoga class of white complacency W. Kamau Bell is talking about in a couple weeks. It’s easy to make statements or intentions for change and not follow through on them. So here are a few things I’m going to do in order to learn better and get stuck less:
1. Embed reminders into meeting spaces. Lindsey Fuller, Bay Area Regional Manager of Student Services at Aspire Public Schools, recently shared with me some prompts that their SEL team uses during the Equity Pause they hold in each of their meetings.
Real change takes time and ongoing commitment. I don’t want to be heading back to the yoga class of white complacency W. Kamau Bell is talking about in a couple weeks. It’s easy to make statements or intentions for change and not follow through on them. So here are a few things I’m going to do in order to learn better and get stuck less:
1. Embed reminders into meeting spaces. Lindsey Fuller, Bay Area Regional Manager of Student Services at Aspire Public Schools, recently shared with me some prompts that their SEL team uses during the Equity Pause they hold in each of their meetings.
- Are we perpetuating any inequities?
- What additional voices need to be included (Margin to Center)?
- Do we need to more explicitly bring our Equity Belief Statements into the discussion?
2. Continuing to educate myself. There are so many resources available. I need to stay active in exploring what’s out there and in engaging in dialogue about them. I’m currently reading My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem and am finding the content and the body-based mindfulness experiential activities very powerful. If anyone is interested in reading/discussing this as part of a book club, please reach out to me.
3. Practice Mindfulness. Dallas Fletcher delivered a powerful Ahimsa training about five years ago. He invited us to reflect on disproportionality in discipline data from Seneca schools and to reflect on how implicit bias plays a central role in that. He also taught that mindfulness practice has been proven effective in reducing implicit bias. I want to improve my ability to be present, especially in uncomfortable or challenging conversations. I don’t want to avoid/escape/dissociate. So I’m hoping a daily practice of sitting quietly and paying attention to my breath and body for at least a few minutes will help me stay present in the spaces my days take me through.
Blog Post Written By: Jason Keppe, Director of School Partnerships & Training Director
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