Posts in Dismantling oppression
How can we meet community needs? Thoughts on in-person, hybrid or remote learning during a global pandemic
How can we meet community needs? Thoughts on in-person, hybrid or remote learning during a global pandemic

As many families grapple between choices of in-person, hybrid, or remote learning, I wanted to share some different articles that have helped me clarify my thinking.

Even if you are not a parent or caregiver, this is an important conversation to be aware of and part of - not only do you likely have friends, family and colleagues who are grappling with these issues, but these are community and systemic issues that impact us all.

Employers have a role too because they have the ability to mitigate the impossible math of working from home full time while your kids are at home full time trying to get an education, and that, as always, disproportionately impacts those already most impacted including BIPOC, low income, and essential worker families and especially the women in those families.

For those who hastily proclaimed that Black Lives Matter these past couple of months, it's time to act like they do.

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Dismantling oppressionAlethea Fitzpatrick#blacklivesmatter, #onlineschool, #DEIinapandemic, #DEIforthelonghaul, #disruption, #schools, #community, #radicalimagination Comment
#Juneteenth
#Juneteenth

By Malaika Aaron-Bishop

Two marches. Two rallies. One drum circle.

A Black woman in a white, lace frock with long diaphanous sleeves carries a megaphone. The dress is at once delicate and commanding. Impractical? Maybe. But still deeply appropriate. She paces, making eye contact with each person and bellows with the ease of any general: "We are crying out as mothers and grandmothers saying... we shall not be stopped, Amen!?"
Crowd: "Amen!"
Woman: "Alright! Forward ever! Backward never!"

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Dismantling oppressionMalaika Aaron-Bishop#juneteenth, #blacklivesmatter, #malaikawrites, #georgefloydprotestsComment
Screaming into the wind
Screaming into the wind

BLACK LIVES MATTER

We say this because the US was founded on the principle that they didn't, and that principle is still at the bedrock of every institution today.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. And all the countless others, these only being the latest.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

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Dismantling oppressionAlethea Fitzpatrick#blacklivesmatter, #protests, #screamingintothewind, #seeingwhite, #whitefragility, #howtobeanatiracist, #natives, #characteristicsofwhitesupremacyculture, #georgefloydprotests, #jamesbaldwin, #paolofriere, #violenceComment
Rethinking what we think of as "disruption"
Rethinking what we think of as "disruption"

What if we could shift the ways in which we have been socialized to think and behave, and adjust to having our kids around not as a disruption but as a re-integration?

An article on "Traditional Indigenous Kinship Practices at Home: Being Child-Centered During the Pandemic" gave me a completely new perspective.

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Dismantling oppressionAlethea Fitzpatrick#onlineschool, #indigenouspractices, #disruption, #capitalism, #DEIinapandemic, #pandemiclifeComment
Holding steady and centering on the most marginalized in times of crisis
Holding steady and centering on the most marginalized in times of crisis

Getting adjusted to the "new normal" and posing some questions.

What does anti-oppression and anti-racism work look like in a pandemic or other crisis?

How can we hold a growth mindset, create realistic plans, and promote transparency and open decision-making? How can we share rather than hoard power? How can we hold space for complexity? How can we collaborate?

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Dismantling oppressionAlethea Fitzpatrick#individualism, #fourlevelsofoppression, #privilege, #characteristicsofwhitesupremacyculture, #DEIinapandemicComment