Dear Bry, Note To Self. You Witnessed Something Spectacular Last Night and Wanted to Share with @writeantiracist & Blogged This Instead

I pre-ordered the book The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop - How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom simply because I'm a National Writing Project Director and tend to collect all the books I can about teaching writing. I ordered 3 copies, actually, because I wanted to talk with teacher leaders, Rebecca Marsick and Kimberly Herzog, about how they would read this with their faculty in a predominantly White, and affluent Connecticut School. 

But then I realized, "Crandall, this is bigger than you. This is bigger than Connecticut  You need many to have a conversation with," and did an all-call to several friends in the National Writing Project and to writers of K-12 writing who have also influenced my thinking. Before I turned to page one, I wanted to be sure I created a book club that was super-diverse (Vertovec inspired), regional, and representative of the American landscape: rural, urban, suburban, Asian, White, Black, Latina, and male (because their is a lack of males in literacy, and I wanted some representation). 

We have 36 people signed up, and I'm going for laid back obligation. They must read the book, they must contribute, and they must help all of us, together, to be smarter. 

Last night, 24 of us entered the arena with the task of facing 5 locations we wanted to talk about in Chavez's text. Now, I know that was impossible, as I had 104 places, but being a geek, I collapsed those spaces to make 4 assertions I want to ask educators...

...note, our crew is working to adapt Felicia Rose Chavez's thinking into a protocol or one-pager or two-pager that prompts K-12 teachers to think about their own practices to establish anti-racist workshops.

I was interested in how after the meeting, a multicultural medley of thinkers stayed behind to talk about the book even more, especially as we negotiated the category of racist, Whiteness, Blackness, and all the other-ness we see in our schools: classism, ableism, regionalism, ageism, sexism, etc. Many concurred that it's not enough to be anti-racist, but we need to be pro-diversity, pro-uniqueness, pro-individualism, and most importantly, pro-every student. 

But it's hard, and I think that is why so many hovered behind....a representation of multiple voices.

The one take away was that after reading the book, we realize that the institutions, the traditions, and the habits are so, so thick, that it seems impossible to redo them, rethink them, and most importantly restructure them. I discussed briefly the Australian Film Flirting and how, as a 19 year old I saw it in a film class and realized....as a kid, really...that the infrastructures aren't only American, but global. 

I loved how an aboriginal young woman and a nerdy White boy flipped storytelling on its head. 

Anyway...this is a blog and a rant as I begin my day. I like to teach by listening, processing, and offering additional wonders into the world. 

Felicia Rose Chavez and her citing of Lerman and Borstel (2003) brought me back to my Annenburg days and Critical Friends Training at Harvard. I went to the National School Reform Site now hosted at Harmony School and recalled all the protocols we worked on and reformatted. I loved finding the ones on equity and diversity that I want to revisit. 

In short, I want us to write a protocol Lerman and Borstel used, influenced by Chavez's book, that initiates conversations in our K-12 schools.

And that is why I summoned so many others I trust and learn from. I think the power comes from community, and working through the complexities together. We are doing this, of course, to help others to do the same.