Ep. 68: Throw Out the White Canon #DisruptText Part II w/ Lorena German
Note to listeners: This episode was recorded in mid-February as a part II to episode 65 “Throw Out the White Cannon #DisruptTexts
Shortly after this recording, Lorena German was featured in The New York Times “Bringing A New Vibe to the Classroom.”
EQ: What does it mean to teach in multicultural and multilingual classrooms and communities in 2020?
Guest: Lorena German, classroom educator and Chair of the National Council of English Teacher’s Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English and co-founder of #DisruptTexts
In this episode, Lorena explains the origins of The Multicultural Classroom and its mission: “we aim to address the national issue of effectively teaching in multicultural and multi-lingual classrooms and communities. We believe that a culturally sustaining pedagogy can be practiced through targeted professional development.” Lorena also digs into her work on the NCTE Committee Against Racism & Bias and how it’s helped her advance her vision of effective and compassionate teaching in multicultural/multilingual classrooms. She talks about her role in co-founding #DisruptTexts with Julia Torres and Tricia Ebarvia and future projects she’s looking forward to. Read her post “Disrupting Shakespeare”.
Champagne 🥂 & Real Pain 👎🏻
🥂 The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
🥂 Black educators on Twitter (i.e. Kelly Wickham Hurst)
👎🏻 Revisionist history and people beating the drum about white history
Do Your Fudging HW:
Hope: Check out our links in these show notes and Lorena’s work! Go buy her book “The Anti-Racist Reading Instruction Workbook”
Annie: “School Segregation is Not a Myth” by Will Stancil from The Atlantic
Lorena: people of color - do the thing. We need you and we need your voice. If you benefit from white privilege, be an accomplice at work and support your coworkers of color.
Follow Lorena on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 67: What A Pandemic Reveals About Education Equity--Teaching & Learning During the Covid-19 Outbreak
Note to listeners: This episode was recorded on Saturday March 14. Some information may have changed by the date this was published. Unfortunately, due to timezone issues, Annie was unable to join the discussion.
EQ: What has this pandemic revealed about issues of equity and access in education?
Guests: Aaron Shelby, Secondary Curriculum Coordinator, and Amy Daraiseh, Learning Support at the American School of Abu Dhabi.
Weeks ago, educators in East Asia transitioned to virtual teaching, offering synchronous (live) and asynchronous learning opportunities for students kindergarten through university level. Many international teachers kept tabs on this progression, perusing social media for what was inevitably coming to all of us. Concerns about teaching students with special needs, supporting English language learners, and managing poor internet connection across the globe were hot topics on many message boards. For better or for worse, it seemed the US was living blissfully in denial of the impending virus that would sweep the nation and ask educators to re-examine what it means to teach and to learn in the midst of a pandemic.
To get some perspective on the logistics of remote learning, listen to the conversation “Teaching Online During the Covid-19 Outbreak” Nate Bowling had with two teachers, Jordan Moog and Michele Curley, from the American School of Abu Dhabi.
In this episode, two of Hope’s favorite colleagues join her for a discussion on the range of equity issues rising to the surface in educating in the “new frontier” of the coronavirus. We discuss special education accommodations, tech access, wrap-around services (food, childcare, medical care), and how to provide social-emotional support to students in a time of crisis. Our conversation has a global framing but Hope weaves in Washington specific data and concerns in order to keep listeners grounded in something more familiar.
Learn about what’s happening in WA state:
WA State bill passed to address concerns around graduation
Everyone should follow Seattle Times Staff reporter Dahlia Bazzaz as she keeps tabs on the impact of the coronavirus on education issues in WA state. Start with this article “First Day of No School”
Around the World:
Champagne & Real Pain:
🥂 to Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Community and all the educators making themselves vulnerable to share ideas.
🥂 Naomi Campbell for telling us to wipe down our seats
🥂 American Community School administration and colleagues
👎🏻 to the ashholes who are hoarding TP and being butts to others during a time of crisis
👎🏻 those who are still traveling which puts others in danger
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: keep sharing your resources, bringing hopeful in the midst of chaos
Amy: channel positive energy and spread it to those around you
Aaron: be good to yourself and check in on your neighbor
Follow our guests on the socials: Aaron Shelby (Twitter) Amy Daraiseh (Twitter)
Ep. 66: Let Black Folks Do What They Want With Their Hair
EQ: How is hair discrimination a not-so-subtle manifestation of racism & white supremacy? Why can’t white folks just let black folks do what they want with their hair?
Guest: Jenna Hanchard is a lifelong community storyteller who has spent her career centering and amplifying diverse voices. Jenna is the leader of Culture & Innovation at The Riveter Co, a women-run co-working and community company poised to become a modern union of working women. She is a three-time Emmy award winner and an Edward R. Murrow award recipient. She was also on the Nerd Farmer Podcast Episode 9 on covering Tacoma and TV News, and Episode 53 “Review in Shadecast”
In this episode, Jenna explains how hair discrimination is rooted in white supremacist ideologies that view hair style as choice rather than understanding the way hair styles reflect culture and history. She shares the story behind Washington state’s HB 2602 (a kind of “Crown Act” bill), led by Representative Melanie Morgan and the intentional language choices in this bill. Jenna gives concrete advice for how to disrupt hair discrimination in the work place (and schools). We hope you leave this conversation challenged and motivated to examine the policies that do/don’t exist in our school districts, our cities, and our states. Call your local legislator using the hotline 1800-562-600 “I’m calling to support HB 2602 because everyone deserves the right to wear their natural hair. Because not passing this bill would directly perpetuate systemic racism in our country.” ALSO, go sign The Crown Act petition!
Context for Hair Discrimination Legislation:
High profile cases for hair discrimination:
Wrestler Andrew Johnson who was forced to cut his dreads in the middle of a wrestling match. Shame on that NJ Wrestling Ref, Alan Maloney for forcing it.
Move to pass legislation:
Progress in WA state:
In January, Seattle Times reported that the legislator was entertaining a bill that would create a set of protected hairstyles (afros, braids, etc).
Pierce County Legislator has it Right: Stop Policing & judging Black People’s Hair
Champagne & Real Pain:
🥂 Texas lawmakers considering ban on hair discrimination
🥂 The Crown Coalition sponsored and supported by Dov
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Go watch Hair Love and watch you attitude about people's hair
Annie: learn history! Shout out to Teen Vogue for pivoting from vapid fluff to hard-hitting journalism.
Jenna: look and see where your state is--what’s passed, not passed, look at local district policies. If there isn't a bill figure out how to get one started. If there is, go and show up.
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 65: Throw Out the White Canon #DisruptTexts
EQ: Why is it important to interrogate our notions of a traditional “canon” and create a more inclusive curriculum (especially ELA)?
Guests today are Julia Torres, Tricia Ebarvia two of the amazing women who started the #disrupttexts movement.
To learn more about the work of Julia Torres
Vice-President and President of the regional NCTE affiliate–The Colorado Language Arts Society
To learn more about the work of Tricia Ebarvia
Literacy consultant & fellow for The Educator Collaborative.
Contributes regularly to Moving Writers and Write Share Connect
In our conversation we discuss the impetus for the creation and organization of #disrupttexts and why this is a critical movement for educators in 2020. When we asked which text had met the greatest pushback from traditional canon advocates, we thought for sure the answer would be Shakespeare or Lord of the Flies. Surprisingly, it is the stance against To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby that has met the most white fragility. Julia and Tricia remind us that what we value will be what is centered in our classrooms. The inclination for ELA teachers to hold tight to their ideals about the canon are completing rooted in a cultural canon constructed and perpetuated by a racist system. The notion of cultural capital is inherently white and we have to change that. We have to have the knowledge, will, and capacity to do what we can to change this system.
Other References & Resources:
James Banks Approaches to Multicultural Education
Carol Anderson We Are Not Yet Equal
Evette Dionne Lifting As We Climb
Ibram X. Kendhi Stamped From the Beginning
Tiffany Jewel This Book is Antiracist
Liz Ann Baez Aguilar “Having Courageous Conversations in the Classroom”
Val Brown “Clear the Air”
Champagne & Real Pain
👎🏻 👎🏻 Barnes & Nobles “Fake Diversity”
Do Your Fudging HW:
Hope: Go read some of the blog posts on #disrupttexts and then take ONE action to applying an idea in your current unit or build multiple steps into an upcoming unit
Annie: check out past #disrupttexts Twitter chats to see how educators are engaging with this awesome organization
Julia: a) Buy #disrupttexts gear and wear it or give it to a friend b) Read “hard history” and counternarratives--Indigenous History of the US, Stamped by Kendi & Reynolds, Evette Dionne Lifting As We Climb
Tricia: read all the things that Julia said and “The Racial Healing Handbook” by Dr. Singh
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 64: Why We ALL Need an Equity Literacy Framework
Today’s episode is extra special to us as we get to chat with two incredible educators who are shaping the profession through their interrogation of the personal and professional ways educators perpetuate white cultural norms in schools.
Our essential question is: How can we “learn to be a threat to inequity in our spheres of influence” in 2020?
Guests: Katy Swalwell, Associate Professor of Social & Cultural Studies in the School of Education at Iowa State University, and Paul Gorski, founder of Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange.
We first heard about the equity literacy framework from our guest Marquita Prinzing in Ep 46: Don’t be a Passive Progressive Educator and were incredibly excited when Katy reached out to us to share how she was using the podcast with her pre-service teachers. We are incredibly grateful she and Paul were able to come on the show.
In this episode Katy and Paul describe how they came to this work, specifically unpacking the idea of equity literacy which “moves us beyond cultural competency.” They share how schools and districts are approaching this differently than a simple list of strategies and emphasize that this work is a mindset shift. We highly recommend that listeners spend some time with the Equity Literacy Institute directly.
Finally, we ask Paul to share the story behind his controversial tweet that calls out white liberalism.
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Read through the equity literacy framework and do a little audit on your life--start first with classroom (the place you have immediate control), then dept/school (larger circles of control).
Annie: follow Paul on Twitter, follow Katy even though she doesn’t tweet very much. Read their work and buy their book when it comes out.
Paul: Teaching Tolerance & New York Collaborative of Radical Educators (NYCORE), Teachers 4 Social Justice
Katy: Carter Center for Black History, Freeminds Free People, Paul Ortiz’s History Book, Dolly Parton's America, Dr. Noreen Naseem @NaseemRdz, NYCORE, Rethinking Schools, Zinn Education Project
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 63: Rethinking the Purpose of Spirituality in 2020
EQ: What obligation do religious communities have in fighting injustice?
Guest: Dana Coggan is an "environmental advocate, community connector, youth advocate, minister."
Note to listeners: Last January we had Erin Jones on the show to discuss her take on evangelicalism and politics. Today we’re excited to invite Dana Coggan on our show to have a similar conversation but casting a wider net for understanding faith and spirituality.
In this episode we discuss the different between being spiritual and being religious. We share stories of how “the church” can both “shape and scare you.” In sharing our own experiences and hearing Dana’s perspective, we reference a handful of current events such as how organizations like Christianity Today, the Methodist Church, and the Mormon Church are struggling to stay relevant or speak out against injustice.
References:
Champagne & Real Pain:
🥂 Open and Affirming Churches
👎🏻👎🏻 “Evangelicals” and Trump as Jesus; Mormon church abusing tax exemption
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: reconsider the notion of what religion looks like in your life.
Annie: Educators, flex your compassion and empathy with your students from faiths and religious practices that differ from your own.
Dana: Speak out against the displacement of local homeless community
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 62: Why Social Justice Education Matters in A World on Fire
EQ: How can social justice education help students and teachers be better global citizens?
Today our guest is Christina Torres also known as @biblio_phile.
From Teach For America to leading her own classroom at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Torres opens up about her journey as a social justice educator. Throughout the episode we circle back to three major questions:
What is my work in justice now, given my position of privilege?
How can I make my kids feel safe/heard/comforted at this moment in time?
How can I continuously reflect and grow in my own awareness about matters of justice in the world?
We know that our students will face a variety of challenges, injustices and problems in the world. It’s not about what they will experience but a matter of how they might experience it. Social justice oriented educators strive to equip students with the tools to navigate the challenges (not necessarily solve them). We help students understand the “danger of a single story.”
Finally, we explore the tension between staying aware and protecting our mental health/managing tumultuous times through self-care. We share our own strategies for helping students discuss these important issues while managing the array of emotion present in any given classroom.
References & Resources:
Read Christina’s work at any of the following: ChristinaTorres.Org, Teaching Tolerance, Honolulu Civil Beat, TeacherPop, PRX’s OnBeing, and EdWeek Teacher.
Hope especially likes these two pieces: Assessment as an Act of Love; Mindfulness Won’t Save Us. Fixing the System Will.
According to Oxfam global citizenship is a framework where students:
Build their own understanding of world events.
Think about their values and what's important to them.
Take learning into the real world.
Challenge ignorance and intolerance.
Get involved in their local, national and global communities.
Develop an argument and voice their opinions.
See that they have power to act and influence the world around them.
Unesco defines global citizenship in this way, “While the world may be increasingly interconnected, human rights violations, inequality and poverty still threaten peace and sustainability.”
NPR Podcast “Codeswitch”
Do You Fudging Homework:
Hope: read up on global citizenship and why, even if you’ve never left Tacoma or whatever city you’re listening from, you should adopt that framework for your life.
Christina: NPR Throughline podcast
Contact Christina ChristinaTorres.Org or on Twitter @bilbio_phile
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 61: Fighting for Equity in New Zealand Public Schools
Essential Question: How is fighting for equity in schools a universal struggle?
Sometimes you attend a conference and one of the most powerful takeaways is a connection with someone from another part of the world. When Hope was partnered with Naketa during a pair-share exercise, she knew this was a conversation that needed to be recorded and shared with a wider audience. This week’s episode is truly a GLOBAL conversation. On December 21, Annie braved floods to record in our Tacoma studio. Our amazing guest, Naketa Ikihele woke up bright and early to record with us on her summer vacation (from her car!). Hope tried not to laugh too loudly at 1 am as she recorded in her sister’s dining room in the Philippines.
Naketa Ikihele is a primary school educator, and coach/consultant with Kia Mahira in Auckland, NZ. To start the show, she introduces herself with a traditional opening common in Maori culture that honors her family, tribe, and land. Throughout the episode, we compare NZ and US education systems, specifically focusing on how teachers fight for diversity and equitable educational opportunities for all students. Naketa shares insight into governance and the effort to revitalize cultural pride in indigenous children. She also describes how NZ systems approach challenges such as the recruitment of teachers and supporting vulnerable students. One highlight is when Naketa shares that developing partnerships with parents is starting with a simple question “what do you dream for your child?”
For further study:
Government program New Zealand Now
Webber and MacFarlane’s research The Transformative Role of Iwi Knowledge and Genealogy in Maori Student Success
You can follow Naketa’s work by visiting her websiteKia Mahira or on Twitter @Naketa_NZ
Champagne & Real Pain:
🥂 2019 is basically over. Good riddance.
👎🏻 People comparing Donald Trump’s impeachment trial to Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilot
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: read one of the links we posted & make room in your mind
Annie: learn more about global poverty from the “We Day” website
Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast
Ep. 60: It's the Most Wonderful Time To Reignite the War on Christmas
EQ: How should we handle holidays in the classroom, are they uniquely special abroad, and what do we have to be thankful for this year?
We review our generally warm feelings about this time of the year, but acknowledge our very Christian upbringings. We delve into why it’s not okay to force Christmas imagery in the classroom even if you are “properly teaching it” or trying to be “exclusive”. We blame Tom Rademacher for restarting the war on Christmas (aka white middle class women) with this tweet:
If you don’t get the reference, check out this article from Snopes on the history of the struggle.
Annie and I reflect on why so many Americans “need” to compare everything to Christmas (Christian) traditions. Go read Stop Calling Hanukah the Jewish Christmas. Finally we toast (pass out hypothetical cookies) to our dear friends and family. We are free with the goal for all the shady folks making the holidays about consumerism and Elf on a Shelf.
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Teaching Tolerance series : anti-bias guide to the holidays
Annie: make your New Years’ Resolution outwardly focused this year and consider what you can do to make the world a better place. List your favorite social justice causes and dedicate extra attention to them this year.
Ep. 59: On Representation in Film & Creating New Archetypes
EQ: Why are women, specifically women of color, underrepresented in media and media production and what can be done to elevate their voices and experiences?
Guest: June Nho Ivers. June is a documentary filmmaker and previously joined us for Episode 55: Understanding Gentrification, Displacement, and Mass Incarceration with the incredible Tonya Wilson.
Every aspect of this conversation felt like it should be longer. We’ve tried to include links to all the things mentioned in this episode in hopes that you will #belessbasic and learn more about the challenges of representation in media and the way it is changing.
Movies Mentioned:
Cannes Jury led by first Latin American Filmmaker to lead Jury Inarritu
Parasite by Bong Joon-Ho (spoilers in this review)
Shows with a Female Lens:
Horror as a sociological genre:
Us
Get out
LGBTQ lens:
Ryan Murphy
Glee
American Horror Story
Pose
Asian Diaspora Representation:
To all the boys I loved article on Jenny Han/ Whitewashing Casting
Music Conversation
Seattle Talent
Theater
Other Related Links:
Roger Ebert defending the filmmakers of Better Luck Tomorrow
Champagne & Real Pain:
Champagne: Elle Magazine just released their 2019 Women in Hollywood Power List and 6 of the 12 finalists are women of color.
Real Pain: NBC - yes, the television network - for attempting to derail Ronan Farrow’s story exposing Harvey Weinstein.
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Maureen Goo
Annie: Go read the Elle Magazine 2019 Women in Hollywood Power List. Women and Hollywood, specifically their resources on Women of Color in media and the importance of representation.
June: Free the Work , Harlot, Kingdom
Ep. 58: Equity in Science Education
EQ: Why is equity an issue in science education and what can be done to promote access and opportunity for women, students of color, and young people living in poverty?
Guests: Natalie Reszka and Jen Holm, Masters in Science Education both educators at Lincoln High School in Tacoma.
Natalie and Jen share their journey into the sciences, including barriers they face as women in this field. They unpack systemic issues current facing low-income high schools and the lack of funding to support well-rounded science programs. They elaborate on concrete ways they help students see themselves as scientists, and why we need to speak up and advocate for our students, calling out disparities in science education.
Related Links:
Students of Color Face Persistent Disparities in Access to Advanced STEM Courses
Latinos, African-Americans have less access to math, science classes, new data show
More black and Hispanic science teachers could mean more scientists of color
Murdoch Charitable Trust Grant program
Donate to Jen and Natalie’s classrooms!
For a tax-deductible donation send a check to Lincoln High School addressed to Patrick Eriwn with a note for Natalie Reszka (nreszka@tacoma.k12.wa.us) or Jen Holm (jholm@tacoma.k12.wa.us)
Contribute via Venmo @Natalie-Reszka
Champagne & Real Pain:
Champagne: first all female space walk!
Real Pain: For the DB who think that only men can be scientists or enter scientific fields; those denying climate change
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: read the research about gatekeeping in science and continue to educate yourself about educational disparities. There’s a ton of great research and we need to revive science education to literally save the planet.
Natalie: Watch Before the Flood
Ep. 57: Don't Be a Chump. Support Women's Soccer.
EQ: How has the explosive growth of professional women’s soccer changed the conversation about the game?
Guest: Teresa Predmore , Reign FC
In this episode, we’re beyond excited to welcome Teresa Predmore, co-owner of Reign FC. Teresa shares her journey as a female athlete through the world of women’s soccer. She discusses what it means to be at the forefront of “changing the game” and impacting the larger community. She unpacks what it’s like to be in the game with other movers and shakers like Tammy Murphy of Sky Blue FC and how women in leadership are shaking things up. Lastly, Teresa breaks down the academy system and elaborates on why investing in young women (especially soccer players) matters.
Relevant links:
Reign Academy Discovery Sessions & Coaching Staff
Reign FC in the NWSL playoffs, NWSL Semi-Finals Recap
Since recording: Reign Coach name next USWNT coach!
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Julie Ertz "Chase Your Dreams"
Teresa: 1) Go to the Games 2) Buy the merch and where it EVERYWHERE 3) Bring your kids 4) Support Reign Academy Scholarships
Annie: BUY REIGN GEAR!
Ep. 56: An Interview With Leah Ford On Being a Boob Defender
Note to listeners: This was our last pre-recorded episode from the summer. We recorded this back in August during National Breastfeeding Month! Enjoy!
EQ: What is the current state of women’s health in Pierce County and why is this a social justice issue?
Guest: Leah Ford, a TESC graduate, breastfeeding peer counselor, mother of 2 and advocate for women’s health in Pierce County.
Leah defines the role of a breastfeeding peer counselor, explains why it’s so crucial for breastfeeding moms (especially of color), and why this work is not recognized on a systemic level. For example, while Pierce County needs more peer counselors it doesn’t offer benefits and supports to generate more interest. For varying reasons, our county doesn’t follow effective models like King County.
Leah elaborates on the racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding citing important data around why Black Women Higher Risk of Pregnancy Complications and how America Is Failing Black Moms. The conversation includes wrestling with the biggest challenges in health services in Pierce County and what we need to do to overcome these issues.
A few resources mentioned in the episode:
Champagne & Real Pain:
Champagne: for the Target in Weatherford, Texas put up signs in their store telling parents to breastfeed wherever and whenever they need to.
Real Pain: for the lifeguard at the Kokomo Beach Water Park in Kokomo, Indiana for telling a breastfeeding mom to stop even though Indiana state law allows women to breastfeed anywhere.
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: normalize breastfeeding by encouraging your favorite local businesses to put up signage or create a comfortable space for breastfeeding parents (not in a bathroom stall, please).
Hope: Deal with your issues if you’re uncomfortable with breastfeeding--if you’re in the medical field, try to use privileges to complain/criticize/critique the system in order to improve it.
Leah: support moms by offering breastfeeding rooms; reconsider the time of breaks; make a policy as your office (if you don’t know what this looks like, research tool kits and adopt a reasonable policy).
Ep. 55: Understanding Gentrification, Displacement, & Mass Incarceration
In this episode, we’re lucky to have interview two guests. Tonya Wilson, Tacoma native--born & raised on the Hilltop, considers herself a voice of the community. She is pursuing her Bachelors in Education at the Evergreen State College. June Nho Ivers is the producer of the documentary “Since I’ve Been Down.” She shares her experiences as producer and her takeaways from this project.
Discussion Highlights:
How Tacoma and Hilltop has changed (from pariah to darling)
How the housing crisis is an ever-present concern
The role of the prison-industrial complex in shaping and defining communities
A discussion of the documentary “Since I Been Down”
Why we need to create space for the voices that disrupt the common narrative
Democratization of film-making
Learn More:
How criminalization swept away an entire generation
“Since I Been Down” Trailer & Doc intro
Tonya’s story here WCCW Freedom Education Project Valedictorian and The IF Project
Interview with Dr. Gilda Sheppard “The US is a Prison State” on Nerd Farm Podcast
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Hope: Watch Tonya’s Tedx Talk - "Cracked Sidewalks"
Annie: Look into and support the work of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute.
Tonya: Vote for the people who are closest to you
June: When They See Us; go to Black Prisoners Caucus
Ep. 54: Read Less Basic Book Club--"White Rage" by Carol Anderson
Today we're discussing our 2nd book in the #readlessbasic book club. We encourage listeners to read more of Carol Anderson’s work and listen to her interview on Democracy Now.
Guests: Nate Bowling and Jennifer Newton
Nate Bowling, host of the Channel 253 Nerd Farmer podcast
Jennifer Newton, long time listener and even longer time friend. Educator, NBCT and general rabblerouser
Discussion Highlights:
The connection between Anderson’s work and Derek Jensen’s Endgame
The nature & goals of the book. Feels almost like a “second in a trilogy”
White Fragility
White Rage
Things we gloss over in history classes but Anderson brings home
How our own racial identity influences our reading of the book
Criticism and wishes for the text
Why everyone should read White Rage in the current political climate
Listener To Do List:
Read the discussion of this book on Twitter #cleartheair
Human Smoke Nicholson Baker
“The Tunnel” Criminal Podcast, Episode 120
Ep. 53: Be A Visible Ally
EQ: With the start of the new - school year, how can educators be better allies to LGBTQ+ students and colleagues?
Guest: Caroline Kyle Menzia is an elementary school counselor at Geiger Montessori who helps facilitate Tacoma Public School's LGBTQ PLC (professional learning community). Here's their SWAY site for reference and resources you can use.
Caroline explains how she became passionate about working as an ally for children, especially LGBTQ students. She shares why it’s essential for schools to ensure that “Everyone is welcome” at school. Caroline makes the case that adults need to be visible allies who are flexible and not afraid to be uncomfortable.
Some tips she shares:
Be open to feedback from parents and community to help you be better
Normalize talking about pronouns
Put your pronouns in your email signature
Use your bulletin boards and bookshelves to create welcoming and safe spaces
Resources to support your work:
New OSPI health & physical education standards from OSPI
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: GLSEN’s Safe Space Kit. Specifically, check out the guide to Being an Ally to LGBT Students. It’s a great resource for educators!
Hope: Add a book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist and/or authors
Caroline: GLSEN steps for responding to anti-language--PRACTICE THIS AT HOME IN THE MIRROR. Decide 3-4 things you will do starting TODAY!
Ep. 52: You're Not Innovating If You're Not Solving Problems
***NOTE TO LISTENERS: We recorded this episode at the start of summer. Apologies for anything that feels dated.
EQ: How can the ed tech industry work with schools, teachers, and within its own ranks to create equity?
Guest: Holly Morris is an educational technology innovator whose work over the last 10 years has focused on facilitating the creation of engaging learning environments at every point on the spectrum: Pre-K to higher ed. She studied law at Berkeley and holds an MA in Education Policy from the University of Washington.
Holly explains the meaning of ed tech - technology solutions that help schools on the back end (administrative tasks, payroll, etc.) and the front end (teacher, student, and classroom tools). She shares her experience with Global Voice - a tech platform to help all the stakeholders in the ELL system - and equity work within the tech sector, including racial and gender inclusion. Holly also drops some knowledge about how innovative educational technologies are funded, including through private grants and philanthropy (it’s expensive to fail!). She makes projections for the future of ed tech and emphasizes the importance of developing technology that serves users and their specific needs within schools.
Champagne and Real Pain:
Champagne - we want to raise a glass/ pour one out for...
All the educators who are in the middle of their summer break. We know you won’t slow down - you’re probably at Target or at school and on Teachers Pay Teachers right, don’t lie - but it’s summer. Cheers!
Holly - open schools (Charter Schools Commission)
Real Pain - we want to call one out for
Summer day camps that don’t let campers go inside when it’s 90+ degrees outside. Give those kids some shade! Like actual shade!
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: Google search “assistive tech in education” and check out some of the amazing things people are creating to make learning more accessible for people with disabilities.
Hope: Global Voice website
Holly: check out IDEO popularized Design Thinking; Arizona State University Service Blue printing
Ep. 51: Regressive and Racist: A Chat About Taxes
EQ: How are taxes a social justice issue and what are smart people doing about it?
Guest: Alison Cheung, Guest from Channel 253 Adult Civics Happy Hour “The Case for Progressive Taxation”
Communications Hub Manager at Fuse Washington, a progressive political organization. Alison is a graduate of the University of Washington, where she worked on education accessibility and yelled a lot about racist housing covenants. She is currently working on tax reform.
Alison drops some serious knowledge about Washington’s ass-backwards tax system and how it hurts people in poverty, especially people of color. Sub-topics include her effort to stop using the word marginalized (see UW Dream Project), the important work of Fuse Washington in tax justice issues, helping progressives tell a better story (via The Poet Salon and All in For Washington), working with communities that have been most impacted by our tax structure there, the systemic problems with our state tax structure (it’s regressive!), and possible solutions (a more progressive Real estate excise tax, ending Tax Breaks & loop holes - Washington State Budget & Policy Center, better distribution of wealth, and actually getting people to care about poor Black and brown communities). Additional reading includes (but is not limited to): How Racism Kept Black Tacomans from Buying Houses for Decades.
Champagne & Real Pain:
Champagne - we want to raise a glass for:
Ava DuVernay for her new Netflix creation, “When They See Us” about the Central Park 5. DuVernay is a queen of cinema and a national treasure.
Roxanne Gay!! Redefining a type of voice a queer woman can have
EJ Ramos--model minority mix is erasing other Asians
Real Pain - we want to call one out for
Meghan McCain for hypocritically accusing Amy Klobuchar of exploiting her father John McCain’s legacy for political gain. That’s literally Meghan’s day job.
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: pressure your legislators to fix our broken tax system that hurts everyone except the wealthiest. Go on leg.wa.gov to find their contact information and turn up the heat.
Hope: The Breakup Playlist on Netflix
Alison: Jeff Chang “We Gonna Be Aight” (check out the NerdFarmReads episode)
Ep. 50: Let's Talk Intergaycial Relationships
SINCE RECORDING THIS HAPPENED IN TACOMA!!
EQ: Why is it important to recognize and/or celebrate Pride?
Guests: Cal-Jean Lloyd-Wagner, MS Language Arts teacher & Cat Melaunie, kindergarten teacher and previous guest on Ep. 22 That’s Pinteresting!)
We recorded this episode to celebrate Pride season. From funny coming out stories and a debate on how many rainbows is too many rainbows, we hope our listeners will learn a little more about how to support their LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors. Since we never shy away from complicated topics and work hard to think about the world intersectionality, we also dip into a discussion on what’s wonderful, challenging, and unique about being in an intergaycial relationship[ (that’s short for interracial & gay!).
Ways to support Pride this month:
Oasis Youth Center meal time, MDC Langelo@mdc-hope.org
Go read Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Dear Rachel Maddox
Get rid of needlessly gendered language (try to be more neutral)
Newish Segment Champagne & Real Pain Sir Bacon or Tom Waits:
Champagne - we want to raise a glass/ pour one out for
Lisa Keating. Go support her campaign for Tacoma School Board.
The organizations doing real work to help queer youth, especially those who have been rejected by their families and need a safe place to land. Locally, we’d like to raise a glass to Oasis Youth Center and PFLAG in Tacoma. The Trevor Project is also doing amazing work in the way of LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention.
Real Pain - we want to condemn these people & actions
Anti-gay and anti-trans violence. Leave people the hell alone and let them be themselves. Literally nothing bad will happen if you just mind your business.
To all anti-LGBT bills that emerge every year
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: I never thought I’d say this, but consider patronizing the Cracker Barrel in Cleveland, Tennessee. The store recently rejected a request for a meeting space from a homophobic pastor who called for the execution of gay people. While Cracker Barrel is far from perfect, they’ve come a long way. Plus they have old timey candy and pretty good biscuits.
Hope: Support Lisa Keating for school board
Cat: My bday gift and send it inter-office mail
Cal-Jean: put up signage about being open and affirming to all families
Ep. 49: An Interview with Reign FC Forward Darian Jenkins
EQ: How has the explosive growth of professional women’s soccer changed the conversation about the game?
Guest: Darian Jenkins, #11, attacking forward for Reign FC
From how she fell in love with soccer and how her degree in English Language & Literature helps her on the pitch to why she loves coaching young women as the Assistant Coach for Reign FC Academy, Darian shares insights into the game and life. We also discuss challenges young women (especially women of color) face in a superficial and beauty focused world.
Find out more about references in the show:
The USWNT’s Equal Pay Lawsuit is a Fight For All Women’s Sports
The USWNT Is Fighting for Greater Equity While Playing Their Fourth World Cup
When it Comes to Diversity, Is Women’s Soccer Making Progress?
Book Recs:
Educated by Tara Westover
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Can’t get enough of Darian Jenkins, read some of the stories below:
Check out these other soccer related podcasts in the Channel 253 Network:
Do Your Fudging Homework:
Annie: Stop what you’re doing and go buy tickets for a Reign game.
Hope: Since recording--GO READ THE NATIONAL TEAM BY CAITLIN MURRAY
Darian: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
PS: go listen to the IWL interview with Robin DiAngelo
SHOUT OUT TO DARIAN’S MOM!!!!