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Respect the Mic is an anthology from student poets (current and former) that discuss topics of belonging, coming of age, etc. Many discuss race and racism. This site includes videos of the authors reading their poems and talking about the writing process, which is a fantastic supplement for the classroom.

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Respect the Mic Anthology — Oak Park and River Forest High School

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Welcome to Oak Park River Forest’s Spoken Word Club.

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When talking about controversial topics in the classroom, I include this compass to help students to pause, self-assess, and identify the way they're approaching the issue and show them (anonymously) how others are approaching it. I like to explain that if student A is really in his feelings, and student B just wants to act, to DO something, they may not fully understand each other in this moment. And that's okay.

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Seeing White Podcast from Scene on Radio

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Seeing White Podcast from Scene on Radio

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The entire series is fantastic, but Episodes 2 and 3 specifically align with Kiely's discussion of the-chicken-and-the-egg problem in Chapter 6. I've used these episodes in the classroom.

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Just what is going on with white people? Police shootings of unarmed African Americans. Acts of domestic terrorism by white supremacists. The renewed embrace of raw, undisguised white-identity politics. Unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. Some of this feels new, but in truth it's an old story.

Why? Where did the notion of "whiteness" come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for?

Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen took a deep dive into these questions, along with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, in this fourteen-part documentary series, released between February and August 2017. The series editor is Loretta Williams.

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Just what is going on with white people? Police shootings of unarmed African Americans. Acts of domestic terrorism by white supremacists. The renewed embrace of raw, undisguised white-identity politics. Unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. Some of this feels ne

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CNN Video: "Study Shows How Children View Race Bias"

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CNN Video: "Study Shows How Children View Race Bias"

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This is an great video for educators. It would need to be framed carefully if used in the classroom since we need to be cognizant of the burden we put on our students of the Global Majority when we center racial trauma in our curriculum.

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I found this to be a useful self-help tool that also summarizes ideas from other anti-racist thinkers and educators.

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Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey, complete with journal prompts, to do the necessary and vital work that can ultimately lead to improving race relations.
Updated and expanded from the original workbook (downloaded by nearly 100,000 people), this critical text helps you take the work deeper by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and further resources, giving you the language to understand racism, and to dismantle your own biases, whether you are using the book on your own, with a book club, or looking to start family activism in your own home.

This book will walk you step-by-step through the work of examining:
Examining your own white privilege What allyship really means Anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation Changing the way that you view and respond to race How to continue the work to create social change
Awareness leads to action, and action leads to change. For readers of White Fragility, White Rage, So You Want To Talk About Race, The New Jim Crow, How to Be an Anti-Racist and more who are ready to closely examine their own beliefs and biases and do the work it will take to create social change.

About the author

Layla Saad is a globally respected writer, speaker and podcast host on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation and social change.
As an East African, Arab, British, Black, Muslim woman who was born and grew up in the West, and lives in Middle East, Layla has always sat at a unique intersection of identities from which she is able to draw rich and intriguing perspectives. Layla's work is driven by her powerful desire to become a good ancestor; to live and work in ways that leave a legacy of healing and liberation for those who will come after she is gone.

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Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey, ...

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A powerful collection of poems- many about identity and experience. A few that tie in directly to names, what we call ourselves and what others call us.

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This poetry collection from Black British performance poet Sophia Thakur weaves a loosely connected narrative about a young woman coming to terms with skin color, lost loves, family, and a society that seems to disenfranchise her. Thakur includes pieces with the cadence of stage poetry along with other more experimental forms. Less edgy than the popular Rupi Kaur books, Somebody Give This Heart a Pen may appeal to readers who enjoy poetry told in a sincere, impassioned, relatable voice.

Note: Bec...more

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This poetry collection from Black British performance poet Sophia Thakur weaves a loosely connected narrative about a young woman coming to terms with skin color, lost loves, family, and a society that seems to disenfranchise her.

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Growing up in Canada as a young woman from India, Sheetal Vemannagari struggled with embracing her name.

The now 20-year-old Ivey Business School student went through what thousands of Canadians experience when their name is deemed "tough" to pronounce for the average anglophone - from accepting a shortened version to trying to anglicize it in an attempt to avoid embarrassment.

"I hated the way that my culture hindered me from sort of connecting with my peers, especially my name, because I feel like everyone would just call me 'shit-all' ... [When mispronounced], my name sounds harsh, kind of unfeminine and so that further dissociated me from my identity."

In Hindi, Vemannagari's name, pronounced as 'SHEE-thul,' means 'cool breeze' and was chosen by her grandmother.

It wasn't until a trip to India two years ago when Vemannagari started to reclaim her name after receiving many compliments for it.

The remaining challenge is getting people to pronounce it correctly, but Vemannagari is hopeful that a new online tool will help with that problem, at least in the classroom setting.

Western University's Ivey Business School in London, Ont. is one of four Canadian post-secondary institutions, along with Ryerson University, the University of Guelph and Simon Fraser University, to adopt NameCoach, according to the company's CEO Praveen Shanbhag.

The name pronunciation tool allows people to make an audio recording of their name. At Ivey, the recording is then made available on people's academic profile, allowing classmates and professors to play the recording and learn how to pronounce the person's name correctly.

Why it's important to get names right

"The name is really a symbol of your identity. It's a kind of stand-in for the person, so if I'm calling your name, I'm really calling you ... so getting it right has to do with that level of respect for the person," said Karen Pennesi, a linguistic anthropologist and associate professor at Western University.

Pennesi said people with uncommon names tend to have different relationships with their names throughout their life, including changing it and then coming back to it at a later point in life, but regardless of where people are at it's important to get their preferred name right.

"It's a kind of a challenge to their sense of self [when you start anglicizing or shortening their name]. That makes them not be in control of their own identity, their own self."

For marginalized people the mistreatment of their name can have long-term implications, Pennesi added.

"They're constantly being made to feel that they don't belong or that they shouldn't be here and that their contributions aren't worthwhile."

After reclaiming her name, trying to ensure it was pronounced right caused Vemannagari frustration, embarrassment and even made her feel like she was asking for too much.

"I didn't want to make a big deal of it, especially in a class, but one day I corrected my professor. Ever since I did that, every time they called on me, I don't think they meant to do this, but they just made it a really big deal and would be like, 'oh, wait, what's your name?,' 'It'll be the end of the year and I still have to pause to say your name' ... It made me feel like I was being demanding."

Vemannagari said her professor eventually stopped asking for her input and it led to her not wanting to try to participate either, which impacted her mark at the end of the term.

It was feedback similar to Vemannagari's experience that prompted Ivey to make a $10,000 annual investment in NameCoach this October, said Stephanie Brooks, the school's chief administrative officer.

"It matters that we get the most personal aspect of a student right, which is how to pronounce their name. When you take the time to get it right it confirms to a student that they matter and that they belong here. When you don't, it's easy to see how it can unintentionally signal the opposite," she said.

Respect for a person's name an important step toward inclusivity, students say

Western University's Ethnocultural Support Services (ESS), a group that advocates for the appreciation of different cultures on campus, highlighted the issue of the mispronunciation of names at the beginning of the school year through its own social media campaign.

"We've heard from an overwhelming influx of students speaking about the importance and significance of their name and how it connects them to their culture, their heritage and their ancestors," said Matthew Dawkins, a second-year student and the ESS coordinator.

"I think if we started to view names as this badge of honour, then I think we can go along with respecting that a lot more and to make the conscious effort to pronounce it right and to learn it right."

It's these little things about cultural and racial sensitivity that teaches other students and staff how to be cognizant of people who are from different backgrounds. - Mubasshira Khalid, Ivey Business School Master's student.

Allan Muriuki, the third-year student who led the campaign, said getting a person's name right is one of the first steps to creating an inclusive campus.

"When we talk about inclusively we talk about using the correct pronunciation of people's name because we know those names mean something to people," he said. "Not using their name correctly leads them to feel belittled or not included when going about their lives."

Mubasshira Khalid, a Master's student at Ivey who is often asked by people if they can shorten her name, said that while institutions often look for radical ways to address racism and discrimination, it's meaningful and necessary to address smaller items like names.

"Often it's these little things about cultural and racial sensitivity that teaches other students and staff how to be cognizant of people who are from different backgrounds, so I think addressing the need to get names right is an excellent step forward."

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Do people mispronounce your name? These students hope new audio tool will end the name game | CBC News

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Growing up in Canada as a young woman from India, Sheetal Vemannagari struggled with embracing her name. The now 20-year-old Ivey Business School student went through what thousands of Canadians experience when their name is deemed "tough" to pronounce for the average anglophone - from accepting a shortened version to trying to anglicize it in an attempt to avoid embarrassment.

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Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to teach Social Comprehension

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Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to teach Social Comprehension

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Foreword by Terrence J. Roberts, PhD.

A Letter to Readers

Acknowledgments

An Introduction to Social Comprehension and Strategies to Prepare You for the Work Ahead
Chapter 1: Exploring Our Identities
Lesson: Affirming Our Identities: Identity Webs
We introduce the elements of our own identities (such as sister, athlete, bilingual, reader) and look for connections to or wonders about the identities of others.

Lesson: Placing Ourselves in the World: Stories of Our Names
Using a mentor text, we write the stories of how we got our names, how our names make us feel, and our experiences with our names.

Lesson: Journeying into Our Family Histories: "Where I'm From" Poems
We use the structure of a "Where I'm From" poem to share our family histories, storied objects, and moments.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 2: Listening with Love
Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 3: Being Candid
Lesson: Seeing Our Own Bias: Drawing Activity
We learn about how bias works, and we use an activity to help us see some of our own bias and brainstorm how we can confront it.

Lesson: Understanding Microaggressions: Poem Analysis
We analyze examples of microaggressions to understand what they are and how they affect people, and we look for microaggressions in our own lives.

Lesson: Refusing to Let Others' Biases Define Us: Identity Statements
We assert who we are with confidence. We recall labels others have tried to put on us, reject those labels, and choose how we define who we are.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 4: Becoming Better Informed
Lesson: Understanding How Our Identity Affects Us: Our News
We identify what is happening in our world-personal events, news stories, media-and consider how our identity shapes what we give our attention to.

Lesson: Moving Beyond Our Initial Thinking: Mini-Inquiries
We use a mini-inquiry to learn more about a topic and examine how new information changes our perspective.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 5: Finding Humanity in Ourselves and in Others
Lesson: Broadening Our Ideas About Who We Are Responsible To and For: Our Universe of Obligation
We consider who we feel responsibility to and why. We also consider how that responsibility can change in certain situations.

Lesson: Understanding Others' Perspectives: Intent Versus Impact
We work to understand two sides of a divisive issue by listening to both perspectives.
Chapter 6: Facing Crisis Together
Suggested Resource Stacks

References and Inspiration

This book is based on the idea that we can develop skills and habits to help us comprehend social issues and participate in relevant, transparent conversations. Social comprehension, like academic comprehension, is how we make meaning from and mediate our relationship with the world. We understand that the meaning making, or socialization, is learned, not inherited. Each chapter in this book includes lessons and/or practical help for students to learn and engage in a targeted social comprehension concept. Our thinking will change often as we practice being more socially literate citizens of the world, so we allow for and model the same for our students as we construct comprehension and cultivate our empathy together. The "At First I Thought . . . Now I Think" journal page in this introduction gives you and your students a tool to reflect on how the experiences in the lessons are affecting your outlook. In the work of social comprehension, we want to be as transparent as possible and make our thinking visible.

The final chapter of the book addresses how we, as educators, can continually refine our own approach to this work. If we are going to be on the front lines of helping children make sense of the news they bring to school and the curriculum the world keeps handing them, we must have a strong foundation of social comprehension in place. If we can commit to approaching this work as the lead learner, teaching with curiosity and modeling vulnerability rather than rigid certainty, we can build habitats of trust where kids (and adults) participate in a learning discussion, and where expression, identity, and social literacy matter.

- Introduction

A sense of urgency for pedagogy rooted in empathy and humanity is palpable in communities around the world. But how can teachers actualize such instruction and make it accessible to students? Where is the professional development teachers yearn for to facilitate important, and at times, challenging conversations? Being the Change is the resource every educator needs right now! Against a socio-politically charged backdrop where tensions run high, Sara is a beacon of light who offers practical, compassionate guidance that makes it possible to do the work of social comprehension. The journey to accomplishing this isn't linear; it is messy, tangled, circuitous. But Sara provides a pathway for teachers and our students. She offers a sustained, clear voice that reminds us of why this work is necessary and how it can look in our classrooms. Being the Change is invaluable to all educators as we work to empower our students as change-makers who positively influence the world.

- Sonja Cherry-Paul

****

Sara Ahmed is the ultimate upstander; she cares enough to confront. Her gentle and wise voice is a model for how to be in this tumultuous age. She shares text sets that ask big questions and resist simplistic answers. She invites teachers and students to address tensions in today's classrooms and examine bias in their thinking. Being the Change offers practical tools for building a classroom community that is inclusive, candid, and caring. This book is a treasure.

- Penny Kittle

****

What an incredibly powerful, practical, beautiful book. As I read I could not help but think how this book has the potential to radically change conversations in classrooms (and larger communities) around compassion, listening, empathy, and knowing. It is books like these that heal. It is hope and possibility and humanity within these covers.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I could give is that as I read, the teacher in me itched to get out of this room and into the presence of kids- to experience these lessons in real time, to hear children's stories, to dig into this work because for the first time I feel capable. This book is a roadmap with an entry point all of us can access and guidance through the most challenging places we could go. I don't feel afraid of what could happen, I feel energized about what Sara has taught me I can help happen.

I could not help but think of the million and one ways I could use Sara's thinking and teaching, to engage in this work whole heartedly from the moment children step through the doors.

- Kristi Mraz

****

In her book, Being the Change, Sara K. Ahmed offers us not only the roadmap of how to create and maintain components of meaningful social change within our instruction but also the necessary tools for us to navigate the hard conversations we invite in and those we have not had the courage to have...yet. By centering her book on developing the identity of the very children we teach, she gives us invaluable tools to navigate the hard topics that are constantly surrounding our learning community. While she writes in her book that there is no magical formula for making the world a better place, within the pages of this book and in her willingness to help us grow not just as educators but as human beings with her impactful lesson ideas, she has given us something near magic. A resource to be used in every school, this book will leave a trail of change for a better world in its wake if we let it.

- Pernille Ripp

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Being the Change is based on the idea that people can develop skills and habits to serve them in the comprehension of social issues. Sara K. Ahmed identifies

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Excerpt from "What Does It Mean to Be White"

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Excerpt from "What Does It Mean to Be White"

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Admittedly, Robin DiAngelo is a controversial figure, but this is a passage I have used with students to supplement scenes in our whole class novels that touch on whiteness. (For example: Hailey's "joke" in The Hate U Give or Seth's comment that Jay is "basically white" in Patron Saints of Nothing.)

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This is an analogy to help people/students think about white privilege.

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#BLM How Can We Win? Kimberly Jones Powerful Speech Video Full Length Black Lives Matter #BLM 2020

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Idris Goodwin - "Say My Name" / BreakBeat Spoken Word Poetry

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Idris Goodwin - "Say My Name" / BreakBeat Spoken Word Poetry

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my father is a retired magician
which accounts for my irregular behavior
everythin comes outta magic hats
or bottles wit no bottoms & parakeets
are as easy to get as a couple a rabbits
or 3 fifty cent pieces/ 1958

my daddy retired from magic & took
up another trade cuz this friend of mine
from the 3rd grade asked to be made white
on the spot

what cd any self-respectin colored american magician
do wit such a outlandish request/ cept
put all them razzamatazz hocus pocus zippity-do-dah
thingamajigs away cuz
colored chirren believin in magic
waz becomin politically dangerous for the race
& waznt nobody gonna be made white
on the spot just
from a clap of my daddy’s hands

& the reason i’m so peculiar’s
cuz i been studyin up on my daddy’s technique
& everythin i do is magic these days
& it’s very colored
very now you see it/ now you
dont mess wit me
i come from a family of retired
sorcerers/ active houngans & pennyante fortune tellers
wit 41 million spirits critturs & celestial bodies
on our side
i’ll listen to yr problems
help wit yr career yr lover yr wanderin spouse
make yr grandma’s stay in heaven more gratifyin
ease yr mother thru menopause & show yr son
how to clean his room

YES YES YES
3 wishes is all you get
scarlet ribbons for yr hair
benwa balls via hong kong
a miniature of machu picchu

all things are possible
but aint no colored magician in her right mind
gonna make you white
i mean
this is blk magic
you lookin at

& i’m fixin you up good/
fixin you up good n colored
& you gonna be colored all yr life/
& you gonna love it/
bein colored/
all yr life/
colored & love it
love it/ bein colored

Spell #7 from Upnorth-Outwest Geechee Jibara Quik Magic Trance Manual for Technologically Stressed Third World People

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My Father Is A Retired Magician by Ntozake Shange, by Micah Bournes

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from the album Echoes Of The Foremothers

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This book does an amazing job of looking at the brain washing that goes on in a white supremacy cult. It is a YA adult fiction book that follows the story of a boy who does get out. I have had a few 8th grade students who have read this and last year one of them told me this is the first book that has every made him angry. He never knew a book could do that. He has always felt neutral. He saw the main character trying to change and all the things that were working against him. It is a tough read, but shows the power of the white world and the damage they look to do.

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A William C. Morris Award Finalist Killing isn't supposed to be easy. But it is. It's the after that's hard to deal with. American History X

Nate was eight the first time he stabbed someone; he was eleven when he earned his red laces-a prize for spilling blood for "the cause." And he was fourteen when he murdered his father (and the leader of The Fort, a notorious white supremacist compound) in self-defense, landing in a treatment center while the state searched for his next of kin. Now, in the custody of an uncle he never knew existed, who wants nothing to do with him, Nate just wants to disappear.

Enrolled in a new school under a false name, so no one from The Fort can find him, he struggles to forge a new life, trying to learn how to navigate a world where people of different races interact without enmity. But he can't stop awful thoughts from popping into his head, or help the way he shivers with a desire to commit violence. He wants to be different-he just doesn't know where to start.

Then he meets Brandon, a person The Fort conditioned Nate to despise on sight. But Brandon's also the first person to treat him like a human instead of a monster. Brandon could never understand Nate's dark past, so Nate keeps quiet. And it works for a while. But all too soon, Nate's worlds crash together, and he must decide between his own survival and standing for what's right, even if it isn't easy. Even if society will never be able to forgive him for his sins.

Like a teen , S.F. Henson's Devils Within is gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, no-holds-barred look at the plague of white supremacy in contemporary American culture that may have you examining your own soul.

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Amazon.com: Devils Within: 9781510751835: Henson, S. F.: Books

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https://ideas.ted.com/when-is-it-ok-to-wear-an-item-from-another-culture-and-when-is-it-appropriation-how-to-tell/

Thanks to Lynne Lesky for sharing on Wednesday!

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You may think glaringly offensive items have nothing to do with you or your closet. "I would never buy an offensive item or appropriate something from another culture," you might say. "That'll never be me."
But it helps to be sure.
I've seen blond Caucasian women wearing henna hand tattoos or cornrows with dashikis (traditional African caftans), and American tourists posting selfies while wearing turbans with embroidered caftans in the Middle East. I can't help but wonder if they see these things as colorful, disposable accessories that can be amusingly donned and then ditched.

In general, I don't believe those people are malicious or intend to hurt anyone when they borrow the symbols of a culture that isn't their own. But when you wear another group's cultural signifiers head to toe, it can create the impression that you see them as a costume. It's demeaning.

Being white and wearing a dashiki might be interpreted as problematic; wearing one with cornrows or dreadlocks in your hair almost certainly would be.

We have a term within the Black community: "Christopher Columbus-ing." It's taking something from a marginalized group and renaming it to claim it as your own. Or, as the Washington Post's Clinton Yates explained, it's "showing up someplace and acting as if history started the moment you arrived."

When Kim Kardashian wore cornrows or Fulani braids - a hairstyle with deep roots in the Black community - but called them "Bo Derek braids" (a reference to the blond-and-blue-eyed movie star who wore them in the 1979 movie 10), she was met with outrage. Black people I know were like, "No, these are cornrows or boxer braids! We grew up with this! These are styles we get as kids!"

Kardashian more recently wore traditional Indian bridal forehead jewelry to a Sunday church service, prompting one Instagram commenter to remark, "I love how this is from the Indian culture and no recognition [is] given whatso[e]ver."

Remember Miley Cyrus's 2013 makeover from Hannah Montana to twerking, grill-flashing, hand signal-throwing, bandana-wearing, tongue-thrusting Bangerz hitmaker? As Dodai Stewart wrote at the time for Jezebel, Cyrus "can play at blackness without being burdened by the reality of it ... But blackness is not a piece of jewelry you can slip on when you want a confidence booster or a cool look."

If you don't understand cultural appropriation, imagine working on a project and getting an F and then somebody copies you and gets an A and credit for your work.

Privilege and erasure are at the heart of any discussion about appropriation. It's not that Kim K or Miley Cyrus meant to offend with their hairstyles or jewelry. Their intent may very well have been homage.

But as non-Black and -brown celebrities, they have the privilege to wear the looks associated with another person's culture when that person can't necessarily wear looks from her own culture without suffering some type of fallout. Sometimes I wish I could wear those "Bo Derek" cornrow braids because I just want my hair off my face.

But what does it signal when I wear them as a Black woman? It denotes that I'm ghetto or that I'm likely not educated. Maybe I'm into rappers and I smoke weed. I don't have the license to wear this particular hairstyle as I want to. Kim Kardashian, however, can wear it any day of the week and walk into an office or a business meeting, and no one is going to think she uses drugs or lacks sophistication. No one is going to fire her or Miley, or kick them out of school for wearing these hairstyles.

I read a quote on Instagram (posted by New York City hairstylist Tenisha F. Sweet) that said, "If you don't understand cultural appropriation, imagine working on a project and getting an F and then somebody copies you and gets an A and credit for your work."

Sarah Jessica Parker wears a turban in Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City 2 - and it's fashion. But a Middle Eastern or Indian or other minority woman wearing the same turban in the US has to worry if someone is going to think she's a terrorist or a palm reader or whatever other stereotypes are associated with wearing a turban.

In America, turbans are often associated with danger. Comprehensive research out of Stanford shows we exhibit automatic biases - heightened since 9/11 - against those wearing turbans, are more prone to perceive innocent objects held by the turban wearer as weapons, and, in video games at least, shoot at them more frequently simply because they wear turbans. But no one is going to worry that Sarah Jessica Parker might blow up the plane. She actually has the privilege to enter most rooms and spaces dressed any way she likes without people attaching stereotypes to her.

I know a Middle Eastern young woman who wears a head covering for religious reasons. When she goes out, she thinks twice: "Maybe I should show a bit of my hair or wear more makeup so I seem less threatening?" These are the second thoughts that some people have to consider when they're trying to display their own culture. Others only have to think once.

Privilege isn't about what you've gone through; it's about what you haven't had to go through.

Privilege is a touchy subject, because it puts the people who have it on the defensive. (And that's pretty much all of us, since we all benefit from one form of privilege or another.) As activist Janaya "Future" Khan so powerfully explained in a viral video, people have explosive reactions to the word "privilege." They feel defensive because they themselves have almost certainly been marginalized in some way; they too have gone through heartache and trauma at the hands of others.

But, as Khan clarifies, "Privilege isn't about what you've gone through; it's about what you haven't had to go through."

This much I know: In order to work through these issues, we have to hear one another, to see one another's humanity, to acknowledge one another's hurt. We need understanding at every level. As Roxane Gay writes in her book Bad Feminist, "We should be able to say, 'This is my truth,' and have that truth stand without a hundred clamoring voices shouting, giving the impression that multiple truths cannot coexist."

On the fashion front, what is someone who loves lots of different cultures to do? Are we as individuals "allowed" to wear only the native styles of our ancestors? Should everybody just shop at the Gap and call it a day? I'm not discouraging anyone from being inspired by other cultures, and I don't think we should water down our looks for fear of the thought police.

It comes down to the spirit in which you wear a garment - and whether that spirit communicates respect versus condescension.

There are super-simple ways to be sensitive without sacrificing style. Personally, I love wearing kimonos. I recently gave a lecture on their history at the Newark Museum. I was fascinated to learn how the garment has evolved over millennia, and how even today in Japan, there are strict rules about how a kimono has to be tied and folded. When I wore a kimono for that lecture, I made it my own. I paired it with black over-the-knee suede boots and minimal accessories. In other words, I didn't wear wooden clogs or style my hair in a shimada, the way that Vogue editors styled a white model for a famously appropriative and incendiary 2017 spread. Again, it's culture, not costume.

But the line differentiating the two isn't always clear. Reaction was mixed when a Caucasian high school student wore a cheongsam to her senior prom. It's important to note that her hair, makeup and accessories were tasteful and subdued. One angry observer tweeted: "My culture is NOT ... your goddamn prom dress." But the popular opinion in China, per some press reports, was to celebrate the teen for her stylish choice.

There is no law on whether or not it's acceptable to wear a cheongsam if you are not Chinese. It comes down to the spirit in which you wear a garment - and whether that spirit communicates respect versus condescension.

The line between celebration and appropriation gets crossed when there is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices or ideas of one group by another, typically more dominant group. It comes down to whether you're aware of a look's cultural history, whether you give credit where it is due (as opposed to renaming the style), and how you honor whatever you are borrowing.

So borrow away - just be conscious about it.
The next time you're thinking about wearing an item from another culture, here are some tips for what to do:
Are you Halloween-ing it?

When you wear cultural items head to toe, it can seem like a Halloween costume. Mix in other elements as well.

Educate yourself

Do a little research into a garment's cultural history before you wear it. I'm not saying pull out a book and read a whole history of boxer braids or the kimono. But google it. Do your due diligence by looking into a style's historical meaning, so you're not walking around inadvertently renaming or disrespecting something.

Be respectful

If you are wearing a spiritually significant item from a culture other than your own, don't behave in a way that's antithetical to that culture's values and customs. Of course, we are all free to do as we wish - as my friends might say, "Who's gonna check me, boo?" But I personally wouldn't wear a hijab to a bar or a bindi with a bikini. I would be careful not to dishonor the symbol.

Ponder your privilege

Think about whether someone else would encounter bias if she wore the style you're considering. If a member of the culture that originated the look were to wear it, might she suffer for it? If the answer gives you pause, rethink whether your fashion statement is worth it.
Excerpted from the new book Watch her TEDxFIT talk here: Dress Your Best Life: How to Use Fashion Psychology to Take Your Look and Life to the Next Level by Dawnn Karen. Reprinted with permission from Little, Brown Spark, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Copyright © 2020 by Dawnn Karen Mahulawde.

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When is it OK to wear an item from another culture, and when is it appropriation? How to tell

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It's fine to choose styles from other cultures; the key is to be conscious about what you're doing. Fashion psychologist Dr. Dawnn Karen provides some thoughtful advice.

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From Mathew Cameron: "I love Linda Rief's "Quickwrite Handbook" resource, and use various prompts from it throughout the year as they lend themselves well to getting students thinking about their own identity and/or culture.  "Rambling Autobiography," "When I Was Young at the Ocean," "When She Was 15," "The Book of Awesome," and "I'm From" are some of my favorite mentor texts in this resource and allow students to share various parts of who they are (if they wish to share) with their readers."

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100 Mentor Texts to Jumpstart Your Students' Thinking and Writing

In The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking successful writing.

"Quickwrites-writing to find writing-are a powerful teaching tool that help students find ideas, discover their voices, and build their confidence as they discover they have important things to say."

Helping students put words on a page can be hard enough. "I don't have anything to write about!" they say. And when writing does happen, how do you help them develop these ideas into more effective pieces?

A powerful tool to jumpstart writing

In The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking successful writing. Each mentor text includes "Try this" suggestions for inviting students to get started. You'll also find "Interludes" woven throughout: examples of quickwrites that students crafted into more fully developed pieces.

These mentor texts are curated in four categories:

Seeing Inward: How do students view themselves?

Leaning Outward: What do students consider when they step outside of themselves?

Beyond Self: What do students notice and wonder about the world at large?

Looking Back: How does reflection help students grow into more articulate, thoughtful citizens of the world?

Quickwrites go beyond writing prompts

The pages of this book champion Linda's wise words: "Quickwrites-writing to find writing-are a powerful teaching tool that help students find ideas, discover their voices, and build their confidence as they discover they have important things to say."
Quickwrites are more than a set of formulaic prompts. They are opportunities for students to use another writer's words to stimulate their thinking and-through writing themselves-to discover a voice they didn't know they had.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Reviews

"This book will move your writing, your student writers, and your teaching to new places."

-Sara K. Ahmed, author of Being the Change and coauthor of Upstanders
"Linda Rief models the essential moves a teacher must make to increase engagement and joy in writing in The Quickwrite Handbook. You simply must have this book."
-Penny Kittle, English teacher, coauthor of 180 Days and author of Book Love
"In this valuable resource, Linda Rief shares the models from literature that inspire her students and exactly how she uses them. The mentor texts in this book are jumping-off places. They build vision for what strong writing looks and feels and tastes like. They provide the necessary scaffolding that will allow young writers to outgrow themselves and create something they (and we) can be proud of."
-Ralph Fletcher, author of Joy Write and coauthor of Writing Workshop
"Linda offers each of us a clear and concise guide to understanding why quickwrites work and how to give them power in our daily practice."
-Lester Laminack, coauthor of Writers ARE Readers and Bullying Hurts

Related PD Services

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In The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking

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This could be a pairing with Brendan's The Other Talk.

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Frederick is a New York Times bestselling author of The Black Friend and upcoming Patriarchy Blues and Better Than We Found It (2022), Forbes Under 30 list-maker for marketing and advertising, an activist, philanthropist, with over 10 years of marketing experience.

He is also the sole creator of the largest GoFundMe campaign in history, the #BlackPantherChallenge, which ultimately generated over $43 million dollars in earned advertising and media for Disney and raised over $950K and allowed more than 75,000 children worldwide to see 'Black Panther' for free.

He is also the creator of the largest individual Covid-19 support effort, the #RentRelief campaign, which has raised over $2 million dollars.Frederick has been honored as the 2018 Comic-Con Humanitarian of the Year award and a member of the 2018 Root 100" list of Most Influential African Americans.

He was also a national surrogate for the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigns.Frederick consistently writes about marketing, culture, and politics for the Huffington Post, USA Today, NowThisNews, The Independent, amongst others.

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Frederick is a New York Times bestselling author of The Black Friend and upcoming Patriarchy Blues and Better Than We Found It (2022), Forbes Under 30 list-maker for marketing and advertising, an activist, philanthropist, with over 10 years of marketing experience.

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Don't Ask Me Where I'm From by Jennifer De Leon

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Don't Ask Me Where I'm From by Jennifer De Leon

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From Jenny Nauss in chat: Jennifer de Leon's Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is a wonderful YA book that invites conversations about "in" and "out" groups, membership and belonging, and agency and action. The protagonist is a LatinX student navigating two worlds when she joins the METCO program to attend HS in a Boston suburb.

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I really liked this YA contemporary. I thought Liliana was such a great protagonist- I legit enjoyed spending time with her! I think students are going to love this book.

I love reading a book and knowing which kid I will hand it to immediately. Will be purchasing for my library!

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Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

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I really liked this YA contemporary. I thought Liliana was such a great protagonist- I legit enjoyed spending time with her! I think students are going to love this book. I love reading a book and knowing which kid I will hand it to immediately. Will be purchasing for my library!

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From Kendra Helfrich in chat: A powerful read for considering how our training systems (education, social work, etc) are perpetuating systemic racism

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When working with Indigenous people, the helping professions -education, social work, health care and justice - reinforce the colonial lie that Indigenous people need saving. In White Benevolence, leading anti-racism scholars reveal the ways in which white settlers working in these institutions shape, defend and uphold institutional racism, even while professing to support Indigenous people. White supremacy shows up in the everyday behaviours, language and assumptions of white professionals who reproduce myths of Indigenous inferiority and deficit, making it clear that institutional racism encompasses not only high-level policies and laws but also the collective enactment by people within these institutions. In this uncompromising and essential collection, the authors argue that white settler social workers, educators, health-care practitioners and criminal justice workers have a responsibility to understand the colonial history of their professions and their complicity in ongoing violence, be it over-policing, school push-out, child apprehension or denial of health care. The answer isn't cultural awareness training. What's needed is radical anti-racism, solidarity and a relinquishing of the power of white supremacy.

" White Benevolence is a powerful collection scrutinizing the myriad ways racism in Canada manifests, is sustained, and is perpetuated in our systems of power and in social, political and economic relations. This panoptic collection is a clarion call for Canadians to wake up and dispense, once and for all, with the delusion that Canada is racism free. This is a must-read for students, educators and the general public."

- Raven Sinclair, professor, writer, filmmaker and editor of Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada

"Interrogating the relation between the 'helping professions' and the production of white racial power, this much-needed work exposes the everyday violence that permeates Canada's social institutions. This book is an essential and timely read for educators and activists, and for social workers and policy makers."

- Dr. Sunera Thobani, Professor, Department of Asian Studies, UBC

"White Benevolence makes a major contribution to understandings of historical and contemporary practices of violence in the helping professions. It interrogates the operationalization of claims to innocence, while being deeply implicated in systems of colonialism and white supremacy. It should be a foundational text for anyone working in and against formal systems of social working, including education, healthcare and social work."

- AJ Withers, author of Fight To Win: Inside Poor People's Organizing (2021) and Disability Politics and Theory (2012)

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When working with Indigenous people, the helping professions -education, social work, health care and justice - reinforce the colonial lie that Indigenous people need saving. In White Benevolence, leading anti-racism scholars reveal the ways in which white settlers working in these institutions shape, defend and uphold institutional racism, even while professing to support Indigenous people.

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During our discussion with Brendan, Oona Marie shared "a great notebook prompt to try... retell one of my stories a lot more truthfully." What were the systemic things that gave me a leg up, etc. (Review Chapter 10-11 of The Other Talk.)

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This book got a shout out from Brendan at the end of his talk!

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akshdfksja nooo??
this is illegal
the ending
T_T
this was just so freaking good
I really fell in love with Katherine locke's writing as well as her characters
like-
csilla is sooooo amazing
also very much giving ruta sepetys vibes so if you like her books, this, this is the one.
what really captured my 'interest' or like idk how to say but
I've never heard about this revolution before
post world war 2 hungary and it was pretty recent too
though I don't read it that often, historical fiction, especially abou...more

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akshdfksja nooo??this is illegalthe endingT_Tthis was just so freaking goodI really fell in love with Katherine locke's writing as well as her characterslike-csilla is sooooo amazingalso very much giving ruta sepetys vibes so if you like her books, this, this is the one.what really captured my 'interest' or like idk how to say butI've never heard about this revolution beforepost world war 2 hungary and it was pretty recent toothough I don't read it that often, historical fiction, especially abou...more