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Love the part: "A Questioning Frame of Mind"

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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Race does not biologically exist, yet how we identify with race is so powerful, it influences our experiences and shapes our lives. In a society that privileges white people and whiteness, racist ideas are considered normal throughout our media, culture, social systems, and institutions. Historically, racist views justified the unfair treatment and oppression of people of color (including enslavement, segregation, internment, etc.). We can be led to believe that racism is only about individual mindsets and actions, yet racist policies also contribute to our polarization. While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a wide-spread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives.

Being antiracist is fighting against racism. Racism takes several forms and works most often in tandem with at least one other form to reinforce racist ideas, behavior, and policy. Types of racism are:

Individual racism​ refers to the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individuals that support or perpetuate racism in conscious and unconscious ways. The U.S. cultural narrative about racism typically focuses on individual racism and fails to recognize systemic racism.
Examples include believing in the superiority of white people, not hiring a person of color because "something doesn't feel right," or telling a racist joke.

Interpersonal racism​ occurs between individuals. These are public expressions of racism, often involving slurs, biases, or hateful words or actions.

Institutional racism​ occurs in an organization. These are discriminatory treatments, unfair policies, or biased practices based on race that result in inequitable outcomes for whites over people of color and extend considerably beyond prejudice. These institutional policies often never mention any racial group, but the intent is to create advantages.
Example: A school system where students of color are more frequently distributed into the most crowded classrooms and underfunded schools and out of the higher-resourced schools.

Structural racism​ is the overarching system of racial bias across institutions and society. These systems give privileges to white people resulting in disadvantages to people of color.
Example: Stereotypes of people of color as criminals in mainstream movies and media. ​

No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life. In the absence of making antiracist choices, we (un)consciously uphold aspects of white supremacy, white-dominant culture, and unequal institutions and society. Being racist or antiracist is not about who you are; it is about what you do.

To be antiracist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness. Ibram Kendi "How to be an Antiracist"

The quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself.

Being Antiracist at the Individual and Interpersonal Level
When we choose to be antiracist, we become actively conscious about race and racism and take actions to end racial inequities in our daily lives. Being antiracist is believing that racism is everyone's problem, and we all have a role to play in stopping it. In " The Racial Healing Handbook," Dr. Anneliese A. Singh reminds us of the importance of being purposeful: "You need the intentional mindset of Yep, this racism thing is everyone's problem-including mine, and I'm going to do something about it."

Being antiracist is different for white people than it is for people of color. For white people, being antiracist evolves with their racial identity development. They must acknowledge and understand their privilege, work to change their internalized racism, and interrupt racism when they see it. For people of color, it means recognizing how race and racism have been internalized, and whether it has been applied to other people of color.

All racial groups struggle under white supremacy. People of color groups are not always united in solidarity. People of color can act by challenging internalized white supremacy and interrupting patterns of prejudice against other racial groups. For everyone, it is an ongoing practice and process.
As a White Person or a Person of Color, Read More About Becoming Antiracist

Stop and Think!

Why do you want to be antiracist? Considering the breadth and depth of racism, committing to being antiracist may feel overwhelming yet small choices made daily can add up to big changes. Reflect on choices you make in your daily life (i.e., who you build relationships with, what media you follow, where you shop). How do these choices reflect being antiracist?

A Questioning Frame of Mind
A commitment to being antiracist manifests in our choices. When we encounter interpersonal racism, whether obvious or covert, there are ways to respond and interrupt it. Asking questions is a powerful tool to seek clarity or offer a new perspective. Below are some suggestions to use in conversations when racist behavior occurs:

Seek clarity: "Tell me more about __________."

Offer an alternative perspective: "Have you ever considered __________."

Speak your truth: "I don't see it the way you do. I see it as __________."

Find common ground: "We don't agree on __________ but we can agree on __________."

Give yourself the time and space you need: "Could we revisit the conversation about __________ tomorrow."

Set boundaries. "Please do not say __________ again to me or around me.

A trigger is something that causes an emotional and or physical reaction which impacts how you respond and or interact with another person or group of people.

As you practice, take note of your responses and ask: How am I processing the experience? What body sensations do I have? What is my emotional reaction? Notice what triggers your response and how it manifests in your body.

Another practical step is to uncover your own bias. In the video below, Verna Myers talks about acknowledging your biases in her Ted Talk:

Being antiracist on the individual and interpersonal levels is only part of the work. To end racism, we must also work to dismantle racist policies at the structural and institutional levels.

Example of Being Antiracist at the Institutional Level
Institutional racism is the policies and practices within institutions that benefit white people to the disadvantage of people of color. An example of institutional racism is how children of color are treated within the U.S. education system. On average, children of color are disciplined more harshly than their white peers. They are also less likely to be identified as gifted and have less access to quality teachers. Racism in schools can and does have severe consequences for students and our future.

When I say antiracist education, I am talking about equipping students, parents, and teachers with the tools needed to combat racism and ethnic discrimination, and to find ways to build a society that includes all people on an equal footing.

Antiracist education is a theory of learning and action to help us do the important work of dismantling racism in schools. It explicitly highlights, critiques, and challenges institutional racism. It addresses how racist beliefs and ideologies structure one-on-one interactions and personal relationships. It also examines and challenges how institutions support and maintain disadvantages and advantages along racial lines.

Antiracist education, while considering class, race, and gender inequity, places race at the center of its analysis. Focusing on race exposes direct links to unequal power, a system of oppression and privilege, and institutional practices.

One of the early formulations of antiracist education was developed by social science researchers, Carol Tator and Frances Henry, in Canada. It lists nine key traits.

Developing routines to make antiracist choices is a daily commitment that must be carried out with intention. The continued efforts of each of us individually can add up to a lasting change in our society. Since racism operates at multiple levels, we have to make antiracist choices at the various levels - individual, interpersonal, and institutional - to eradicate racism from the structures and fabric of our society. In "How to Be an Antiracist," Dr. Ibram Kendi writes, "[We must] believe in the possibility that we can strive to be antiracist from this day forward. Believe in the possibility that we can transform our societies to be antiracist from this day forward. Racist power is not godly. Racist policies are not indestructible. Racial inequities are not inevitable. Racist ideas are not natural to the human mind."

Let's Think

How have racist ideas impacted your daily life? Reflect and process - you may choose to sit in quiet reflection or write in your journal.

EDUCATORS: Read "The Urgent Need for Anti-Racist Education," by Christina Torres. She writes that antiracist education has an important role to play in fighting against hatred and violence. What benefits do you think could result from having discussions with young people about current events involving race and racism?

Let's Talk

The Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University contends that racist policies fuel racist beliefs and behaviors and keep us divided in society.

By yourself, divide two pieces of paper into 4 sections. Write the following categories, one in each section, on the page: Education, Healthcare Treatment, Neighborhoods/Housing, Criminal Justice. Do this for both pages.

On the first sheet, jot down 2-3 racial groups of people you think get the best service/experience/outcomes in America for each category. You can repeat groups.

On the second sheet, jot down 2-3 racial groups of people you think get the worst service/experience/outcomes in America for each category. You can repeat groups.

Now, with a partner discuss what old and newer, you believe might account for these groups' experiences.

With your partner, return to each racial group you've listed, one at a time. Search the internet, look up the racial group, one of the four categories, and the word "policy" (limit your search to U.S. policies and seek out fact-based sources). Browse through the results for things that strike you.

Discuss with your partner:

Was it easy or difficult to find useful information on policies in these categories having to do with race? Why do you think that was?

For those racial groups that you thought had the best service/experience/outcomes, were you able to identify specific policies that helped them? Why yes? Or why not?

How do you think policies can be hidden or difficult to see in operation?

What did you discover that was new to you?

Were you wrong about anything you thought? How did you find out?

Was there anything uncomfortable about this exercise? Why yes? Or why not?

How can our learning about policies, racial groups, and outcomes help support anti-racism efforts?

Let's Act

Watch these two videos on Implicit Bias:

How can you hang out authentically with folks of some common interest, across racial lines?

EDUCATORS: Consider your current classroom or academic space. What one small shift can you do to strive to be more antiracist?

Visit the "Antiracism and America" web series developed by American University's Antiracist Research and Policy Center and The Guardian news outlet.

Pick a story to read. As you reflect on the story, think about what you learned that was new, how the story made you feel, how race shaped the experience of the storyteller and your response. You may choose to process this mentally, with a friend or in writing.

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No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life.

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Last year, in May/June I decided to read Ghost Boys to my class. It was a wonderful decision. After this week, I have been thinking about how to integrate antiracist elements throughout the school year so it's not taught in isolation. However, I also don't want it to be something that is overemphasized either (I feel that way no matter what the topic). So I began to think of some ways that I can bring awareness to the topic.
- 6th grade read aloud: Bystander. It is obvious that the character's are white. I do wish that we revisited this choice as a team, but it often becomes difficult to arrive at a consensus. We do identity maps at the beginning and I plan on expanding that activity to make stronger connections between bullying and the dominant culture in the US.
- Quick Writes: We do quick writes in ELA and I plan in finding articles/infographics etc to reflect on.
- Book Clubs: my strength ... I include very diverse choices in the choices offered to my students, however I am going to reevaluate with a more antiracist eye. For example, I don't think I include any books with an Hispanic experience
- Research/nonfiction: Students easily find white people in their research that contributed to their topic, so I will be encouraging deeper research of less recognized people.
- Ghost Boys: Use passages from Stamped to help highlight certain concepts, such as page 4 about assimilationists, segregationalists and antiracists.
- Donor's Choose: I am working on a project right now to get more antiracist books for my classroom library.

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When Obama was elected president, I remember thinking, wow this is a very important time in history.  I thought to myself maybe things are really starting to change, as a country we are really moving forward! Now I'm not so sure.

How can I use this in the classroom?

I have a middle school book club with Vicki Leroux, that's one way to get started!

I was talking to Lori Kiernan recently and she had mentioned that Moreau has a Project Lit book club and the students love it!  Some really great discussions and those students are excited to see what the middle school has to offer with regard to Project Lit.

Of course, reaching out to teachers, providing titles and ideas on how to incorporate novels like Stamped and graphic novels like  March and Run by John Lewis into the curriculum.

This year I did share with Mrs. Melucci and Mr. Cottrell, 8 grade social studies teachers at the middle school, the graphic novel about Japanese internment They called us enemy by George Takei.

I do believe that we have to take baby steps, I know that approach may offend some of you, but I think it's really important to not "pressure" or expect teachers to change their curriculum overnight, it's going to be a work in progress!

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I did a lot of reflecting this week about the section regarding Barack Obama. I also read what Maureen wrote last week and I was thinking about a lot of the same things. In particular, I hadn't thought prior to this book about Obama being an assimilationist. Upon reflection, I wonder the same as Maureen: Would he have won the election if he had spoken out more assertively as an antiracist? Similar to Lincoln, who had to stop talking about the abolishment of slavery in order to win the support of southern voters, Obama had to become more moderate. On the other hand, Trump openly expressed his racist ideas and even though he was criticized, he still won the election. It's really mindblowing.
I also thought about my 3 black students this year. 2 out of the 3 were assimilationists. Only 1 girl would openly speak about her race and her outrage about what's happening in the country. The 2 students that didn't seem to have an opinion were mixed race. I wonder if these important conversations don't happen in their households and they are encouraged to assimilate and embrace their "whiter" side.

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I rarely stop reading and bookmark a page in a book. However, there was a line in this book that really struck a chord with me. p 110 "The Fifteenth Amendment was a big deal. But here's the thing about big deals. If people aren't careful, they can be tricked into believe a big deal is a done deal."  This really resonated with me as a social studies teacher. I was fortunate enough to have had an incredible graduate professor who taught her students about educational court cases. She walked her students through the evolution of desegregation attempts after Brown vs. Board. That course helped me learn how something I thought fixed a problem, was only a small step forward and not a complete solution. This book has helped remind me of this concept. It is one of my goals as an educator of history to help students understand that landmark moments in history are not the end of story.

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As I read this section of Stamped, I thought again about assimilation and anti-racism.  It was very interesting to read about W.E.B. DuBois and Reynolds' explanation that DuBois was an assimilationist.  I guess I had never really thought about these historical figures in that manner.

I read an article recently from the Washington Post discussing Kendi's Stamped and in this article Kendi states that even Barack Obama is an assimilationist. What would Barack Obama have needed to do in order to be considered an anti-racist by Kendi and Reynolds?  Would he have been elected President of the United States if he had conducted himself in a different manner?

I don't mean to offend anyone with these questions, just food for thought at this point, playing the devil's advocate.

As educators, I think we have to ask ourselves this question as well, how do a group of white teachers teach a not very diverse student body about racism.  Who's writing that curriculum and is it authentic?

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I found many things interesting in the chapters for this week.

*How freedom vs oppression was visible in: writing and books, weapons and war, speeches and activism, and in movies.

*Still saddened over the controversy of Dr. Seuss books as I always thought of them as bubbly, fun stories that helped children read with the poetry and repetition.  I must look into some of these titles to see where the "racist ideas were baked in".

*The American education system lacking funding for black student schools.  Black schools "having" to send their students to white schools and not the other way around.  It is ironic to me that we are still lacking funding, but for all students.  When will education become more of a priority? 🙃

*Ruby Bridges and her courage in entering white schools and showing all people that education should be for all!

*The interesting "clash" of two activists and how they shared their fights.....Martin Luther King, Jr and his peaceful protests and Malcolm X and his use of finding freedom using any means necessary.

I continue to enjoy the reading material and find that I can use it in my teaching at a second grade level. The pause and unpause sections are beneficial to me and will be used in classroom discussions as they break down the material.

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There are so many parallels between this range of US history and today. Which like, duh, we all know history repeats itself at an embarrassing rate, but it really stuck with me this week.

When thinking about Jack Johnson, I couldn't help but think of Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman and the recent backlash to his celebrations of his accomplishments. Dugouts shouldn't empty and clash at home plate just because a pitcher celebrates a tough out. Black athletes (and all athletes of color) have the right to be confident, proud, and acknowledge their talent. Similar things have happened to Serena Williams and recently, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles have been criticized for prioritizing their mental health. Sha'Carri Richardson was criticized for her mistake leading up to the Olympics and other Olympians were told not to even think about using their power at this time to protest injustice.

Along the same lines, entertainers who are people of color do not make art for white people. But I feel like white people certainly have a lot of opinions when it comes to Lil Nas X, Cardi B, and Megan thee Stallion. My family and social media are always fired up after they release a new music video! I think it makes sense to connect them to Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance.

I also think it's important to have these conversations in our classrooms, too. What are kids seeing and hearing, what questions do they have, and once again, whose story is being told?

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This section of the reading stood out for me because it brought to light that while Black people were free, they truly didn't have a place to go, or a way to earn money, the chance to vote, or build a life for themselves, etc.  The term "free" is used loosely.

I also found it interesting that Booker T. Washington felt that Black people should go into the trades and not get an education.  While the reasons for Booker T. Washington's thoughts are completely different that what we discuss with children in second grade, I do believe it would be a good discussion starter as we often encourage children to continue their education or go into a trade.  Trades are just as important to our society as an education and I think it would be a neat discussion to ask the children to compare trades and education as they know them versus during the time of enslaved people.

This book continues to open my eyes to the challenges people of color have faced and continue to face. Great choice!

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While reading this section of Stamped I thought a lot about the discussion of Abraham Lincoln.  I think most of us realize that he wasn't perfect or a hero.  Slavery wasn't his priority.  I was also thinking about the other individuals Reynolds wrote about, the abolitionists, the people that tried to make changes and how difficult it must have been especially when you consider the times they were living in. Was it perfect, definitely not.
Then I read the article "What if I say the wrong thing" by Melissa Weinberg. I found this article really interesting, specifically the part "Messages to white people." How it can be really confusing as a white person, to know what to do, what to do say, and how to foster change. The article also discusses perfection and how difficult it is to achieve. "Perfectionism gets in the way of meaningful action." How the pressure of perfectionism can lead to inaction. What I took away from this article is that taking baby steps toward change can lead to bigger and better things. I felt that this article connected to what Reynolds was saying about Abraham Lincoln and the anti-slavery movement as a whole, perfection is not always attainable, but if you change the world around you a little bit here and there, those changes will spread.

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The story of Harriet Beecher Stowe rallying the support of white women in the fight for abolition through her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin really stood out to me in this section. While her book was super racist, religiously bigoted and inaccurate, her power as a white woman enabled her to do what Phillis Wheatley was unable to do. It reminds me of Brendan Kiely, a YA author who argues that writing about people different from you builds empathy and awareness. While I enjoy his books, I do try to offer books to my students that are written by people close to the identities of their main characters. #OwnVoices texts have come up a couple of times in our meetings so far, and I want to talk more about this movement on Monday!

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"In 1776 Thomas Jefferson, a thirty-three year old delegate to the Second Continental Congress, sat down to pen the Declaration of Independence. At the beginning of the declaration, he paraphrased the Virginia Constitution and wrote 'All men are equal.' Bears repeating. All men are created equal.  Say it with me. All men are created equal.  But were slaves seen as 'men?'''

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"In 1776 Thomas Jefferson, a thirty-three year old delegate to the Second Continental Congress, sat down to pen the Declaration of Independence. At the beginning of the declaration, he paraphrased the Virginia Constitution and wrote 'All men are equal.' Bears repeating. All men are created equal.  Say it with me. All men are created equal.  But were slaves seen as 'men?'''

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This is what it keeps coming down to for me.  The need to separate and divide to provide a reason for denying people right, competitive equity, and access to better protect what the haves have.  The cotradiction of Thomas Jefferson's words and philosophy with his life actions show a broad lack of willingness to let another group into the circle for fear that they might take what the dominant group has (or the next generations of that dominant group).  So what is a white supremacist to do?  Come up with whatever notions, constructs, and emotional fuel they can to be sure there is not a threat to their ongoing domination.  And if you can get people of color to buy in and internalize their own oppression, then you have momentum you just need to keep going.  It is stunning simple to see in this book and so frustrating that we have done a terrible job stopping it.

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"Back then, slavery had nothing to do with skin color. Didn't mater what you looked like, it just mattered that you were conquered."

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"Back then, slavery had nothing to do with skin color. Didn't mater what you looked like, it just mattered that you were conquered."

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This section of chapter 1 really surprised me because I had never really thought about the beginning of racism and the idea that slavery was connected to skin color. To be honest, I'm still having a hard time getting my head around it. I thought that throughout history many empires conquered other cultures and people, not just to have slaves, but also because they believed they were inferior and weak and that often the conquerers were lighter skinned and the conquered were darker skinned, but maybe I'm wrong! I need to go back to high school!

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I am so excited to discuss the concepts and writing style of this book! I am reading the Reynolds version. His writing style is perfect for the student (and I love it, too!).

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It continues to be amazing to me how humans are so capable of changing the narrative to meet their own needs at the time. This can be seen throughout recorded history, and indeed still continues to this day around our current trials and tribulations. I think the most shocking thing to me was my lack of knowledge about the various theories "intellectuals" of the time proposed about enslaved Africans. I had never heard of the Climate Theory or the Cursed Theory. Again, we change the story to fit into a nice box that doesn't make us too uncomfortable.

I also think it is important for us to remind ourselves that we are reading a book geared toward middle-grade readers, and the language and style of writing certainly shows that. I have found myself stopping several times throughout this portion to ask if I, as a middle school student, would be inspired to learn more about a particular topic based on the way it is presented rather than viewing it through my adult lens.

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I wasn't surprised how enslavement of a group is so ingrained in the world's history.  It was also very interesting on how religion played an important role.  Converting the savages to Christianity.  I don't want to offend anyone, religion can be a dangerous topic of conversation. I also started thinking more about the term assimilation. I think for so many "white" people, the expectation is that the black population assimilates, to be like us when in all reality that may not be possible?

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I remember how deceived I felt when I really learned the truth about Christopher Columbus.  I read his diary in my Latin American studies class and I was genuinely confused on how he could be considered a hero.  I grew up participating in Columbus day parades, with my uncle dressed up as Columbus. I just was never asked to really understand the implications of him until this course (year 2000).  Like the conquering of the Americas (a huge stain on the evolution of humanity), Slavery too carries the weight of destruction of cultures and humanity.  My "enlightenment" or opportunity to explore perspectives should have happened much sooner in my education. But the teacher needs to know how to set the stage with facts, foster quality questioning, and allow for exploring the possible perspectives.  There was a part on page 21 in the Middle School version of the book that made me uncomfortable/ frustrated by the conclusion author wanted the reader to draw and I think too much information was missing yet was absolutely opinion forming.  I find that dangerous.  (I wrote more in my journal about this to be able to discuss)

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This weeks reading, and likely much of this book will have very direct connections to the subject matter taught in high school social studies classes. When reflecting, I think that what this text does so well is that it challenges the reader to view the founding fathers and the history of European interactions with Africa and the Americas in a much more complex way. It is easy for students and teachers to generalize and gloss over sections of history that are multifaceted or difficult to discuss. However, I feel that a modern historian should strive to seek out multiple perspectives, ask questions, and encourage the next generation of students of history to do the same. I have highlighted the section of the 9th grade social studies framework that references the Atlantic slave trade and I hope that I can use this book and discussions that will occur in this book study to better frame the discourse on this content in my Global 9 courses.

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I found a piece of information in the reading that I will be able to use in class.....
In second grade, we study the unit, Fighting for a Cause, which celebrates the men and women in history who helped fight for rights of women, children and people of color.  The kids truly enjoy learning about this information and we make real world comparisons within each lesson.
Often, we reference the movie, Remember the Titans as some of the kids have seen this.  It is a great comparison for the children because it is at their level of understanding and brings the lesson to real life.
In the reading, particularly in Chapter 5, I noticed that the 'abolitionists suggested that those being enslaved should break stereotypes to stay "quiet" among the whites.  For example, they were asked to:
*go to church regularly
*speak proper English
*learn trades
*get married'
I liked the analogy that black people should not be "made" to be someone they are not. This is fitting in the classroom as a comparison to how children are often feeling the "pinch" of peer pressure. While I completely understand the difference in the level of magnitude of this, I think it is a real world example to be able to use with my children, as no child or adult should be "made" to be someone they are not.

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I am not a fan of sharing my writing, especially my unedited writing! But I'm trying to be vulnerable and be okay with making mistakes, so here's an extension of the ramblings in my brain with misspelled words and incorrect grammar. Took so many notes from these sections and I can't wait to hear what everyone else took away from it!

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I am late to the party too!  I was having surgery while you were all chatting together!  I will be there on the 19th!

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I am late to the party too!  I was having surgery while you were all chatting together!  I will be there on the 19th!

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We talked a little about The Four Agreements, here's a link if you want to find out more!

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We talked a little about The Four Agreements, here's a link if you want to find out more!

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The Fifth Agreement by Ruiz
The fifth agreement is:
Be skeptical, but learn to listen.

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In Part 1 of this 2-part video, we learn about the "domestication" of humans and how all the rules and values of our family and society are imposed on us through a system of punishment and reward. As little children, our true nature is to love and be happy, to explore and enjoy life; we are completely authentic. But then we learn to be what others think we "should" be, and because it's not okay for us to be what we are, we start pretending to be what we are not. By the time we are teenagers, we've learned to judge ourselves, punish ourselves, and reward ourselves according to agreements that we never even chose. The Four Agreements help us to break self-limiting agreements and replace them with agreements that bring us freedom, happiness, and love.

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The Four Agreements have sold over 10 million copies in the United States, and have been published in 40 languages worldwide. The Four Agreements are: Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best.

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Sorry that I am late to the party. I am Pete Mody. South High Principal and day of three. I am thrilled to be continuing conversations and learning on antiracism this summer with all of you!!!

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I really enjoyed Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's book How to be an Antiracist last summer (even more than Tiffany Jewel's book) so I was excited to see that the group was looking at the Jason Reynolds remix of Kendi's Stamped From the Beginning. I have been doing a LOT of reading on this topic over the last 2.5 years and we finally started putting some of it into action.  We have a Students of Color Union starting at South High this summer and fall and I just want to immerse myself in as much information and as many perspectives as I can to help fuel that continuation of the Day of Dialogue we just had in June and those student's efforts in taking on these conversations for the next year (or ten!).  This book has been great so far.  I really enjoy Reynold's writing voice.

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I would like to become more and more confident in my anti-racist journey.

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Hello! I am a high school English teacher hoping to learn more about how to be an anti-racist.

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After reading the book Stamped last summer and participating in the PD last summer, I feel that the conversations in my classroom changed for the better this year. We really got into some deep conversations, not just about race, but about people that are different from us. Kids are so open and honest once those conversations get going. We used picture books to start these conversations. So, I am hoping this summer to find ways to keep those conversations going in my classroom. But, just like a lot of people have already posted, I too struggle with what is the okay and acceptable thing to say!

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Hi everyone! I am Laura Pisani. I teach 4th grade at Moreau...also a mom who spends SOOOO much time on the softball fields every summer. I always have a book with me to pass some of the down time. Last summer I read Stamped so I am really excited to read the version for kids this summer. I can't wait to read it with my 4th graders this year!

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Hello Everyone! Shelley here, I am now a fourth grade teacher at Moreau. I am also a Project LIT book club advisor, helping to facilitate conversations around powerful literature. Last year, I worked with students at the middle school with this project and this past year I worked with fifth graders. I read the middle grade version  of Stamped with my students and learned so much from their questions and our open discussions we had together.

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Hello Everyone! Shelley here, I am now a fourth grade teacher at Moreau. I am also a Project LIT book club advisor, helping to facilitate conversations around powerful literature. Last year, I worked with students at the middle school with this project and this past year I worked with fifth graders. I read the middle grade version  of Stamped with my students and learned so much from their questions and our open discussions we had together.

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Hey everyone - I'm Abby! I teach AIS ELA at the middle school and am a co-advisor for our No Place for Hate club. I'm excited to revisit Stamped through a different lens than I had when I read it for the first time last year. I can't wait to hear all of our different perspectives and discuss how we can work together in our journey toward antiracist education.

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Hey everyone - I'm Abby! I teach AIS ELA at the middle school and am a co-advisor for our No Place for Hate club. I'm excited to revisit Stamped through a different lens than I had when I read it for the first time last year. I can't wait to hear all of our different perspectives and discuss how we can work together in our journey toward antiracist education.

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What do I hope to get out of this? Yes, I want to learn, of course. But also I want to become braver especially when it comes to speaking up about racism, racial inequity, and systemic oppression. 

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What do I hope to get out of this? Yes, I want to learn, of course. But also I want to become braver especially when it comes to speaking up about racism, racial inequity, and systemic oppression. 

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In many ways, I believe the students we work with, members of Gen Z, are much braver in general than I ever was when I was their age. In many ways they are braver than me even as I am now, a 41 year old white male in a much better position to affect change on some level.  I hope that reading this and talking genuinely with all of you helps me to go a little bit farther on that path toward growth and courage. - Tim

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Hi All - Tim Dawkins here ready to go! I'm excited to read this remix of Kendi's work and try to experience it  through both my adult perspective and the eyes of our middle level students. I was first introduced to Jason Reynolds through his book Long Way Down. I have high hopes for this and for our discussions!

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Hi All - Tim Dawkins here ready to go! I'm excited to read this remix of Kendi's work and try to experience it  through both my adult perspective and the eyes of our middle level students. I was first introduced to Jason Reynolds through his book Long Way Down. I have high hopes for this and for our discussions!

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I recently read a NPR interview with both authors.  The interview is interesting, I strongly urge you to read it when you get a chance, it's not long at all.  The interview also includes students and their feelings about the book Stamped and the importance of a book like this for everyone.

After reading the introduction and the first few pages of the book, it was very interesting how Reynolds discusses the history of racism, slavery and how both are so ingrained in society, past and present.

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After his award-winning bookcame out in 2016, Ibram X. Kendi heard from people everywhere, telling him it opened their eyes to a new way of looking at history.

"They were coming up to me and saying, 'It feels too late now. I wish I had read this in middle school,' " he says.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, follows five historical figures - like the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and the activist Angela Davis - and offers readers unwashed versions of who they were, and the role that racist ideas played in their lives.

Kendi, an author and historian at American University, says history books in schools today too often don't offer students a deep enough perspective or account of who people were and what they did.

Which led him to take up the challenge of those people who wished they'd learned these lessons in middle school: Give young people access to this history by collaborating with a writer who could take his facts (the history) and write it for a younger audience.

In his mind there was only one person to do it: the children's book author, Jason Reynolds. When he let Reynolds in on this plan, he got a surprising answer: No.

"History is not my thing. I'm a fiction writer!" Reynolds explains. But Kendi persisted, and eventually Reynolds caved. "I realized [Kendi] believed in me more than I believed in myself," he says.

Their new book is called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, and right from its first few pages the authors promise that, "this is not a history book." Instead, they say, it's a book that mixes past with present - in a way that young adults can relate to.

"History books are written with the idea of a student in mind, but not the idea of an actual young person themselves," says Reynolds. So this book sets out to do just that, and Reynolds says it's filled with "the things that I needed someone to say to me when I was 15 years old."

In a high school in Washington D.C., NPR met with the two authors and a group of high school students who had read the book. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Jason, why were you hesitant to say yes to Kendi's request?

Reynolds: I wasn't sort of a top notch scholar, that I wasn't a part of sort of my story, my journey. And so if a scholar comes to you and asks you to sort of make an adaptation or translation of work that they've poured themselves into, and you don't necessarily see yourself in the same playing field, it can be a little intimidating.
Once you got to yes, then what? How do you write a remix of something that already exists?
Reynolds: History books are written with the idea of a student in mind, but not the idea of an actual young person, just the person themselves. School is for a few hours a day. But, like, there aren't history books written for that kid when school is over, when the bell has rung. And so that's sort of what I'm thinking about this particular book: 'Can I make this something cool?' Because there's currency in cool. There always has been, there always will be. It matters to them. It mattered to me. It still matters to me, right? If it ain't cool I'm probably not gonna rock with it. This is how I am. I'm still that person. So I wanted to try to figure out how to make this really complex thing that has all this information that he gave the world, how do I take it and make it feel like a fresh pair of Jordans.
Before you read this book, what did you know about the history of racist ideas or racism?
Emani James, 10th grade: I go back to like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and Malcolm X, we don't ever learn about what happened before then. Who knew about the first person who was ever racist? Like, I didn't learn about that. And I wouldn't even think it was in the 1400s!

With history, people like to cut off certain parts that they don't want to tell us. Like they're not gonna tell us the deep, deep stuff. You know, like they just gonna tell us the deep stuff.
Do you feel like it's because you're young?
James: I mean it partly is because we're young. But us being young, we still have a great mind.
So, Ibram, did you encounter folks who felt like students were too young to learn this history?
Kendi: There were times in which people would ask, 'are young people ready for this history?' And it was a shocking question because it's so foreign to me that anyone could not recognize how we have so many young, brilliant minds who even, you know, in seventh grade, let alone 10th grade, can understand this history. Not only understand it, but apply it to their own lives. They start to get more clarity about their own lives, they are able to understand their country. And so for me, this getting deep, deep, deep, that really actually protects our young people. So we think we're protecting them by not getting deep. We're actually protecting them by getting deep, by allowing them to really understand this nation's history.
In the book you have three categories that you put people and ideas in. What are those three categories and why use that approach?
Kendi: One of the things we're trying to do with this book is provide people with the vocabulary of how to speak about and understand racism. Know what intimately racism is and how to identify it with language. What we're trying to do is give people the ability to name what they see, what they experience, what they should be resisting.

So there are the segregationists, which Jason calls the haters.

Reynolds: The haters. Segregationists are the haters. Everybody knows what a hater is. All right. Haters. Especially when I was in school. And I know it's no different for y'all. Haters are the people who hate you just cause you ain't like them.

Kendi: And then there's the assimilationist. Who are the likers.

Reynolds: Likers. Your fake friends. I mean, everybody, got 'em, everybody knows them too. Everybody knows the phonies. And they're basically the ones who like you, but they like you because you are like them. You know, that is contingent upon you being like them.

Kendi: And then there's the anti-racists, who are the lovers.

Reynolds: And the lovers. Those are your day ones, as we say. Our 'ride or dies.' The ones who love us for being like us. They love us for who we are, not for who they are, and not for who we are to them, but for who we are to us.
In the book, you apply these definitions to the ideas people have - and often, the same people write about or speak about a combination of the three, meaning people can evolve and change.
Kendi: If people say an assimilationist idea or anti-racist idea or segregationist idea, then you apply it, even if it's somebody who's your hero. I also think we should give people the ability to change. So W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868 and he died literally the night before the March on Washington in 1963. That's nine decades. What he was saying, particularly in the 1890s, was more along the lines of assimilationist ideas. But by the time he was in the 1930s and 1940s, he had transformed and was largely articulating anti-racist ideas. This is what we hope for people. We want people to change and we have to give people that ability to change, but also recognize who they were at an earlier time.

Reynolds: I did have friends be like, 'yo, so I don't know, man. What you said about Dr. King kind of hurt! And I'm like, 'first of all, it wasn't me, blame it on Dr. Kendi. Those are my words, but that's all his information.'

I do think it's important that we are honest about even our heroes. It doesn't make them any less heroes, nor does it make their contributions any less powerful. But it does help us sort of get into the nuances of it all. And it does also show how fluid some of that stuff was, and has been, and is, for a lot of us. But that we should always be aiming toward anti-racism.

James: Who is your target market for this? Is it really for everybody?

Reynolds: I never write void of the scope in which I've come. I was a young black person. It is natural for me to speak to young black people. The book is for everybody, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't sort of imagining [Emani's] face. There's certain things that I do want to say to black kids, right? Like that part in Chapter 6 when I write, "Africans aren't savages." Right. That's for us. We're not savages. That was specifically for you.

Amir Perkins, 11th grade: I was surprised there were black people who had racist ideas.

Kendi: Right, you're talking about Leo Africanus. Just like you have black people today who tell white people what they want to hear in order to improve their standing among white people, black people were doing that back in the 1500s! For me, if anyone is saying that there's something wrong with black people, they're saying a racist idea and it doesn't matter their skin color.

Amir: As educated black men, when you're in a certain situation, do you sometimes feel as though white people are intimidated by your status?

Reynolds: The thing about anti-racism that to me that sits at the core of who I am is that I should never have to make myself small for everyone else to feel comfortable about my existence. Right. Why? I earned it like everybody else earns it. And I'm going to be proudly who I am in every space that I am, because I belong everywhere that I choose to go. Self-actualization is at the core of an anti-racist world.

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A History Book That Isn't: Finding A Way To Teach Racism To A New Generation

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Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi team up to investigate the history of racist ideas through a narrative that's aimed at young adult readers. It's called: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.

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Hello, I am Maureen Borgeest, Librarian at Oliver W. Winch Middle School.  Jason Reynolds is one of my favorite authors.  I am excited to read Stamped, as well as discuss it with the other participants.  I do believe it's really going to be a learning experience and something I can share with students as well as adults.

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Hello, I am Maureen Borgeest, Librarian at Oliver W. Winch Middle School.  Jason Reynolds is one of my favorite authors.  I am excited to read Stamped, as well as discuss it with the other participants.  I do believe it's really going to be a learning experience and something I can share with students as well as adults.

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"So remember as you read that you are part of writing the next chapter. The choices you make, the words you use, the way you look at yourself and those around you - they all matter."

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"So remember as you read that you are part of writing the next chapter. The choices you make, the words you use, the way you look at yourself and those around you - they all matter."

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These lines from the introduction really resonated with me. After reading Ghost Boys with my students this year, I realized that they struggle with how to help the world to be less racist, especially in a predominantly white community. I love the message that they are "writing the next chapter" and that they have the power to help change things by the way they act every day.

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Hello, I'm Lyndsey Lange. ELA teacher, immigrant, traveler, nature lover, and I'm here to learn how to contribute to a more antiracist future and to empower my students to do the same. 

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Hello, I'm Lyndsey Lange. ELA teacher, immigrant, traveler, nature lover, and I'm here to learn how to contribute to a more antiracist future and to empower my students to do the same. 

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Thanks, Michele. I copied your format!

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Until we learn to talk about race the poison of racism won’t go away. 

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Until we learn to talk about race the poison of racism won’t go away. 

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I think to when students hesitate to say black or white…  I think to when I hesitate to identify someone as being black or white or Hispanic or Asian.  Why the pause? How can we identify race and know if it’s necessary and or respectful?  I don’t truly know how to talk about race without being …..considered racist?

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Hello! I’m Michele Ramsey. Spanish teacher, mom, life long learner, Italian, forty something, woman, and I am here to listen., think and share.  

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Hello! I’m Michele Ramsey. Spanish teacher, mom, life long learner, Italian, forty something, woman, and I am here to listen., think and share.  