Being in Right-Relationship: How Caregivers Can Decentralize Power by Becky Sughrim

bsughrim — 2023-11-26 23:47:33 UTC

As caregivers and/or educators of young children, relationships and connections are the foundation of your work. These relationships impact and shape the way the infants, toddlers, and preschool children we care for think about and view themselves, and the people and world around them. “Your quality of life and your survival are tied to how authentic and generous the connections are between you and the people and place you live with and in” (Adrienne Maree Brown) How are you intentionally developing and sustaining authentic and generous connections with each child? How are your values of that child matched to your actions? How are you decentralizing your power as an educator? Reflect on and explore children’s picture books. Journey to move beyond the performative allyship act of holding and reading books about Black Boys and dive into critical self-reflection to support decentralization and ask ourselves “what are my values, how can I be aligned and in right relationship with them?” (Deepa Iyer).

Before entering the exhibit:

Select a notebook and pen from the stack. Use this to record your reflections through out the exhibit. Please take it with you and continue your work beyond the exhibit.

Little Black Boy Oh, the Things You will Do!

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 22:53:50 UTC

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 22:57:30 UTC

“Knowledge is power” how will you decentralize this power and redistribute it to Black boys?

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 23:43:09 UTC

Will show part of the recording (22:08-23:44)

Diversity in Children's Books 2018

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 23:50:39 UTC

https://socialjusticebooks.org/diversity-graphic/

Diversity in Children's Books

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 23:51:46 UTC

https://littlesongbird.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/book-diversity-2012.jpg

https://littlesongbird.com/blog/are-we-there-yet-diversity-in-picture-books/

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-27 23:54:30 UTC

Image if the statics were flipped – not centering white people, What is 93% of the books focused on African-Americans. How would you feel?

I Am Every Good Thing

bsughrim — 2023-11-28 04:31:06 UTC

Context

bsughrim — 2023-11-28 16:36:41 UTC

The exhibit will be set up like a children's library. There will be shelfs with children's books, seating to stop and read, and tables to record reflections on. Different groupings of artifacts will be in different areas of the library.

The exhibit was created for early childhood educators with white privilege.

Diversity in Children's Books 2015

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 22:58:53 UTC

https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/picture-this-reflecting-diversity-in-childrens-book-publishing/

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:06:40 UTC

“How have you reacted when whiteness or you as a white person are not centered in spaces and conversations?” (Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, 2020)

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:08:27 UTC

Think about your collection of children’s books. Who is centered in your collection? Does that match how you value all children?

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:22:48 UTC

What are some of the stereotypes you have thought and negative assumptions you have made about Black Boys, and how have they affected how you have treated them?” (Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, 2020)

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:23:20 UTC

“How much freedom do you give Black Boys in your mind to be complex multilayered human beings?” (Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, 2020)

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:23:59 UTC

Reflect on the quote from the book “I’m not what they might call me” What have you called Black Boys? Why?

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:34:21 UTC

Reflect on a time you have withheld knowledge from a Black Boy? Why did you withhold?

What are we shaping minds to see? to center?

bsughrim — 2023-11-29 23:39:28 UTC

How are you shaping young minds through your interactions, your values, your communication, the implicit messages you send, and the books you have, read, and interact with.

Does this artifact depict your values?

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-30 00:25:37 UTC

“What can we do in order to help them co-construct a future that they want?” (Mike Browne)

Reflection Question

bsughrim — 2023-11-30 00:26:47 UTC

Who are you centering in your work and how does that reflect your values?

Black Boys Film

bsughrim — 2023-11-30 17:48:42 UTC

Ideally the whole documentary would be shown.

Could be shown in clips with the following time stamps

31:00-32:27

37:07-37:59

53:00-53:58

1:24:18-1:25:20

Action step

bsughrim — 2023-11-30 23:40:36 UTC

Before leaving the exhibit. Take a Post-it Note and write one thing you are going to do to:

Decentralize your power as an educator

How are you going to change your values of Black Boys

How are you going to get in right relationship with your values of Black Boys (so your actions match your values)

After writing down the action step, place the Post-it on the wall

Exit statement

bsughrim — 2023-12-01 04:33:14 UTC

I hope that as you leave the exhibit you have questioned yourself on ways you have centered yourself, as an educator/caregiver. How you have used that power to send bias thoughts and messages to Black Boys and other children about who Black Boys are and can be. I hope you have started to interrogate your biases of Black Boys and are starting to wonder “do my thoughts, values, and actions match with the books I heard today?” I hope that you leave with an idea of what you are going to do to make a change in yourself so that you can be in right relationship with Black Boys, so that your values match how they value themselves and how they should be valued.

bsughrim — 2023-12-02 21:19:45 UTC