Our kids "get it". They notice everything, and they understand far more than they let on.
Let me back up for a moment.
Jon and I work really, really hard to construct a life for our family that concretely illustrates our firm commitment to respect for diversity and affirmation of the value of all others. We have made conscious choices to live in a diverse neighborhood, frequent businesses owned by people from around the world, read books, watch movies, and attend cultural celebrations from many different nations. I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that our commitment to respectful multiculturalism is at the forefront of nearly every decision we make.
We've been engaging in this immersion exercise for nearly a month now, and yet the most perspective altering experience came tonight: the first night we strayed away from immersion.
It had been a long day, and I needed to not cook. We all agreed that we wanted pizza, so we decided to forego the immersion for the night and try a place we'd recently heard about. It was in a nearby suburb, and the pizza had gotten rave reviews, so we figured, why not?
As we were eating, Izzie suddenly looked around and asked "why are all the adults peach and all the kids brown?"
I looked around and sure enough, everyone in the restaurant was white aside from our kids. I asked Izzie how she felt about that, and she responded "sad". We then began to talk about the different places we go (school, the doctor's office, our health club, the park, other restaurants, etc.) and who is at each of those places.
I'm amazed by the twins' perceptions of people. I learned that they believe that everyone who isn't obviously "brown" is "peach" (i.e. they described their friends who are both Asian and Latino as "peach"), but they have begun to differentiate between shades of brown (some people are "dark brown" while others are "light brown"). Fortunately, they have not yet begun to ascribe either positive or negative value to any skin shade.
They also notice who's in which roles. For example, they understand that at the local Ethiopian restaurant "the cookers are brown and the eaters are brown and peach", but at the pizza place, both the "cookers" and the "eaters" were "peach".
I'm still trying to process this conversation and understand what these experiences might mean in the context of an almost four-year-old mind. On the one hand, perhaps it's a good thing that Izzie called us out on taking them to an "all white" place. It felt to me like it was an out-of-the-ordinary experience for our family to be in such otherwise homogeneous surroundings. And yet while I was feeling relatively comfortable (I say relatively because it was a fairly strange place), my children obviously were not. (I should definitely specify that everyone was extremely friendly to our family and I certainly did not feel any "racial tension" which I think I'm generally fairly good about sensing...)
So white privilege rears its ugly head. I am able to feel comfortable in nearly any place of business that I enter. My children are not. I'm not sure to what extent they can learn to feel comfortable in homogeneous settings where they are the "other", or to what extent they even "should".
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Talking to Children About Hatred
Today is the 11th anniversary of the Columbine School Shooting. It is also Adolph Hitler's birthday. Extremists tend to plan attacks around this time of year (both the Oklahoma City Bombing and David Koresh Siege in Waco, Texas occurred on April 19th -- the same date as the "Shot Heard Round the World" which killed Archduke Ferdinand and began World War I).
Heavy stuff.
Yesterday was also the 1 year anniversary of the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum. We decided to use the opportunity to introduce the kids to what can happen if we witness hate and say nothing.
The museum itself is full of historical information, photos, videos, documents, and other paraphernalia relating to the Holocaust. There is also an entire floor devoted to an exhibit that teaches children about the Holocaust through video interviews with survivors, interactive games, books and other activities. Many of the survivors passed on lessons that can easily be translated into today's world. Speak out against racism, intolerance, and discrimination. Stand up against bullying. Respect diversity. Learn civic responsibility.
There was also a special exhibition featuring the illustrations and story of Margret and H.A. Rey, the creators of Curious George, who had to flee the Nazi occupation of Paris on bicycles they built themselves.
Though this exhibit was aimed at children 8 and up, the twins totally "got it". They were fascinated, asking questions like "why were the Nazis so mean?". We've always explained to the kids that some people don't like other people because of how they look or what they believe. This museum helped to put what hate can look like if taken to extremes into concrete terms. I loved that the museum framed the horrors of the Holocaust in terms of personal stories of resilience and hope, and gave kids actionable ways to think about becoming good citizens, committed to social justice, in the future.
Heavy stuff.
Yesterday was also the 1 year anniversary of the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum. We decided to use the opportunity to introduce the kids to what can happen if we witness hate and say nothing.
The museum itself is full of historical information, photos, videos, documents, and other paraphernalia relating to the Holocaust. There is also an entire floor devoted to an exhibit that teaches children about the Holocaust through video interviews with survivors, interactive games, books and other activities. Many of the survivors passed on lessons that can easily be translated into today's world. Speak out against racism, intolerance, and discrimination. Stand up against bullying. Respect diversity. Learn civic responsibility.
There was also a special exhibition featuring the illustrations and story of Margret and H.A. Rey, the creators of Curious George, who had to flee the Nazi occupation of Paris on bicycles they built themselves.
Though this exhibit was aimed at children 8 and up, the twins totally "got it". They were fascinated, asking questions like "why were the Nazis so mean?". We've always explained to the kids that some people don't like other people because of how they look or what they believe. This museum helped to put what hate can look like if taken to extremes into concrete terms. I loved that the museum framed the horrors of the Holocaust in terms of personal stories of resilience and hope, and gave kids actionable ways to think about becoming good citizens, committed to social justice, in the future.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
perspective
I first read this article years ago, and still think it's a good one to call assumptions and ethnocentrism into question.
Friday, April 16, 2010
A quick story and an appeal for advice:
Today we stopped by the library to pick up a couple of things I had on hold. We stood in line, waiting for our turn, and then the moment I was called to the counter, Elijah started dancing around and grabbing himself. I asked if he had to go to the bathroom, and he said Yes!!! The man was already off looking for my holds, and I couldn't just leave, so I sent Elijah around the corner to the bathroom on his own (he had emphatically told me he could *not* wait another minute). Izzie and I finished checking out and went to meet him.
Of course, after checking the women's bathroom and finding no sign of him, I realized that he probably chose to go to the men's bathroom. I waited outside for a few minutes, and watched several other people come and go. Still no sign of my child. Eventually, I sent Izzie in on a recon mission. We learned that he was in there, taking his sweet time. Finally, after taking care of business, he came out with his hands washed and feeling happy as a lark.
So here's my question to all parents (but particularly to moms of boys): When is it appropriate to allow your opposite sex child use the public restroom designated for their sex on their own*?
* I do trust that Elijah will not do gross things like touch the urinals, etc.
Of course, after checking the women's bathroom and finding no sign of him, I realized that he probably chose to go to the men's bathroom. I waited outside for a few minutes, and watched several other people come and go. Still no sign of my child. Eventually, I sent Izzie in on a recon mission. We learned that he was in there, taking his sweet time. Finally, after taking care of business, he came out with his hands washed and feeling happy as a lark.
So here's my question to all parents (but particularly to moms of boys): When is it appropriate to allow your opposite sex child use the public restroom designated for their sex on their own*?
* I do trust that Elijah will not do gross things like touch the urinals, etc.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Family Immersion Experience #2
After my return from the White Privilege Conference, it was time to jump right back into the immersion experience. This week, we decided to focus on the Latino communities around Chicago. On Sunday morning we drove down to the Pilsen / Little Village Neighborhoods. For those who don't know Chicago well, it's often described as a "City of Neighborhoods". I feel that's an appropriate description, as each area definitely has a distinct "feel" to it. Chicago is an extremely diverse city in terms of race, culture, religion, socioeconomic status, etc. However, for the most part, Chicago is also an extremely segregated city.
Looking back at the settlement of the city of Chicago is a really interesting history lesson. It's remarkable to see how each of the neighborhoods has changed over the years, and how these days, by and large, the north side is primarily white or of European descent, the south side is primarily Black, and the west side is mostly Latino. Right in the middle (outside of the loop and near north sides) are various Asian communities.
Anyway, Pilsen and Little Village are two neighboring communities on the near south side that are primarily Latino (mostly Mexican). In the past decade or so, Pilsen has become a hotspot for artists and gentrification, while Little Village (La Villita) remains one of Chicago's main ports of entry for Mexican Immigrants. We began our day by stopping at our favourite Tortillaria to buy enough chips and tortillas to last us until summer. It was definitely an interesting experience to buy directly from the factory, and the prices were incredible, though I have heard rumours of the company employing undocumented workers and then taking advantage of their status to impose some pretty terrible working conditions. The experiences and specific struggles faced by undocumented workers are another thing I'm only beginning to understand as I look deeper into my privilege and the development of my identity.
After the Tortillaria, we crossed the street to pick up some treats at a panaderia. It had been a while since I'd been to one, and it took me a second to remember that I needed to get a tray and put the items I wanted onto it using tongs, rather than just grabbing stuff and shoving it into a bag. I was absolutely shocked by the prices: we paid $3 for 3 loaves of bread, 2 enormous cookies, and a huge slice of cake. At that point I really started to question why we bother shopping at European bakeries at all...
Next, we went to lunch at one of the most famous authentic Mexican restaurants in the city. Although it is a hotspot for "adventurous gringos", there were many Mexican families enjoying their Sunday meals at the restaurant.
After lunch, we headed to the National Museum of Mexican Art, a free art museum in Little Village. We might never have known that this existed if not for this immersion experience, which has us actively seeking out new experiences. The art was remarkable, and we learned a decent amount about the history of the various cultures represented in Mexico, as well as the current political and social justice struggles.
Then we went to a park to let the kids run off some steam. I think visiting parks is an important aspect to this immersion experience, both for me as an adult to talk to other parents and observe the daily life of "locals", and for the kids to connect with other children. It is good for them to hear other languages being spoken. It is good for them to realize that they can have fun with people who don't look or sound like them. It is a complete joy to watch young children play together, devoid of stereotype or racial conditioning. At the park, we bought a sno-cone from a cart.
Our final stop was a Churro shop. We bought several different flavours, and brought them home to sample after dinner.
All in all, it was a great day, and I'm beginning to notice some key cultural differences that, surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) seem to be present in both the Asian cultures and the Latino cultures we've explored. That will have to be the subject of a future post!
Looking back at the settlement of the city of Chicago is a really interesting history lesson. It's remarkable to see how each of the neighborhoods has changed over the years, and how these days, by and large, the north side is primarily white or of European descent, the south side is primarily Black, and the west side is mostly Latino. Right in the middle (outside of the loop and near north sides) are various Asian communities.
Anyway, Pilsen and Little Village are two neighboring communities on the near south side that are primarily Latino (mostly Mexican). In the past decade or so, Pilsen has become a hotspot for artists and gentrification, while Little Village (La Villita) remains one of Chicago's main ports of entry for Mexican Immigrants. We began our day by stopping at our favourite Tortillaria to buy enough chips and tortillas to last us until summer. It was definitely an interesting experience to buy directly from the factory, and the prices were incredible, though I have heard rumours of the company employing undocumented workers and then taking advantage of their status to impose some pretty terrible working conditions. The experiences and specific struggles faced by undocumented workers are another thing I'm only beginning to understand as I look deeper into my privilege and the development of my identity.
After the Tortillaria, we crossed the street to pick up some treats at a panaderia. It had been a while since I'd been to one, and it took me a second to remember that I needed to get a tray and put the items I wanted onto it using tongs, rather than just grabbing stuff and shoving it into a bag. I was absolutely shocked by the prices: we paid $3 for 3 loaves of bread, 2 enormous cookies, and a huge slice of cake. At that point I really started to question why we bother shopping at European bakeries at all...
Next, we went to lunch at one of the most famous authentic Mexican restaurants in the city. Although it is a hotspot for "adventurous gringos", there were many Mexican families enjoying their Sunday meals at the restaurant.
After lunch, we headed to the National Museum of Mexican Art, a free art museum in Little Village. We might never have known that this existed if not for this immersion experience, which has us actively seeking out new experiences. The art was remarkable, and we learned a decent amount about the history of the various cultures represented in Mexico, as well as the current political and social justice struggles.
Then we went to a park to let the kids run off some steam. I think visiting parks is an important aspect to this immersion experience, both for me as an adult to talk to other parents and observe the daily life of "locals", and for the kids to connect with other children. It is good for them to hear other languages being spoken. It is good for them to realize that they can have fun with people who don't look or sound like them. It is a complete joy to watch young children play together, devoid of stereotype or racial conditioning. At the park, we bought a sno-cone from a cart.
Our final stop was a Churro shop. We bought several different flavours, and brought them home to sample after dinner.
All in all, it was a great day, and I'm beginning to notice some key cultural differences that, surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) seem to be present in both the Asian cultures and the Latino cultures we've explored. That will have to be the subject of a future post!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
more movies
(and no time to expand upon them)
The Secret Life of Bees
Beloved
Amistad
Why Did I Get Married
George Washington
Brown Sugar
City of God
Bamboozled
Monster's Ball
Better Luck Tomorrow
Eve's Bayou
Roots
Rize
Live and Become
Akeelah and the Bee
Love Jones
Man Push Cart
The Last King of Scotland
Dreamgirls
Losing Isaiah
Stomp the Yard
Saving Face
The Motorcycle Diaries
Kirikou and the Sorceress
and then there are the documentaries:
Color of Fear
Last Chance for Eden
Blue Eye / Brown Eye
.... to be continued
The Secret Life of Bees
Beloved
Amistad
Why Did I Get Married
George Washington
Brown Sugar
City of God
Bamboozled
Monster's Ball
Better Luck Tomorrow
Eve's Bayou
Roots
Rize
Live and Become
Akeelah and the Bee
Love Jones
Man Push Cart
The Last King of Scotland
Dreamgirls
Losing Isaiah
Stomp the Yard
Saving Face
The Motorcycle Diaries
Kirikou and the Sorceress
and then there are the documentaries:
Color of Fear
Last Chance for Eden
Blue Eye / Brown Eye
.... to be continued
I'm Back
After a physically and emotionally exhausting three days of the White Privilege Conference, I'm home. It was a powerful, intense experience (the conference activities went from 8:30 am to 11 pm with no real breaks or time to "process"). I left feeling empowered, hopeful, and excited for next year (when the conference will be held in Minneapolis!)
I'm still thinking about lots of different things that came up for me over these past few days. One of the things that I've been working on is my own personal narrative of my experiences with privilege, power, and prejudice in a racialized world. I've been reflecting quite a bit on my life, and trying to connect the dots of the experiences I've had that have led me to hold my current worldview. It's been an interesting and illuminating process for me. There's a chance I'll post my story here, but mostly I'm doing this work to understand myself better.
I don't have the time right now to go into depth about the conference and the specific workshops I chose to attend. I am hopeful that I'll be able to do that in the next few days.
I'm still thinking about lots of different things that came up for me over these past few days. One of the things that I've been working on is my own personal narrative of my experiences with privilege, power, and prejudice in a racialized world. I've been reflecting quite a bit on my life, and trying to connect the dots of the experiences I've had that have led me to hold my current worldview. It's been an interesting and illuminating process for me. There's a chance I'll post my story here, but mostly I'm doing this work to understand myself better.
I don't have the time right now to go into depth about the conference and the specific workshops I chose to attend. I am hopeful that I'll be able to do that in the next few days.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Movies
I wanted to offer up my list of "must see" movies to anyone who might be interested:
Slam: Easily one of my favourite movies of all time, this film tells the story of a young black man in DC who finds peace in prison through poetry.
Maria Full of Grace: A story of a Colombian girl turned drug mule in an effort to make it to America.
Children of Heaven: This gem of a film is about an Iranian boy who loses his sister's shoes and has to share his only pair with her.
Raising Victor Vargas: great coming of age film about an urban Latino Cassanova-type.
Smoke Signals: written by Sherman Alexie, this movie offers a look into the lives of younger generation Reservation life.
The Kite Runner: I haven't read the book, but I did really love the movie.
Tsotsi: another gem of a film, this story is about a young man living in a South African township who steals a car only to find that there's a baby inside.
Babel: Four masterfully interwoven stories that come together to show us how similar the human experience really is.
Antwone Fisher: The true story of a young Black sailor who embarks on a personal journey to heal the hurt from his past.
Dirty Pretty Things: A thriller set in England about undocumented Nigerian immigrants and the struggles they face when they come upon a murder.
Ma Vie En Rose: The story of a young boy convinced he's a girl trapped in a male body and the social ostracization he faces.
Hotel Rwanda: Anyone who hasn't seen this film, or who doesn't know about the genocide in Rwanda should watch this movie!
The Killing Fields: Keeping with the genocide theme, anyone who isn't aware of the genocide in Cambodia needs to see this film.
Precious: The story of a Black teenage girl who faces enormous obstacles but keeps trying to move forward despite them.
The Debut: Explores the internal struggles of a young Filipino-American man who tries to walk the line between adhering to tradition and living in contemporary America.
The Joy Luck Club: Another film that explores identity development / generational issues in a group of Chinese American women.
House of Flying Daggers: Gorgeous, Gorgeous Gorgeous film with a little bit of everything in it. I like this movie even more than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which you should also see!)
I'm sure there are more, and if so, I'll add them as I remember them. I'd also love to hear any of your recommendations (particularly any Bollywood or Nollywood suggestions).
Slam: Easily one of my favourite movies of all time, this film tells the story of a young black man in DC who finds peace in prison through poetry.
Maria Full of Grace: A story of a Colombian girl turned drug mule in an effort to make it to America.
Children of Heaven: This gem of a film is about an Iranian boy who loses his sister's shoes and has to share his only pair with her.
Raising Victor Vargas: great coming of age film about an urban Latino Cassanova-type.
Smoke Signals: written by Sherman Alexie, this movie offers a look into the lives of younger generation Reservation life.
The Kite Runner: I haven't read the book, but I did really love the movie.
Tsotsi: another gem of a film, this story is about a young man living in a South African township who steals a car only to find that there's a baby inside.
Babel: Four masterfully interwoven stories that come together to show us how similar the human experience really is.
Antwone Fisher: The true story of a young Black sailor who embarks on a personal journey to heal the hurt from his past.
Dirty Pretty Things: A thriller set in England about undocumented Nigerian immigrants and the struggles they face when they come upon a murder.
Ma Vie En Rose: The story of a young boy convinced he's a girl trapped in a male body and the social ostracization he faces.
Hotel Rwanda: Anyone who hasn't seen this film, or who doesn't know about the genocide in Rwanda should watch this movie!
The Killing Fields: Keeping with the genocide theme, anyone who isn't aware of the genocide in Cambodia needs to see this film.
Precious: The story of a Black teenage girl who faces enormous obstacles but keeps trying to move forward despite them.
The Debut: Explores the internal struggles of a young Filipino-American man who tries to walk the line between adhering to tradition and living in contemporary America.
The Joy Luck Club: Another film that explores identity development / generational issues in a group of Chinese American women.
House of Flying Daggers: Gorgeous, Gorgeous Gorgeous film with a little bit of everything in it. I like this movie even more than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which you should also see!)
I'm sure there are more, and if so, I'll add them as I remember them. I'd also love to hear any of your recommendations (particularly any Bollywood or Nollywood suggestions).
Ubiquitous Whiteness and the difficulty of Immersion
There's so much that I want to say about this Immersion experience. It's only been a couple of days so far, and we've sought out some really interesting experiences, but I'm having trouble not seeing this as some sort of experiment that can never really truly be what it needs to be.
In college I had a professor who studied homeless populations. To do so, he spent a year "drifting", living on the streets and getting to know the people as well as their personal stories and reasons for being homeless. The experience gave him a new perspective on homelessness, and he was able to connect with people on a personal level. But even so, he will never truly understand what it's like to be homeless because the reality is that he knew his "experiment" with living homeless would eventually come to an end.
With this experience, we aren't in any way trying to "become" people of colour. I would never be so naive to assume that I can ever truly understand what a person of colour faces in this country. And so, this immersion project is sort of hard to wrap my mind around. What, exactly, am I trying to achieve by doing this, and how is it any different from my everyday life?
On the surface, access to cultures other than our own is pretty easy where we live, with the most obvious "inroads" being food, music, and film. Cultural centers and museums are also plentiful, and there are lots of different events offered around the city. But none of these things allow us to really experience the cultures fully. This is giving me just a small taste of what I imagine our children will face as they attempt to determine where they "fit" in society. I can't provide them with authentic Ethiopian culture because I haven't lived it. So how do I make those important connections. (Connecting with others has never really been my forte...)
While food, music, and movies will undoubtedly be a big part of our experience (we're definitely eating our way around the world!) I really want to figure out how to connect on a deeper level.
Anyway, so far, here's what we've done:
1. Attended a Turkish shadow puppet show (in Turkish).
2. Watched several movies (Precious, Stand and Deliver in Spanish, Roll Bounce.)
3. Listened to lots of world music (playlist to follow)
4. Explored the sari stores on Devon Avenue, one of the largest Indian neighborhoods in the country before having lunch at an Indian restaurant.
5. Went grocery shopping at two Indian markets and one Korean market (lots of curries and dumplings in our future!)
6. Sampled ice cream in flavours like maize, tamarind, jackfruit, buko pandan (young coconut and screwpine), ube (purple yam) at a Filipino-owned ice cream shop.
7. Watched a news report on human trafficking in southeast Asia, Africa, and even in the U.S.
8. Read Indian and Korean newspapers, Al Jazeera, and Ebony.\
9. Stopped by a Caribbean-American bakery in our neighborhood for some ginger bulla and ting.
10. Went to a multicultural easter egg hunt.
11. Almost bought a Durian to try, but Jon chickened out...
Honestly, not too much of this is really out of the ordinary for us, but we are making a very conscious effort to seek these experiences out. We're actually stopping at places that have always looked interesting. I'm taking the time to notice who's actually shopping with us, and what's being advertised in the different neighborhoods. We're often the only white people (or one of very few) around (that's pretty common for us in general), and yet there are still lots of "cultural markers of whiteness" around. (i.e. "beauty" adds for hair straighteners featuring "whitened up" Indian women, and Meat Loaf's song "Anything for Love" playing in the Indian Market...)
It's still hard to find television programs that feature people of colour. Especially difficult to find children's programs. (I'm talking about when I turn on the tv without planning for a specific show at a specific time, or going in search of culturally relevant dvd's. We still have a long, long way to go in order to truly reflect the diversity of our country in our media. The scary thing is that it's gotten much, much better than it used to be.
In college I had a professor who studied homeless populations. To do so, he spent a year "drifting", living on the streets and getting to know the people as well as their personal stories and reasons for being homeless. The experience gave him a new perspective on homelessness, and he was able to connect with people on a personal level. But even so, he will never truly understand what it's like to be homeless because the reality is that he knew his "experiment" with living homeless would eventually come to an end.
With this experience, we aren't in any way trying to "become" people of colour. I would never be so naive to assume that I can ever truly understand what a person of colour faces in this country. And so, this immersion project is sort of hard to wrap my mind around. What, exactly, am I trying to achieve by doing this, and how is it any different from my everyday life?
On the surface, access to cultures other than our own is pretty easy where we live, with the most obvious "inroads" being food, music, and film. Cultural centers and museums are also plentiful, and there are lots of different events offered around the city. But none of these things allow us to really experience the cultures fully. This is giving me just a small taste of what I imagine our children will face as they attempt to determine where they "fit" in society. I can't provide them with authentic Ethiopian culture because I haven't lived it. So how do I make those important connections. (Connecting with others has never really been my forte...)
While food, music, and movies will undoubtedly be a big part of our experience (we're definitely eating our way around the world!) I really want to figure out how to connect on a deeper level.
Anyway, so far, here's what we've done:
1. Attended a Turkish shadow puppet show (in Turkish).
2. Watched several movies (Precious, Stand and Deliver in Spanish, Roll Bounce.)
3. Listened to lots of world music (playlist to follow)
4. Explored the sari stores on Devon Avenue, one of the largest Indian neighborhoods in the country before having lunch at an Indian restaurant.
5. Went grocery shopping at two Indian markets and one Korean market (lots of curries and dumplings in our future!)
6. Sampled ice cream in flavours like maize, tamarind, jackfruit, buko pandan (young coconut and screwpine), ube (purple yam) at a Filipino-owned ice cream shop.
7. Watched a news report on human trafficking in southeast Asia, Africa, and even in the U.S.
8. Read Indian and Korean newspapers, Al Jazeera, and Ebony.\
9. Stopped by a Caribbean-American bakery in our neighborhood for some ginger bulla and ting.
10. Went to a multicultural easter egg hunt.
11. Almost bought a Durian to try, but Jon chickened out...
Honestly, not too much of this is really out of the ordinary for us, but we are making a very conscious effort to seek these experiences out. We're actually stopping at places that have always looked interesting. I'm taking the time to notice who's actually shopping with us, and what's being advertised in the different neighborhoods. We're often the only white people (or one of very few) around (that's pretty common for us in general), and yet there are still lots of "cultural markers of whiteness" around. (i.e. "beauty" adds for hair straighteners featuring "whitened up" Indian women, and Meat Loaf's song "Anything for Love" playing in the Indian Market...)
It's still hard to find television programs that feature people of colour. Especially difficult to find children's programs. (I'm talking about when I turn on the tv without planning for a specific show at a specific time, or going in search of culturally relevant dvd's. We still have a long, long way to go in order to truly reflect the diversity of our country in our media. The scary thing is that it's gotten much, much better than it used to be.
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Garden
Today we made a faerie garden:
See all that dirt? There are a bunch of bulbs interspersed, but there's still a lot of brown spaces. I know exactly nothing about gardening. Does anyone have ideas about what I can use as a basic green groundcover that will still allow the flowers to come up and be beautiful?
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Immersion
Today begins our immersion experience. I've been plotting and planning for weeks, and yet I still feel ill-prepared for this challenge. Excited? Absolutely. But I really want to make this one count, and so I've had to do a lot of reflecting in order to determine what exactly that means.
When I look at our lifestyle, I think we're already doing pretty well in terms of international influence and knowing that the world is a much bigger and more diverse place than our comfortable little bubble. I'm hoping that this experience will force me to push some of my boundaries and help me to foster deeper connections and a greater understanding for what people of colour face in America.
I'm lucky in that I live in one of the most diverse areas of the country (if not the most diverse, according to the 2000 census. We'll see how the neighborhood fares in this year's census). And yet there are tons of little storefronts half a block away that I've never explored. That will change this month.
I'm approaching this challenge in a couple of different ways, all aimed at creating deeper connections. My plan for the time being is to focus on a different community of colour each week of April. We'll be going to visit new neighborhoods, relevant museums, restaurants, businesses, and grocery stores. We will be watching movies (I've updated my Netflix queue, if you're a member, become my friend!), listening to music, and reading books from around the world. We will be taking advantage of local resources to attend lectures, dance showcases, drum circles and other cultural events.
I'm planning to spend a lot of time at parks with the kids. We'll go to different neighborhoods and also be more present within our own neighborhood. A lot of our neighborhood is apartments / condos and we don't really know many of our neighbors. I'm hoping that will begin to change this month.
I'm working on some lists of resources for anyone who might want to join in our immersion experiment (movies, books, music, etc.) and I could probably be persuaded to send out some mix cd's if people are interested.
I'm also (finally) working on learning Spanish. Depending on how well I'm doing, one of my weeks may involve intensive Spanish immersion. We'll see.
One of the things I'm most excited about is attending the White Privilege Conference with my friend Meghan. She's a remarkable woman who's doing incredible work both personally and professionally to break down racial stereotypes and become a strong ally to people of colour. I expect to be pushed, and I expect to come out the other end of this experience a better person.
When I look at our lifestyle, I think we're already doing pretty well in terms of international influence and knowing that the world is a much bigger and more diverse place than our comfortable little bubble. I'm hoping that this experience will force me to push some of my boundaries and help me to foster deeper connections and a greater understanding for what people of colour face in America.
I'm lucky in that I live in one of the most diverse areas of the country (if not the most diverse, according to the 2000 census. We'll see how the neighborhood fares in this year's census). And yet there are tons of little storefronts half a block away that I've never explored. That will change this month.
I'm approaching this challenge in a couple of different ways, all aimed at creating deeper connections. My plan for the time being is to focus on a different community of colour each week of April. We'll be going to visit new neighborhoods, relevant museums, restaurants, businesses, and grocery stores. We will be watching movies (I've updated my Netflix queue, if you're a member, become my friend!), listening to music, and reading books from around the world. We will be taking advantage of local resources to attend lectures, dance showcases, drum circles and other cultural events.
I'm planning to spend a lot of time at parks with the kids. We'll go to different neighborhoods and also be more present within our own neighborhood. A lot of our neighborhood is apartments / condos and we don't really know many of our neighbors. I'm hoping that will begin to change this month.
I'm working on some lists of resources for anyone who might want to join in our immersion experiment (movies, books, music, etc.) and I could probably be persuaded to send out some mix cd's if people are interested.
I'm also (finally) working on learning Spanish. Depending on how well I'm doing, one of my weeks may involve intensive Spanish immersion. We'll see.
One of the things I'm most excited about is attending the White Privilege Conference with my friend Meghan. She's a remarkable woman who's doing incredible work both personally and professionally to break down racial stereotypes and become a strong ally to people of colour. I expect to be pushed, and I expect to come out the other end of this experience a better person.
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