In the last year and a half I’ve been making it a point to start reading and thinking a lot more about my role in society. Specifically my role as a white, cisgender, heterosexual person in a country where people with these characteristics are apparently more highly valued by the system than humans who don’t share them.
Before the BLM movement, I didn’t really have any understanding of the challenges people of color face in this system. It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I mostly believed the story that I’d always been told–that racism was a thing of the past for the most part, and that everyone has the same opportunities in this country, and that anyone who doesn’t have success or power here must not really want it because otherwise they would be able to have it. I think I probably knew there was some BS in that, but it didn’t directly affect me, so I didn’t think to look into it more. In the work I’ve been doing to try to understand better, I’ve learned a lot by listening to the voices of those who are willing to share the obstacles they’ve faced in life. And I’ve started to learn history that, while uncomfortable to learn about, is the true history of this country.
I’ve read a lot, and listened to a lot of podcasts, and intentionally started following a lot more people of color on social media, and just generally tried to be cognizant of my own thoughts and actions, and how I can do better in trying to make sure that things I say and do don’t serve to protect a system that holds others down. I’m still a work in progress, but I am working on it. Because I believe that all humans have value, and that no skin color or gender or sexual orientation should be preferred over another. And I want to behave in ways that reflect that belief, even though it means facing my own ingrained prejudices and working to eradicate them.
In my reading and learning, I started hearing more about The 1619 Project. I grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and attended the same high school as the rather prominent, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones. She graduated a few years ahead of me–in the same class as my sister, I think. I didn’t know her, but I remember hearing a little bit about her here and there. As The 1619 Project started becoming more well known, I started paying even more attention. I listened to the podcast, and looked forward to the book coming out. And this week, I (and about 700 others) had the opportunity to hear Ms. Hannah-Jones speak in the auditorium of our alma mater–a stop on her book tour. She was joined by the teacher from that school who first introduced her to the history that would eventually lead to The 1619 Project, Rev. Ray Dial.
I never had Mr. Dial as a teacher, but I remember seeing him in the hallway and thinking he must be the nicest man, because he was always smiling and seemed genuinely happy to greet everyone. Seeing him up there with Ms. Hannah-Jones on stage, and hearing her talk about the impact he had on her life made me feel two things very strongly:
1. I wish I’d had Mr. Dial as a teacher in high school, because maybe I would have learned about a lot of this sooner, and not potentially done or said things that were harmful before I knew better.
2. If I had one wish as an educator it would be to know that I had an impact on a student that helped prepare them to change the world in a positive way.
I can’ do anything about that first one, but I’m always trying to think of ways I can support students on their paths to becoming who they’re going to be. One quote stood out to me from Ms. Hannah-Jones’s talk on Tuesday evening. Well, actually a lot of what she said stood out to me, but this one quote in particular really hit me:
“Hope is an action. And if it’s not an action, it’s useless. ”
-Nikole Hannah-Jones, November 23rd, 2021, Waterloo West High School Auditorium
This was a stark reminder that, while I’ve been busy starting my new job and starting grad school, I’ve probably been less focused on how I can do better as an ally to marginalized groups. But I still want to do better. So, as another step, I went to the Soul Book Nook, a Black-owned book store in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday and bought a signed copy of The 1619 Project book. I haven’t started reading it yet, but it’s on my list to finish before the end of the year. And I also plan to keep working out ways I can actively promote equitable solutions to a very real systemic problem. Because, to paraphrase someone wise, if hope isn’t an action, it’s useless.
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