A year after my reflection…
A year ago, I spoke to our upper school community about race and my journey to understanding Kentucky's history as a function of my identity. I regularly reflect on that speech and think about my process and my emotions in giving such a personal address. I've found it deeply enriching. Not only am I able to reexamine myself, but ways to engage the school community outside my classroom. I sincerely believe in relational teaching, and I've found that showcasing my learning and personal development has bolstered my relationships with students. Here's a small excerpt of that speech.
As a kid, my peers and I took so much pride in sharing stories about how our grandparents or even great grandparents arrived here on a boat with nothing and proceeded to work their way up in society. Hard work! We'd champion. Through hard work, our families deserved what they'd earned, and these stories were foundational to our core ideologies on politics and society. Well now as I reflect back if those stories were so integral to the makeup of my home and the homes of my closest friends, these stories I just shared with you must similarly make up the homes of black members of our community today. As a teenager, I didn't realize that, and I don't think my peers did either. While we patted ourselves on the back for the hard work of our ancestors and acknowledged how formative their experiences were to our upbringing, society actively ignored and undermined the legacy of race and its effect on the upbringing of our black peers. We championed the successes of our ancestors, all the while, black community members were championing the lives of their ancestors, who, in the same era, were fighting for survival and now found no recognition or validation of their experience.
In the next couple of weeks, this speech will air on local radio in Philadelphia, where I'll also talk about my research and frame. When I know more details, I'll post it to my twitter @MrBrian_Long.