June 2020: End Of The Year and Uncertainty
Here we are, nearing the end of the 2019-2020 school year. In many ways it has been a year like no other. In the span of a few short months, we've gone to meeting in person to meeting on-line and feeling unsure about our health, our safety, and our country.
Between the inequities sharply highlighted by the Covid-19 Pandemic and the recent protests against police brutality and inherent inequity for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), many of us are reeling and wondering what we can do to help. Many of us are also wondering how to talk to our children about these realities and how we can both protect them and make them active change agents.
Rather than telling you what to do, we will remind you that staying connected with each other is an essential component of healthy emotional wellness and isolating yourself has a negative impact on your mental health. So, please stay connected, check on each other, support each other.
There are a number of resources listed below, which offer the history of race in this country, ways to examine and think about our own roles and contributions to this history (particularly if we are not Black, Indigenous, and People of Color- BIPOC), and ways to get involved now to help change and move towards a more equitable nation.
It is unclear, at the time of this writing, what a fall start will look like in Newton. The district is working hard to make sure that everyone feels supported and has access to the same academic teaching and support. NPS is keeping social and emotional wellness and support at the forefront of these plans. Regardless of how we come together in the fall, we will be here to support and encourage all of Bigelow's students and community.
Please be kind to yourself and to each other, and please continue to connect and support each other.
See you in the fall!
--Dr J
Resources:
Between the inequities sharply highlighted by the Covid-19 Pandemic and the recent protests against police brutality and inherent inequity for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), many of us are reeling and wondering what we can do to help. Many of us are also wondering how to talk to our children about these realities and how we can both protect them and make them active change agents.
Rather than telling you what to do, we will remind you that staying connected with each other is an essential component of healthy emotional wellness and isolating yourself has a negative impact on your mental health. So, please stay connected, check on each other, support each other.
There are a number of resources listed below, which offer the history of race in this country, ways to examine and think about our own roles and contributions to this history (particularly if we are not Black, Indigenous, and People of Color- BIPOC), and ways to get involved now to help change and move towards a more equitable nation.
It is unclear, at the time of this writing, what a fall start will look like in Newton. The district is working hard to make sure that everyone feels supported and has access to the same academic teaching and support. NPS is keeping social and emotional wellness and support at the forefront of these plans. Regardless of how we come together in the fall, we will be here to support and encourage all of Bigelow's students and community.
Please be kind to yourself and to each other, and please continue to connect and support each other.
See you in the fall!
--Dr J
Resources:
- Being nice is not going to end racism | Robin DiAngelo
- Your Kids Aren't Too Young To Talk About Race.
- For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies
- Letters for Black Lives: An Open Letter Project on Anti-Blackness (translated in 20+ languages)
- 100 Race-Conscious Things You Can Say to Your Child to Advance Racial Justice
- 10 Books About Race To Read Instead Of Asking A Person Of Color To Explain Things To You
- Stop Asking People Of Color To Explain Racism–Pick Up One Of These Books Instead
- Teaching Tolerance on Race/Ethnicity
- Why You Need To Stop Saying "All Lives Matter"- April 16, 2019- Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
- Antiracism Research and Policy Center at American University
- The American Nightmare- June 1, 2020- The Atlantic, Ibram X Kendi
More ways to get involved:
- https://www.patreon.com/thegreatunlearn
There are people writing about this every day. Follow people like Nikole Hannah-Jones, Bree Newsome Bass, Ericka Hart, Rashad Robinson, Rachel E Cargle, Ibram X Kendi, and other leaders who make it a point to have these public conversations. - Dozens of nonprofits run by and for BIPOC (Black & Indigenous people of color) who tend to get ignored by big philanthropy. Color Of Change, Violence In Boston Inc., Dominican Development Center, the Black Futures Lab.
- Donate to Bail Funds across the country
- 26 Ways to Support the Struggle
- BLM's "Ways You Can Help" Page
- Minneapolis Relief Funds
- Support BIPOC-Owned Businesses: Black Wall Street Business Listing, Support Black Owned, Black Economic Council of Massachusetts
- Black-Owned Bookstores
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