What in the world does this mean?
Who told anyone that it wasn’t okay to be black and why does it need to be stamped on the sidewalk where hundreds of people are walking across daily?
This does not feel like a phrase of endearment.
It’s Okay
Monthly Archives: November 2020
Jumping for Joy
Moulin Rouge!
Revolution Books Ode to Toni Morrison
Mr. Clark
Sisters
Ms. Shirley and her Sister Ms. Mindy
Serenity’s Notebook Check
She sits in class with markers on her desk all the time and every time I ask her to put them away, she then gives me a note.
Muhammad
Suitcase book report
Third Grade completed box book reports after reading Suitcase by Mildred Pitts Walter.
Suitcase is an old children’s book (published in 1999) about a six- grader named Xander ‘Suitcse’ Bingham who despite his love of drawing and his feelings of inadequacy as an athlete, works to become a baseball player to win the approval of his father.
I found the book in my classroom and wanted to read it since the protagonist was a male black character. The children could relate to it and for the first time, a lot of them begin to open up about the relationship between their parents which was really touching.
At the Fountain
Some children from Mary Mitchell at Fordham University. Even though the university sits in their neighborhood, most at this young age, never heard of it or witnessed it.
Walking through the campus was fun for them but also forced them to look at themselves and their surroundings in a different way.
The younger ones were interested in the buildings….wondering if they were among castles.
The older ones walked with caution and introspection.
While never addressing race or opportunity, the subject was thick in the air between us. While going other places in their community, (like the park or grocery store) they would wander off without question, here they stuck together and whispered about what they saw and heard.