“Well, we’re taught — particularly, in elementary school — to learn a standardized language. And when you ask, why is it this way, why is this the standard, you arrive at a very arbitrary answer, and an answer which actually excludes, often, people of color. “Your English is wrong. This English is right.” But, in fact, language is always changing. And I think it’s the poets, the writers, and even the youth — they’re using language to cast new meaning…” ~ Ocean Vuong, Author and Poet (from an interview with Krista Tippet, April 30, 2020, On Being podcast, A Life Worthy of Our Breath)
Upon reflection of the 2019-2020 academic year and in the midst of contemplation about the troubled state of the world, I find myself contemplating how my work contributes—and could contribute more—to anti-racist, social justice education and the evolution of society toward greater appreciation of our differences and the realization of our shared humanity.
The above photo was taken during a Friday afternoon reflective dialogue session in The Stories Project. The participants were invited to take “self-portraits” of one another. I chose to feature this photo of Zahara (pseudonym) in this blog entry because its composition, the silhouette of her profile against the cloud-filled sky, reminds me of the grounded, wise, thoughtful people with whom I have had the privilege to work, learn, and collaborate in the context of a research-practice partnership. In community-engaged scholarship, the learning is multi-directional: Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. We have so much to learn from one another, if we can just slow down long enough to truly listen.