February 9, 2023
Dear LREI Community,
Greetings, all. I hope that this note finds you well. While there are times when the winter weather, such as it is, seems to slow the City’s activity as we all hunker down to protect ourselves from the howling winds, life at LREI seems busier than ever. The activity and energy definitely keep us all energized.
As I toured visitors through the divisions this week, it was remarkable how busy each classroom was. Truly each and every room was humming. As we moved through the lower school many classes were focused on projects that are part of our participation in Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools. There was writing and research and art and math and so much more. Many skills were being honed and a greater understanding of lives that have not received the attention they deserve was being achieved.
Two students, fourth graders, told me they were researching Sheryl Swoopes. I asked who she was. One said, “She was the first black woman to play in the WNBA.” His partner chimed in “She was also the first out lesbian in the league.” We talked for a bit and there was a sense from the kids that these two parts of her identity, alone and together, had a significant impact on her life. With both statements being moderately close to correct and with more fact checking and fine-tuning to come, we all went on with our day’s work- their research and my tour.
My guest and I were struck by the students’ understanding, implied in our conversation, that these two parts of Swoops’s identity matter both individually and together. There seemed to be some sense that the intersection made a difference.
The College Board (creators of the Advanced Placement program and the SAT) has agreed to revise its new Advanced Placement African American Studies course by removing sections focused on feminist and queer African American history and culture and any mention of “intersectionality,” along with sections featuring certain writers and the Black Lives Matter movement, among other topics. These sections were questioned by those who suggested that these topics were politics and not history and the College Board, seemingly, agreed.
Courses in African American Studies are akin to our focus on social studies, a central part of progressive schools, than to a strict study of history, the idea is that the historical experience is better understood in the context of the people and places, impacts and outcomes, that grow out of the moments in history that are being studied. So by studying the history of segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, for example, but not looking at Black Lives Matter, you may cover some reading of the facts and figures of this time period but not the impact of the events that exist to this day. The truly challenging part of learning about any subject is connecting what we know to what we experience, what happened to what could happen, from whence we came to where we are headed, and not to look at the parts alone but also at the whole, whether it is the “human experience” or one human’s experience, as our fourth graders were doing.
I am so proud of the work that goes on each day at LREI both for what it offers our students and also for the model that it offers to others. Embrace the whole truth, the truths of many participants, muck around in the messiness of the world as you come to some understanding. Work to reconcile your understanding with that of others. Often we hear that a focus on the history of biases causes shame for those who have some connection to those considered the oppressors. For those who feel these early feelings of shame, we see them give way when the power of learning and understanding kick in. Then it becomes clear that the only thing we should be ashamed of is not learning all that we can and doing all that we can to ensure the dignity of and justice for our fellow human beings.
