Welcome to Day 10 of the #30DayEducationChallenge! There are so many important figures involved in this movement (πŸ’‘we could do a 90 day challenge on that), but the group I got the most questions about in last weekend's poll was the Black Panther Party so I want to focus on them today. I have to admit that, until last week when my history teacher friend sent me an article I had to include on the Black Panthers, when I heard "Black Panthers" I had an image of a domestic terrorist group (cringe- I know)- welp like everything else over the last 10 days I could not be more off base!

In reality, the Black Panthers were social activists who went to great lengths to protect Black lives through protesting, education, legal aid, and community programs (they invented the free breakfast program!?).

Today we have a mix of things that total about 30 minutes:

πŸ“–A section of "How Segregation Survived" by the Equal Justice Initiative - scroll down to the section called "THE GOVERNMENT ASSAULT ON BLACK POWER" and read this. This covers COINTELPRO which was another hot topic in this weekend's poll. (2 minute read)
πŸ“ΊTEDxTalk: Black Panthers White Lies by Dr. Curtis Austin (13 minutes)
πŸ“–"8 Black Panther Programs That Were More Empowering Than Federal Government Programs"(5 minute read)
πŸ“–"From the Black Panthers to Black Lives Matter, the ongoing fight to end police violence against black Americans" (10 minute read)

Reflection questions (discuss with your groups, join the conversation on Instagram, or journal):
  1. What is something new you learned?
  2. What is something that surprised you? 
  3. What can we learn from the Black Panther Party? What are lessons that can be applied to the current movement? 

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 10: The Black Panthers

Tuesday, June 30, 2020


Welcome to Week 2, Day 9. How are you feeling? Overwhelmed? Like there's too much to learn? Maybe you can put things off a little longer? In any new program/challenge, week 1 is amazing (SO NATURAL AMIRITE?!), then week 2 is when things get tough (is there just less time?). I know - I've done a zillion whole 30s, 21 Day Fixes, Insanities, T25s, grad school...week 2 is always when half the people fall off. This week will be harder to find time but we can do it because we have to, because it's important, because this is what Black people live everyday, and as white people it's another privilege to be able to choose to duck out of Black history. So, let's commit to finding time this week - the science of habit building says next week will be easier if we push through.

Now that my TED Talk about habit building is done let's get to the work!

Today we're talking about Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that decided racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional. Last week we learned about Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow, and the 14th Amendment, and today's podcast builds on all of these. We're listening to Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast, episode 13: "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment". Thank you to the 10+ people (mostly teachers so trust) who recommended this to me - great listen. Time to complete: 31 minutes.

If this topic is interesting to you and podcasts are your learning language, This American Life has an episode about today's segregated schools: The Problem We All Live With.

We also discussed modern day school segregation in one of last year's #WakeUpWednesdays which you can view here.

🎧Links:
Spotify
Stitcher
Apple

Reflection questions (discuss with your group, journal, join the convo on Instagram):

  1. What is something new you learned?
  2. What is something that surprised you? 
  3. What types of practices keep school segregation alive today?
  4. What can we do to curb this? 

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 9: Brown v. Board of Education

Monday, June 29, 2020


Welcome to Week 2 of the #30DayEducationChallenge! This week we are talking about the Civil Rights Movement which took place over the 1950s and 60s. Today we're starting with the basics:

πŸ“– The Civil Rights Movement: A Timeline - time to complete: 5 minutes (we'll get deeper into the protests later this week).
🎧 The Politics of Passing the Civil Rights Act - time to complete: 37 minutes.

I'm pretty sure the way I was taught the Civil Rights Act went was: Civil Rights Act gave everyone access to the same water fountains because obviously everyone it this way (except maybe a few bad guys from the South!), and then everything was equal and chill! (Were water fountains the universal civil rights example for kids?).

Reflection questions (journal, discuss with your groups, or join the Instagram conversations):

  1. What is one thing you learned?
  2. What is something that surprised you? 
  3. How did the passing of the Civil Rights Act change the country? How did the country stay the same? 
  4. Were Black people truly free with the passing of the Civil Rights Act?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. If you're just joining us- welcome! and no fear, you can catch up on last week as you have time. 


See yall out there.

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 8

Sunday, June 28, 2020


Tech companies are asking their Black employee groups to fix Silicon Valley’s race problem (WaPo): As race relations are the center of attention, companies are relying on Black employees to provide the education, consulting, etc - usually for free.

Ten Kids on What Their Parents Do for Work (The Cut): Kids explain what their parents do for work now that they can hear them working. This was a good laugh.

When black people are in pain, white people just join book clubs (WaPo): How allyship can (and should) extend beyond the comfort of a bookclub.

Revenge of the Suburbs (The Atlantic): COVID has changed home owners' priorities - are the 'burbs really THAT bad after all?

Kanye's 10-Year Deal with GAP (Vogue): Issa hail mary! Can Yeezy save GAP? 

How to Design a Better Hiring Process (HBR): Fair, efficient hiring practices that bring in GOOD teammates have never been more important.

NASCAR Wanted Everyone to See The Noose in Bubba Wallace's Garage (Vice): The NFL should take note on how to treat your Black athletes considering 70% of NFL players are Black while ONE NASCAR driver is white. 

Sunday Reading List 6.29.2020


Happy (?) weekend! I hope everyone has had an educational week. For the #30DayEducationChallenge weekend edition we're watching 13th on Netflix. Through interviews with public figures, politicians, activists, and scholars 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay*, discusses modern day laws and policies in connection with US history. I'm excited to watch and discuss!

I know this week was a lot of information (and Wednesday was a heavy reading day, sorry) so we can also use time this weekend to catch up on the past week and read through comments:

Day 1: Overview
Day 2: The Economics of Slavery
Day 3: Reconstruction
Day 4: Jim Crow (+ supplemental reading)
Day 5: The Great Migration

Enjoy the weekend, keep learning and talking, stay safe, and for fkcs sake wear a mask!

See yall out there!


*Where have we heard Ava's name before? She is:

  • The first Black woman to win the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere. 
  • The first Black woman nominated for the Best Director Golden Globe (Selma)
  • The first Black female director to have a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (Selma).
  • Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 13th.
  • The first black woman to direct a live-action film earning $100 million at U.S. box office (Wrinkle in Time).
  • Co-writer of When They See Us which was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.

#30DayEducationChallenge: The Weekend

Friday, June 26, 2020


Today we're talking about The Great Migration which began with a group of families leaving Selma, AL in 1916 and eventually became 6 million people over six decades seeking political asylum within their own country. When this began, 90% of Black people lived in the South, and by the 70s when it ended, 47% of Black people lived in the West and North. Families sought a better, free life in the North but - spoiler alert - they faced (you guessed it!) violence and terrorism from (you guessed it again!) white people.

Today we're listening to a TED Talk from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson (time to complete: 17 minutes).

Reflection questions (journal, discuss with your group, or join the conversation on Instagram):

  1. What is something new you learned?
  2. What is something that surprised you? 
  3. What is a pattern from this story that you see today?
  4. What is a pattern from this talk that you noticed in Reconstruction and slavery? 
I also really enjoyed the history lesson from the Smithsonian: "The Long-Lasting Legacy of The Great Migration". 

Thanks for joining! Will post tonight with the weekend assignment (a movie). With the 

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 5

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Today we're talking about Jim Crow, a period that lasted from 1877 - 1960s (almost 100 years, almost a whole century, it lasted longer than it's been since the Civil Rights movement at this time). There is so so much to cover that happened during this time but to start we are going to watch a video series called "The South After the Civil War" that walk through how Jim Crow happened and what it was. I recommend watching these videos at 2x speed (the instructor talks very slow). Total time to complete: 30 minutes (while watching videos @ 2x).

I recommend this timeline that is easy to skim and breaks down the era.

There are a lot of other important events that happened during this time period that I had little knowledge on before this, so including some supplemental reading (bookmark to read this weekend if you don't have time today, these are important):
The Red Summer of 1919
The Tulsa Massacre (1921)
The Forgotten History of Black Military Veterans
The Tuskegee Experiments (1932)

If you're interested in learning more, Slavery By Another Name is a free 90 minute documentary.

Reflection questions (answer in your journal, with your group, or join the conversation on Instagram).

  1. What is something new you learned?
  2. What were you surprised to learn?
  3. Did the government fail during this era? Where could they have intervened? 
  4. What elements of Jim Crow do you see in society today? 
Thanks for joining, see you bright and early tomorrow!

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 4

Wednesday, June 24, 2020


Today we're reading about the Reconstruction period via The Equal Justice Initiative in  a collection called "Reconstruction in America: Racial Violence after the Civil War 1865-1877". This is something I remember doing flash cards about in 10th grade, but I honestly cannot remember what we learned about it in school. The reality, like everything else we've discussed so far, is incredibly violent and reads like a horror story.

This quote from the intro had me thinking about the whole reason we're here:
"Our collective ignorance of what happened immediately after the Civil War has contributed to misinformed stereotypes and misguided false narratives about who is honorable and who is not and has allowed bigotry and a legacy of racial injustice to persist."

During the 12 year Reconstruction Period, there were over 2,000 documented racial terror lynchings of Black men, women, and children - in fact, a white person you could buy a souvenir picture or postcard of a Black person being lynched.

This is a thick read and while the whole thing is important, let's prioritize and discuss these chapters:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Journey to Freedom
Chapter 2: Freedom to Fear
Chapter 4: The Danger of Freedom
Chapter 5: Reconstruction's End
I also recommend skimming chapter 3 and taking note that it wasn't just southern states.

This reading took me 45 minutes to complete.

Reflection questions (write in a journal, discuss with your group, or join the Instagram conversation):

  1. What is something that surprised you?
  2. What is something new you learned?
  3. How does this narrative compare to what you were taught about Reconstruction?
  4. What do you think about the government's amount of intervention during this time period? Should they have done more or less?
  5. What are themes from Reconstruction that you see active today?


If you subscribed to the emails here, remember to check your promotions tab, your social tab, under the bed, the spam folder. These emails end up everywhere.

See yall out there.

#30DayEducationChallenge Day 3

Tuesday, June 23, 2020



Today we're listening to 1619 Episode 2: The Economy That Slavery Built. I promise we aren't just listening to 1619 for this challenge, but this episode is really important to understand the institution of slavery, and how the US valued (or, did NOT value) Black lives. By 1860 there were over 4 million enslaved people, ~15% of the US population but making up more than 1/3 of the population of The South. 


“Those searching for reasons the American economy is uniquely severe and unbridled have found answers in many places (religion, politics, culture). But recently, historians have pointed persuasively to the gnatty fields of Georgia and Alabama, to the cotton houses and slave auction blocks, as the birthplace of America’s low-road approach to capitalism.”


Reflection Questions (feel free to comment here, join the conversation on Instagram, or journal):

  1. What is one thing you learned from this episode?
  2. What is one thing that surprised you?
  3. What current systems reflect the practices developed to support industries built on the work of enslaved people?  
  4. How does this compare to what you learned about slavery previously? What is different? What is the same? 

Links
1619 Episode 2

#30DayEducation Challenge: Day 2

Monday, June 22, 2020

Over the last few weeks it hasn't felt right to resume regularly scheduled content, and I've spent some time trying to figure out how to use this space in a way that feels useful and right. The biggest thing I have heard from people on Instagram and in conversations is the desire to learn, but not being sure where to start. Because of this, I kicked off the #30DayEducationChallenge on Instagram and will be posting each day's 'assignment' to this blog. If you want to get each one to your inbox in the morning, sign up on the sidebar (the "I get FOMO too" box), and if you don't wish to receive these emails over the next 30 days I understand if you want to unsubscribe (but really, we should all be taking some time to learn).

Here's how the challenge is going to work

  1. Every morning I'll post the 'assignment' here and on my Instagram feed. If you are subscribed to my emails, you'll receive the assignments directly to your inbox around 5 am (check spam, junk, promotions, social tab, and behind the couch - these emails end up everywhere).
  2. Each day will have a 30-60 minute commitment. I'll include the time to complete estimate in each post.
  3. Monday - Friday will be a free article, podcast, or video to stream. Weekends will be a movie to stream on Netflix/Hulu/wherever.
  4. Every resource is crowdsourced so please continue to send me suggestions (Instagram DM or email).

Syllabus
Week 1: US History (Pre-Civil Rights)
Week 2: The Civil Rights Movement
Week 3: Systemic Racism Today
Week 4: General Stuff We Should Know to Not Be an Anti-Racist



Disclaimer
I have 0 authority on any of this. People have whole PhDs on this topic, and I'm just hearing listening, Googling, crowdsourcing. I'm sure I'll F this up somehow and am REALLY open to feedback when I do - please share thoughts and comments!


Today was Day 1 and here was the assignment



1619 Project Episode 1: The Fight for a True Democracy


Welcome to day 1 of our #30DayEducationChallenge ! Today we are listening to episode 1 of the 1619 podcast. You can stream for free wherever you get your podcasts- the link to the Spotify version is in my bio. Time to complete is 42 mins.

NYT writer Nikole Hannah-Jones created the podcast and won a Pulitzer prize for her introductory essay, "America Wasn't a Democracy Until Black Americans Made it One". In a recent interview, Hannah-Jones says: "When you think that patriotism is actually truly believing in these founding ideals of equality and saying, our country is not there, but we are going to challenge our country, and we are going to be honest about our country, that is actually true patriotism." Wow, yes, let's πŸ‘ keep πŸ‘ challenging πŸ‘.

Discussion questions (feel free to leave thoughts in the comments, discuss with your groups, or journal):
1. What is something new you learned from this episode?
2. What is something that surprised you?
3. What do you think about how freedom is discussed? And the hypocrisy of freedom? Where do you notice these themes today?
4. What is national memory? How do we create it and how can it change?

Thanks for joining! Excited to learn together. See y'all tomorrow bright & early!