Hello Meltingpot Readers,
I hope you are all having a happy and healthy holiday season. I’m definitely happy, but healthy is proving to be a little bit harder. My whole family, minus son #2, has been hit with a stomach virus, starting three days before Christmas. Thus, I haven’t had a moment to write here. I apologize.
And for the record, I probably won’t make it back to the blog before the new year begins. So, just in case, merry, merry to all and here’s to a happy and peaceful 2014 filled with generous amounts of laughter, love and light.
Peace!
Ms. Meltingpot
Comments
2 responses to “Happy Holidays from Ms. Meltingpot!”
PS: Happy New Year to you! And rereading my post, You can safely assume that I consider you a trusted coworker (educator)! I have enjoyed your blog over the years. 😀
Hola, I have some links for you if you are interested. The url gives away what this blog is all about.
http://empoweredafrolatina.tumblr.com/
These youtube links are absolutely wonderful. I am thinking of renting these videos to show my classes that Latin@ doesn’t equal brown. 😀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztOVRSKxqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asevaj8lK_U
I kept checking back over the Holidays to see if you’d comment about the controversy surrounding Ani Difranco. I was curious to your take on the events. These piece brings up some good points. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/01/04/what-ani-difranco-reminds-us-about-modern-racism-and-slavery/
As a child, I didn’t understand racism as I have mentioned here before. I thought the Black girls had beautiful hair and were just as worthy friends as the little white girls. I had the biggest crush on a Black boy in the fourth grade. But even then, I knew that would never fly with most of my family members. As I got older, Ani DiFranco (huge fan in the 90s) was part of my coming to understand that not all white people agree with racism and some are actively involved in calling it out. (My military experience was another)
The circumstances around her planned retreat help me to understand that I still don’t understand racism. My fault with Ani Difranco isn’t that she made this mistake, but her insistence in trying to “explain it away” as the link states. I liked this apology from Questlove. http://www.mediaite.com/online/i-was-dumb-questlove-apologizes-for-racist-jokes-about-asians/
It basically says, “I was dumb, I am sorry”. She would have been better off by following his example. However at the same time (and I am very mindful of how this might sound and its NOT what I mean) as a white person, I FEAR talking about racism except amongst the most trusted friends/coworkers because I fear that I might be misunderstood or that I might step on toes. I find myself in a position now where I can educate young minds. And I want nothing more to tell my students about the rainbow world of Latin America, but I feel so awkward doing so. I realize and am overwhelmed that by coming out of a white mouth, its coming from a place of privilege. As a white person, I can listen to how others have been impacted by racism. I can try to use my experiences with being different and sexism to help understand. But as mother of a Brown child, I’ve experienced (seen and heard) things that white parents of white children haven’t been privy to.
Anyway, This white college instructor standing in front of a diverse classroom has learned in my few short years of teaching that my Black students are greatly interested, informed and appreciate my efforts to broaden their knowledge of the Black experience in the Americas. I need to get over my own anxiety for the benefit of my students.
WoW, Thanks for reading!
Wendy (Colombian Mami)