MeyerBros

Got this on email today and found it self-examination-provoking.

Glenn Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations about Race, offers the following characteristics of individuals committed to being anti-racist leaders:

1. I am abnormal. I do things outside of what is seen as normal. People often get mad at me or disagree with me.

2. I am constructivist. I ask questions. I build on what I know about the current, existing and known places where people are.

3. I am conflicted.

4. I often operate outside of my comfort zone. I choose to go there. My own discomfort is my indication that I’m doing it.

5. I’m in trouble. People complain about what I have said or done. I listen to hear their concerns respectfully, but I only change my behavior or act on concerns as appropriate to further the work. I don’t cave in to any and all complaints.

6. I create and utilize primary source documents and collect data that surfaces and reveals the presence of issues of race, bias and equity. I design materials.

7. I think up things to get conversations going and to get issues of race, bias and equity on the table.

8. I live at the extremes emotionally because I choose to keep myself in touch with the hurt and pain that so many people of difference are feeling.

9. I balance then and now. I can be future focused because I realize where I’ve come from. My own personal inquiry helps me stay future focused and grounded.

10. I do personal, autobiographical study which helps me know what to do.

11. I think about, design interventions for, and ask specifically focused questions about students not previously served by schools.

12. I learn from kids; I respond to kids. I seek out ways to stay informed and feel the feelings students of color have as they experience school.

13. I am patient but persistent. I am often frustrated but recognize that real change takes time.

If we are committed to anti-racist growth and change it may be helpful to ask ourselves, “How do these characteristics manifest themselves for me? Where are my growth areas? How might I keep these characteristics ever present in my work toward building more inclusive, creative, transformational and authentic relationships and processes across differences?”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006 at 8:47 pm by carl and is filed under anti-racism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.