Black Lives Matter Resolution: Alki PTA Special Meeting June 25th
He Called Mama. He Has Called Up Great Power – a poem by Mary Helen Kennerly
Want to know why Minneapolis is burning?Mama. He called Mama.At least that’s why I want to burn, why I feel like I could scream until flames rip out of my throat. He has called up great power. I want all of us to turn, all of us who have heard Mama in a store and thought it meant us. It’s time to turn. White mamas, mamas with privilege, you have been summoned. And any of us who have ever cried out Mama, we hear it too, down in our bones. It’s a cry that can’t go unanswered anymore. So Minneapolis burns. And we need to gut all the spaces in our lives where systemic racism has quarter.I think of the other mamas who turned a tide: Emmett Till’s, for one. We speak out of the deep mystery from whence all life springs. My white people: Nurture antiracism in your life like you would a child in your arms, even if you’ve only just heard it named. Learn what it means and how to foster it. Care about it, give it space in your life. Come to understand it, even if it’s difficult and challenges everything.Mama is coming. And the men who make order in the world should be very afraid.~Mary Helen Kennerly
The Alki PTA is a group of parents and educators; many of us are Mama. We have been called to action. Resolutions and policies are the way that PTA can answer that call. Our neutrality is not enough, we need to be anti-racist, and use our power in ways that will end systemic racism. Saving the lives of our Black and Brown children and all children furthest from educational justice, through education, is our fight.
Please join us on Thursday, June 25th at 6:30 pm to vote in a resolution that starts this crucial work. (UPDATE: Alki Elementary PTA Anti-Racism Resolution, adopted June 25, 2020)
Black Lives Matter At-Home Resources:
Here are a list of resources provided by leaders in education to help encourage conversations with your children. As Superintendent Denise Juneau said, “Classrooms across the district are taking time this week to discuss the events that have unfolded in recent weeks and the history leading up to them. We ask for your partnership in continuing these important discussions with young people at home. These are not one-time conversations but must be ongoing learning that each of us courageously engages in.”
Resources Provided by Principal Deese and Alki Staff:
- Teaching Tolerance: Help your child learn to live and play in a diverse world
- A PARENTS’S GUIDE to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice
- Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers
- Upstander v. Bystander worksheet from Monday’s Assembly
- CNN/Sesame Street racism town hall
Resources Provided by Alki Librarian, Ms. Iba:
- Race, Racism, Resistance Destiny Collection, curated by Ms. Iba. resources which support conversations around race, racism and resistance including videos, books, articles and read alouds.
- A Toolkit for Anti-Racism from Seattle Public Library
- Audiobook “So You Want To Talk About Race” for Immediate Download
- “Hands Up! By Breanna J. McDaniel (youtube) from Ms. Iba’s Wednesday Read aloud
Resources Provided by Denise Juneau, Superintendent:
- Teaching Tolerance: Teaching About Race, Racism and Police Violence
- Seattle Public Libraries Race & Social Justice books for kids K-5
- New York Times An Antiracist Reading List
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup
- Anti-Defamation League: lessons, table talks, and books:
- 100 Race Conscious Things You Can Say to Your Child – Conversation Starters
- NPR: How White Parents Can Talk About Race
Additional Resources Provided by Seattle Public Schools:
- Seattle Public Schools Social Justice Resources
- Seattle Times: How to Teach Your Children About Racism
Resources to Diversify Your At-Home Book Collections:
- socialjusticebooks.org
- Order Anti-Racism Books and Children’s Books by African American Authors from local bookshop, Pegasus Book Exchange