There are many strategies and ideas for developing/deepening identity, in order to be an anti-racist human. This starts with knowing the “Why” and includes developing understanding of the intersections of the different parts of one’s identities. Below find some ideas around identity exploration.
Learning begins with the “Why.” They “Why” of exploring identity is in order to increase self-awareness and reflection. Any work with equity starts with understanding the self, then ideally grows an understanding of racism, microaggressions, stereotype threat, and the historical practices and policies that have intentionally created the disparities we see in terms of opportunities.
Next, it is important to create agreements around equity work, to promote trust, predictability and acknowledgement that the work will be challenging. Often agreements include:
- Stay engaged
- Expect and accept non-closure
- Speak your truth
- Experience discomfort. It means there is important work and change at hand.
- Be aware of power dynamics
- Pay attention to your impact
Many find success with engaging in work with Small Fire groups. These are composed of 4-5 people, each with a facilitator. The teams remain intact for the entire year to build trust and relationship. Using a talking piece during Small Fire circle talks promotes equal voice and predictability.
With students and adults, we can engage in exploration about our names: the origin of one’s name, what one’s name means to them, and how one’s name relates to their cultural heritage. As staff explore names, remind them of the importance of asking students how they want to be named and pronouncing each of their student’s names correctly.
Give staff time to explore, discuss, write, and reflect about their identity fingerprint, the parts of their identity that make them unique (race, ethnicity, class, ability, gender, language, sexual/gender identity, religion and their intersections). Again, it is critical to understand one’s own identity in order to advance equity work in schools. Reflection could include: How did it feel to explore and share about your identity? How did it feel to hear about the identities of others?
New learning can happen in the context of a video. The practice of an Interactive Read Aloud can be used with a video. Offer prompts and intentionally chosen stopping points to increase reflection and engagement. Here’s an example:
Before watching the video together, remind people about the following two agreements, to let them know that some parts of the video may be surprising or hard to listen to.
- Stay engaged.
- Experience discomfort. It means there is important work and change at hand.
Suggested questions/ideas:
- What are two reasons Ali Michael is giving her talk?
- Consider what is said about segregated housing (both policy and how it impacted her identity). (6:41)
- What is a positive racial identity? (9:26)
- How do myths cloud our lenses? How can we talk to white kids about race? (11:05)
I hope these ideas are useful to readers. These are just the tip of the iceberg, as resources abound. Including videos and text from People of Color is important, and while not done in the video above, could be a next video. As always, feedback is welcome!