What does it mean to be Indigenous to a place?

What does it mean to be Indigenous to a place? In Braiding Sweetgrass, scientist and Indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer explains, “For all of us, becoming Indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it” (9). She wonders if our “nation of immigrants” can “once again…become native…[and] make a home?” (ibid.)  Building on Rachel Lwin’s post from last week, I invite us to think about: festivals, fading light, and forming a relationship to a place.  Halloween, as Rachel discussed last …

Holidays offer a gateway to find connections with cultures different from our own

Essay written by TNSM parent and D+CE member Rachel Lwin Thadingyut is the Myanmar holiday honoring the end of the summer and the transition to the cool, dry season of southeast Asia, heralded by the full autumn moon. This year, it was on October 20, the day that I wrote this blog post! Like Halloween, Thadingyut is one of many celebrations of the end of the harvest in the northern hemisphere, a marking of the annual changing of the seasonal guard. Last year our family skipped trick-or-treating and held a Halloween/Thandingyut celebration instead. We were homeschooling at that point, and …

Continuing our conversations and deepening relationships

“The needs of mankind are universal. Our means of meeting them create the richness and diversity of the planet. The Montessori child should come to relish the texture of that diversity.”  ~ Maria Montessori Moving into my second year with a child at TNSM and serving on the Diversity + Community Engagement Committee, I am continually inspired by and grateful for this community. This community is such a key part of what makes TNSM special – every child and every grown up brings a unique perspective and story to this journey. Last year, much of the work that the D+CE …

Summer Activities to Promote Discussions About Diversity

I am back with Part II of my list of activities to help facilitate family discussions about diversity. This list includes things your family can watch together as well as local activities that your family can engage in that focus on diversity. Enjoy the summer! – Randi Burlew (Committee member)   Summer Activities to Focus on Diversity and Inclusion Please watch and discuss: Ages (3-6) These Sesame Street Videos (Color of Me Song; Beautiful Skin Song; Black History Month Compilation; Maya Angelou’s Name Song) Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices on Netflix Ages (6-9) PBS Kids Talk About Race and Racism Barbie …

Books to Read that Promote Discussions About Diversity

My husband, Scott Burks, and I are the proud parents of a fifth grader at TNSM. Along with being committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming world for our son, much of my professional and volunteer work involves issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In a recent TNSM Diversity Committee meeting, we discussed ways to keep this important work moving forward in our community over the summer. In that spirit, I have created a list of things your family can read together.   Summer Reading Suggestions that Focus on Diversity and Inclusion Please read and discuss: Ages (3-6) A Is …

Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

It’s May and that means it’s officially Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM)!  Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) is an annual celebration and recognition of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans and their achievements and contributions throughout U.S. history and to the present day. This year a local organization, Asianati, has put together an entire month of programming that celebrates Asian food, culture, and history. Most of the events are free, and many are family-friendly. So take the opportunity to treasure our local restaurants, create works of art, and learn. Click HERE to see a complete list of events. ~Sarah …

Let us work together, deepening our understanding of racism and creating relational transformations

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together.”   ~Lilla Watson Much of the work that the Diversity + Community Engagement Committee has been doing this year has been about deepening – rather than spreading and doing. We have remained in the relational realm. Last week, Sarah Corlett shared powerful resources with us. One was an interview by Brené Brown with Aiko Bethea. A phrase from that interview really stuck with me: “Anti-racism work is never transactional. If we …

Relying on defaults means we miss seeing who someone actually is! Diversity and Community Engagement Post

I hope you all enjoyed last night’s Community Conversation, and many thanks to Sarah Corlett and Gina Sabato for all their hard work in organizing the event. Although I wasn’t able to attend, I did watch Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo’s TED Talk video and want to share some of my thoughts. A couple of weeks ago, Allie wrote about the process of “unlearning,” and I think for many of us in America, developing racial literacy—of both the head and heart varieties—requires a kind of “unlearning.” For me, this process is about overriding my defaults. Our brains are notoriously lazy and want to make …

Deliberate, conscious, rational thought is the key to overriding our defaults. Diversity and Community Engagement Post

Last week, we explored how our brains use mental models (or “defaults”) as shortcuts. This week, we are going to look at how we can get out from under these defaults. Deliberate, conscious, rational thought is the key to overriding our defaults. The problem is that only 2% of our thinking is actually deliberate, conscious, rational thought. TWO PERCENT. The other 98% of our thinking is “default” thinking: it’s fast, unconscious and driven by emotion, instinct, and stereotypes. Why do our brains rely so much on this “default thinking”? Because deliberate, conscious, rational thought is the most glucose-intensive function in …

How are we raising anti-racist children and preparing the next generation to be justice advocates and changemakers?

 When I’ve invited these conversations with caregivers and educators in my life, diversifying the bookshelf and other media consumption for our children is certainly the number one answer, and is undoubtedly important. Specifically for those less practiced at talking about race, this question leads to more questions and even some fear. What do age-appropriate conversations about race and systemic racism look like for my child? What if I say the wrong thing? In the last week, I’ve listened to this insightful interview with Aiko Bethea (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert) and Brené Brown (researcher) on Inclusivity at work: The Head …