My people When you started your career as a faculty member or staff member in your first real job in higher ed, did anyone give you the advice to “find your people?” Yes, I figured they did. Great advice, but how does one find supportive, justice-focused, compassionate, non-competitive, equity-minded folks in the academic landscape? After […]
Are you a social justice academic? Read More »
“Kim, we already know this.” You are boring us! Yes, I realize most readers are aware of systemic racism. Why are we diving into these myths of whiteness? I fully acknowledge this may feel pretty basic. So why cover these topics? We need to get back to some basics if we want to expand the
Myth of whiteness #4: Racism = individual bias Read More »
In other words, “good white people are not racist” As Peggy McIntosh has reminded us in her writing and in her keynotes and workshops, one of the main myths she encounters as a barrier to white ally action is the notion that if I believe I am a good person, then I cannot be racist or contributing
Myth of whiteness #3: Good = anti-racist Read More »
Try this example You are at family gathering and your 6 year old niece walks in from the backyard. She looks up at you and says, “they called me dumb and ugly.” You realize she refers to her cousins who you see laughing in a huddle by the patio. You look back in your nieces
Myth of whiteness #2: Silent = Neutral Read More »
Actually, we made it all up. What if I told you that race is a figment of your (our) imagination? What if I told you we, as a collective over time, made it all up? Well, we did. Race is a belief system, not a reality. Race exists in our minds. This is called a
Myth of whiteness #1: Race = biology Read More »
Overcoming resistance and fear Sometimes resistance pops up when you all recommend my course on whiteness and anti-racism to a person you think could benefit. They may label my work on deconstructing whiteness and supporting white ally action as “radical” as a way to dismiss it. I get it. My approach diverts from popular diversity trainings
3 commitments to white anti-racism Read More »
Ever feel like you are not doing enough as an ally? I am talking to white people here. Anyone else feel like your internal values and beliefs about how the world should operate is not showing up enough in your own daily behaviors? Ever feel like an imposter because you did not make it to
Aligning values with white ally action Read More »
Real Talk on “Imposter Syndrome” or why Kim is procrastinating Hey y’all!! I should be writing a talk right now that I will be giving in four days. Instead, I am writing you so that I can avoid feeling like I am an unqualified outsider who is going to be found out. No joke. This
When in self-doubt, focus on facts Read More »
As social justice academics, we rarely feel we deserve time for our own re-alignment and reconnection with our own true selves. This post is about how much you truly deserve time to re-imagine. You deserve time to re-imagine Over the last two months of 2021, I felt compelled to make time to re-imagine, re-flect, re-align,
You deserve time to re-imagine Read More »
Increase policy transparency The Syllabus Challenge provides critically reflective questions and practical ideas for inclusive teaching in action. This tip asks you to consider course policies as a source of inequity in our courses. Policies are generally accepted as neutral, though I am guessing this crowd applies critical analysis to policies more than most. So let’s take our
Tip #6 from the Syllabus Challenge Read More »
