In the last week, our collective world was further upended as we witnessed another black man killed by the very people who have been charged to protect and serve.
We are all reeling.
Racism runs deep in the United States and is inextricably tied to the entire history and making of this country. There is no neutral position on racism. Now more than ever we need everyone to be part of the solution, not just people of color. The roots of racism are embedded in the fabric of this country and we must be honest, be willing to be uncomfortable, and move beyond empathy to action if we expect to see change. In his book, How to Be an Anti-Racist, Dr. Ibram Kendi explains, “The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it - and then dismantle it.”
We must confront this directly.
This is an opportunity to reflect deeply, and do the hard work of examining our own beliefs, values, and attitudes and how they have shaped our culture. We each have a personal responsibility to become better than we have been. Our research partner, Dr. Arnetha Ball, often explains that the single hardest thing to change in people is their attitudes - their attitudes in how they think about themselves, their ideas, their mindsets, and their attitudes in how they think about others, especially others who are not like them.
We have a responsibility.
As educators, as education leaders, as coaches, as teachers...our next responses and actions are absolutely critical. Dr. Ball speaks of creating counter-narratives. Developing counter-narratives to our existing belief systems is deeply reflective and intentional work. It is work that we must be honest enough with ourselves to acknowledge and deal with all of our inherited “racist” ideas. This is hard and uncomfortable work.
We must act.
To be silent is to be complicit. In this most challenging time, LINC is committed as a company and a community to the work of racial and social justice, the work of equity, and to being part of the solution. We will continue to use our voices and our platform to create a space for action-oriented reflection and conversation with educators because education, and especially teacher development, is at the core of the solution.
We invite you to join us.
We don’t have all of the answers, but we do know that we are stronger together. We invite you to engage with us in this productive struggle. Over the coming weeks, we will be opening dialogue and collaborating with partners and experts to bring this work to our community. We know this will be a long road to healing and transformation and we are committed to continuing to wrangle with this and do all that we can to support progress.
Thank you for all that you are doing.
Your partners and friends at LINC, the Learning Innovation Catalyst