(NAME-MCE) Keynote Speaker Issue
Carrie Stewart
cls2001 at swbell.net
Mon Sep 15 14:33:45 EDT 2008
I was privileged to hear Dalton speak (on the same stage as Maya Angelou!)
earlier this year after winning a speaking competition (no surprise!) He is
truly inspiring.
Carrie L. Stewart, M.C.I.S.
Owner/Principal
One World Consulting
OneWorld at swbell.net
512-350-9030 (O/M)
Gathering People ~ Finding Common Ground
-----Original Message-----
From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org] On
Behalf Of Rita Kohli
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 12:40 PM
To: name-mce at nameorg.org
Subject: (NAME-MCE) Keynote Speaker Issue
Here here to all of those speaking against a glorification of the
white savior. I also am a little upset at the concept of a "darker
skinned Erin Gruwell." It is a very white constructed concept to have
one individual as a hero, a savior, regardless of their race. If the
goal of the speaker is to re-inspire and re-invigorate us, I would
prefer not to see someone who has a maverick bootstrap notion of
change, but rather someone who believes in communities to make change.
Do you really think Erin G. was the first adult to listen to her
kids? Or Jaime Escalante was the ONLY person to believe in his class?
The individual hero is a construction of white and capitalistic
society. Change is made through communities, through the work of
many, not one.
So anyway, I suugest Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader from Dallas
Unified as our keynote speaker:
http://vodpod.com/watch/970676-dalton-sherman---dynamic-speaker-extraordinai
re
He is amazing!
Rita Kohli, PhD
Faculty Advisor
UCLA, Teacher Education Program
rkohli at ucla.edu
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:32:45 -0500
> From: "Vidhya Shanker" <Vshanker at rainbowresearch.org>
> Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Suggestions for Keynote Speakers
> To: <name-mce at nameorg.org>
> Message-ID:
> <705B392FCB20124EAD41D4A389A59C121DE5F6 at apprain.RainRes.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I have to say I'm really tired of issues of race/ class/ gender
> suddenly becoming "issues" because someone from the dominant culture
> says they are and cheerleads them into mainstream consciousness. Of
> course one could argue that without that cheerleading, they would
> never enter mainstream consciousness. But part of
> multiculturalism--part of ending white supremacy and promoting an
> anti-racist society--involves questioning the sense of entitlement
> among some segments of the larger population. When they become
> issues because members of the dominant culture says they are, women,
> people of color, and poor people end up getting pathologized. There
> is something to be said for not re-inscribing the patterns that
> sustain imbalances of power. If white women teachers want to learn
> from each other's experiences around multiculturalism, let them form
> a group of their own and do so. But why do members of the dominant
> culture have to take up all the space in other fora, yet again? Why
> do the rest of us have to be subjected to hearing their experiences
> of us, yet again?
>
> That's why I was so grateful to learn of the concept of cultural
> HUMILITY (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998), as opposed to cultural
> competence or sensitivity or responsiveness, etc. "Cultural humility
> is best defined not by a discrete endpoint but as a commitment and
> active engagement in a lifelong process that individuals enter into
> on an ongoing basis with patients, communities, colleagues, and with
> themselves? a process that requires humility in how physicians
> bring into check the power imbalances that exist in the dynamics of
> physician-patient communication by using patient-focused
> interviewing and care."
>
> I've heard what white people think of us my whole life. Now that I
> have a choice, I would like to hear about the experiences of other
> people of color.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Vidhya Shanker, Research Assistant
> Rainbow Research: Improving the effectiveness of nonprofit
> organizations through capacity building, research and evaluation
> 621 W. Lake St., Ste. 310
> Minneapolis, MN 55408-2653
> 612-824-0724
> 612-824-0429 (F)
> vshanker at rainbowresearch.org
> www.rainbowresearch.org
> in the office 10am-4:30pm Mondays-Thursdays
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:02:57 -0400
> From: Aukram Burton <aukram at ramimages.com>
> Subject: (NAME-MCE) News Story - Forum sells 'Obama Waffles' with
> racial stereotype
> Message-ID: <97B6B82B-20B7-4010-BB28-2C4D0255D070 at ramimages.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> Forum sells 'Obama Waffles' with racial stereotype - Yahoo! News
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080913/ap_on_el_pr/obama_waffles
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:44:09 -0700
> From: Melissa Morgan <Melissa_Morgan at longbeach.gov>
> Subject: (NAME-MCE) City of Long Beach Looking to Hire Youth and Gang
> Violence Prevention Coordinator
> To: name-mce at nameorg.org
> Message-ID: <OF1D3DB7DC.8C19C1E9-ON882574C5.0009890D at longbeach.gov>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:23:30 -0400
> From: robert simmons <rsimmons9 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Suggestions for Keynote Speakers
> To: NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education Email
> Discussion Group <name-mce at nameorg.org>
> Message-ID: <BAY113-W3DE3F5CBCA678DB233E4FEC520 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> Erin Gruwell fits into a much larger issue that NAME must take on.
> The growth in books, movies, etc. that create this missionary
> ideology around white people coming to save the poor "inner city
> kids." It would seem to me that this mythology hangs on the same
> notions Ruby Payne has postulated for far too long. Why was I in the
> book store and the book that was featured was by Thomas
> Blotch...Stand
> for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R
> Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter
> School. Buried in the African American interest section was a book
> by Dr. Barbara Sizemore. Why?
>
> I am unwilling to hear her story because her story is the foundation
> for what people in education have framed as "best practice."
> Thinking of my own experience as a an African American male teacher
> in Detroit, I would have given top dollar to hear a teacher of color
> speak truth about this current educational crisis facing far too
> many non-white students.
>
> If we are really looking to engage in critical conversations, and it
> has been mentioned that we are unaware of her political
> consciousness, then why would we consider her or folks like that?
> Isn't teaching, at it's core, when implementing an anti-racist,
> anti-sexist, anti-classist, etc. framework, political work? As a
> young African American man, I am not sure I joined NAME for an
> apolitical stance on things such personas that continue to push a
> missionary ideology on me.
>
> Regards,
>
> Robert Simmons
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: bill at billhowe.org
>> To: name-mce at nameorg.org
>> Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:29:31 -0400
>> Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Suggestions for Keynote Speakers
>>
>>
>>
>> I heard Erin Gruwell speak a few years ago at a very large conference
>> organized by high school students and attended by about 800 urban and
>> suburban high school students.. I had read the book and found it
>> interesting. She is a good speaker. She received a very positive
reception.
>> I never saw the movie. Hearing her speech left me with two deep
impressions.
>>
>> 1) She talked about her experiences as a young teacher struggling in what
>> she portrays as a tough, gang-ridden school. It was inspiring in many
ways.
>> I love stories about people who stick to their principles and do the
right
>> thing despite a bureaucracy and society that works against them. It takes
>> courage. It takes a desire to put aside career ambitions to be true to
>> oneself. What Erin Gruwell managed to accomplish as a young,
impressionable
>> teacher took guts and conviction, something I see sadly lacking in so
many
>> educational bureaucracies. She could just as easily gone the other route
and
>> become another drone that marched lock-step to conformity, pessimism and
>> negativity. So let's give her the credit she deserves.
>>
>> Having said that I shared the same feelings as Robert Simmons in his
email
>> reply - good god, another white person with a heart of gold rescuing
those
>> poor, wretched minority kids. Let's praise the black and brown teachers
who
>> teach in our urban cities and who have accomplished the same things day
in
>> and day out without the notoriety and movie deals. What about a book and
a
>> movie about those minority teachers who have succeeded in white suburban
>> school districts despite the overwhelming obstacles they face? This is
what
>> I call the "Amber Alert Syndrome."
>>
>> I don't dislike Erin Gruwell. I applaud her for what she did. I detest
the
>> society we live in that glorifies her accomplishments while ignoring the
>> amazing achievements of thousands of other darker skinned Erin Gruwells.
>>
>> 2) The second issue is that after her amazing start as a high school
>> teacher, she leaves the classroom shortly after to teach at the college
>> level. I would have been more impressed had she stayed in order to
further
>> change the system and mentor other younger teachers. Hopefully she is
still
>> making a difference through her teaching and speaking engagements.
>>
>>
>> I would use Erin Gruwell as a keynote speaker. I don't know how far her
>> political consciousness has developed concerning the issues raised here
>> about her. I think her personal story is worth telling if it will inspire
>> the 90% of the US teachers who are white female. I would plan a
conference
>> that would raise this as discussion and debate. If there was an
opportunity
>> for Q & A, it would be a great forum. I would invite, as speakers, some
of
>> the many great teachers of color that I know who have taught heroically
in
>> urban classrooms for years without recognition and faced exactly the same
>> crises as Erin Gruwell.
>>
>> I would love to hear more recommendations for keynote speakers. If there
are
>> counter arguments as to why the person would be a good choice, please
take
>> the time to explain (in a productive manner) so we all can be better
>> enlightened.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org]
On
>> Behalf Of robert simmons
>> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 12:41 PM
>> To: NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
>> EmailDiscussion Group
>> Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Suggestions for Keynote Speakers
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Why is she a good speaker? Doesn't she tell the story that urban
teachers,
>> mostly of color, have lived for many years. Might we be buying into a
>> missionary mentality with the plethora of white teacher saving "inner
city
>> kids"? I would not attend the NAME conference if she appears on the
program.
>>
>> Robert Simmons
>> Edchange
>>
>>
>>
>> > Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:36:32 -0400
>> > From: negeleta at salisbury.edu
>> > To: Name-mce at nameorg.org
>> > Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Suggestions for Keynote Speakers
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers author and teacher is a great speaker
>> for Higher Ed and P-12 audiences. She can be contacted through the
Freedom
>> Writers Foundation website.
>> >
>> > Best
>> > --Nomsa
>> >
>> > Dr. Nomsa E. Geleta
>> > Chair, Department of Education Specialties
>> > Seidel School of Education & Professional Studies
>> > Salisbury University
>> > 1101 Camden Avenue
>> > Salisbury, MD 21801
>> > Phone: 410-543-6297
>> > Email: negeleta at salisbury.edu
>> >
>> > >>> "Bill Howe" <bill at billhowe.org> 9/11/2008 1:54 PM >>>
>> >
>> >
>> > It is not too early to begin thinking about keynote speakers for next
>> year's
>> > national, regional and state NAME conferences. Choosing keynotes is a
>> > difficult task. Scholars and authors (often to their own admission) are
>> not
>> > always the best speakers but have great name recognition. People will
come
>> > just to hear the person speak about their published works. There is
great
>> > value in that. Then, there are great speakers who have not published
>> > extensively (or at all) and may not be widely known. Then there are the
>> > folks known well in higher education circles but less so among PK-12
>> > teachers.
>> >
>> > Finding people who have written significant contributions to the field
of
>> > multicultural education and can deliver a motivating speech that keeps
the
>> > audience engaged and motivated is the goal for most of us who plan
>> > conferences. So help us. Who would you suggest as a major speaker at a
>> large
>> > conference? Who would you pay and travel to hear? Who have you heard
that
>> > you loved as a keynote speaker?
>> >
>> > Oh also, please keep in mind that big names like Bill Cosby, Colin
Powell,
>> > John Stewart, etc can command fees of $50,000 plus - way out of the
reach
>> of
>> > non-corporate funded conferences. Not that they don't do pro bono for
the
>> > cause.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Bill Howe
>> >
>> > 13th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education (NECME)
>> > October 8, 2008, Connecticut Convention Center - Hartford, Connecticut
>> > http://www.necme.org
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural
Education
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>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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Education
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-
>> (NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included
>> reflect diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do
>> not necessarily reflect a position of the National Association for
>> Multicultural Education. If you would like to subscribe (or
>> unsubscribe)to this listserv go to
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