My Commitment Going Forward

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Like you, I recently have found my inbox full of emails from organizations sharing with me their responses to the horrific (extra) judicial murders of Black people in our country as well as to the outpouring of protests and demands for justice.. Many of these were deeply moving and built on years of fighting for justice. All provided much to think about.

For me the time since George Floyd’s murder has been a time of reflection and trying to support those on the streets. I am trying to do the ongoing work of listening to and learning from those whose lived experience is not mine, particularly young Black people. As the daughter and granddaughter of people who fled Nazi Germany, I am both aware of what institutionalized oppression looks like and at the same time I am removed from it in this country by my privileges. As a baby-boomer, I believe that the protests of 2020 are because we never finished the work of the past. Too many dreams were deferred and too many inequalities allowed to fester unchecked and unquestioned. Too many statues were left standing.

Forty years ago I became a teacher because I wanted a more just world. I moved into the work of healthy schools because the work was offered to me as part of a broader set of strategies for equity in schools, particularly for those students of color who were being ill-served by our education system.

I have tried throughout my professional life to ask questions of myself and to try to learn from those who know more. As I have read and reflected, the question that moved me the most came from by Linda Darling-Hammond and Janel George of the Learning Policy Institute, “How will each of us contribute to racial justice and educational equity now?” That question, explicit and clear, will serve as the guiding question for my small business going forward.

“Now” is not a single moment in time, rather it is many moments over a long time. By centering that question, I seek to do ongoing work that is rooted in the experiences of those in schools. Students, educators, and families all bring powerful ideas and visions about what schools are, what they can be, and how we can build equitable learning environments that support all students.

I can only pledge to do my best while acknowledging that I may mistakes. I am truly privileged to have colleagues like you.Thank you for being part of this struggle and for sharing a commitment to powerful long term change. I look forward to continuing to work with you.

Nora