Thread by @ericabuddington

I really need to discuss yesterday’s episode of #InsecureHBO. If you haven’t seen it, you might want to ignore this thread. So...I know y’all are all about your relationship hives but there were KEY social issues being addressed.

She’s addressing the issue of financial instability at 30, the inequity of community services, white saviorism, monogamy vs all other relationship structures, and a lot more.

But let’s zoom in on the equity + saviorism.

I can count on my fingers, toes, and someone else’s how many times I’ve been in a conference room where someone was defending something completely racist or inequitable—in education. Like, deaf ears.

Issa’s scene in the conference room, discussing the “We Got Y’all” logo is a chapter of my life. (A few chapters.) For the folks that think this scene is just mere fiction—I’m here to tell you that it’s blatant reality.

I’ve had principals argue with me about why we don’t need “cultural texts.” I’ve been told:

“There just isnt any work by PoC that’s as rigorous as...”

“We just don’t have the manpower to launch curriculum aligned with...”

I’ve seen branding imagery that depict brown children surrounded by educators that look nothing like them, with buzzwords across them:

“Rich, rigorous, and classic curriculum.”
“To empower scholars with the ability to explore new worlds.”

Issa has another scene where she decides to call the schools that have been crossed off the list. The schools complain about curriculum that isn’t relevant to scholars, lack of diverse staff, and mean instructors.

The familiarity is REAL.

What does it say to brown children when your central texts lack protagonists of color? What does it say to brown children that when you finally decide to embrace “diversity” all of the texts with PoC are “struggle texts?”

What does it say when the other texts are about dystopian worlds, magical children, and otherness (vampires/werewolves/superhero) but CANNOT even acknowledge YOUR existence?

Are we not magical, heroic, and afrofuturistic?

What does it say to brown children when the people that they see everyday, in a professional setting, look nothing like them? How can you see possible if you DO NOT SEE POSSIBLE?

And I’m sorry to break it to you but if you’re the educator bad-mouthing children in the lounge...you need to find another profession. Children can sense authenticity & they’ll call a spade—a spade. Need quick cash? Chose the wrong major? Teaching might not be for you.

It was refreshing to see these items addressed—no matter how briefly. Great branding, subpar professional development, and a one-size-fits-all teacher’s manual DOES NOT A SCHOOL MAKE.

Our children are not Ikea furniture. They’re not to be assembled. They are not products.

On the notion of careers and financial stability. Social media got us out here stunting so hard that seeing ourselves was hard. Wasn’t it? @IssaRae have some of y’all a mirror. You needed that. I needed that.

A LOT OF US DO NOT KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING AT THIRTY. Don’t let the hype get you. I know folks who’ve been in school for 8 years and landed in their profession only to want OUT. & that’s okay.

Take note...

Molly & Kelly are definitely your friends on the timeline. But honey. Molly’s true tea would never be a “on this day” on Facebook. Folks ain’t airing it out forreal.

With the way tuition, loans, gentrification, and other institutional failures—a lot of thirty-somethings are living check to check, with shot credit scores, back home, + still buying weekend mimosas (BECAUSE SELF CARE.)

There are so many themes. But real talk...I hope that if you see your reflection—-you don’t run from it. Look at yourself. Do something. Move.

Remember:

“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” —Pablo Picasso