Not All My Teacherfolk Are My Kinfolk
Tiffanie Drayton’s open letter to the Staten Island teachers who wore NYPD t-shirts on the first day of school ought to be printed and passed around in every staff meeting:
To your Black and Latino students, many of whom must have serious conversations with their parents about safeguarding their person from those charged to serve and protect them — the NYPD — your actions are deeply hurtful. Any remaining innocence they brought with them to the classroom that enabled them to readily accept you, a White person, as a loving, caring, respecting authority figure has been undermined. The relationships students and teachers struggle to build across racial divides can only be maintained when both parties respect one another; their history and most importantly their struggle. It is quite a delicate process that requires objectivity, fairness, empathy and most importantly, sensitivity. Traits and characteristics that the you, the “educators” obviously lack based on your outrageous choice to wear those shirts, despite being warned against it by your own union.
This set of teachers only underlined the oft-held perception, mostly from people of color, that anyone who works in an authoritative position cannot be fully trusted. By wearing those shirts, the teachers immediately made a connection for the students and parents between two agents of the state who have historically underserved people of color. Even with those of us who are thankful for the services both the police and schools provide for the public, many of us have historically had a distrust of them, which has also allowed for others to take advantage of that mistrust. The same can be said for our fire departments, hospitals, postal workers, or any entity Not All My Teacherfolk Are My Kinfolk | The Jose Vilson:
This Is Not A Test
"Out of this cacophony rises a beautiful, lyrical voice—one that is uncompromisingly self-aware, reflective, and analytical. That transcendent voice belongs to “The” José Luis Vilson."
- Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union
My debut solo book, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education already has endorsements from Karen Lewis, Pedro Noguera, Raquel Cepeda, Gregory Michie, Chris Lehmann, Randi Weingarten, Dennis van Roekel, Diane Ravitch, Barnett Berry, Renee Moore, Cindi Rigsbee, and many more ...
