The book I'm reading is How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I only read one chapter of this each night because it is not a book you speed read. He devotes each chapter to an issue, such as ascribing behaviors to a group instead of to the individual (Black people are angrier than white people, for example). He also talks about how he was racist up until his 20s when he realized the faults of his ways. It's an eye-opening read and is making me think about unconscious biases I carry and need to fix. To offset the heaviness of that book, I am also reading In Five years by Rebecca Serle which is a total page turner. If I wasn't disciplined about my bed time, I would stay up late to finish this book as it's tough to put down. It's about a woman who has a vibrant dream the night after getting engaged. In this dream, she is married to another man. She wakes up and it kind of shakes her and makes her question what her future holds.
The high of my week was ... crickets ... There wasn't a real high this week. Some weeks just don't have highs and nothing stands out this week as being a high to be honest.
The low of my week was continued heaviness and sadness about the state of my city/state and our country. My company hosted a really great call about 'being the change' and had various people of color, including our CEO, speak about their experiences with racism. At the end, they read a speech Bobby Kennedy gave when MLK was assassinated in 1968. It's a great speech. I think some things have changed since 1968 - but not enough change has occurred in the last 52 years. We can do better. We must do better. There was a message of hope and optimism during this conference call but considering how little we've accomplished since 1968, it's hard to share that optimism so I can't imagine how people of color are feeling right now.
A recipe I made was chicken and vegetable kebabs. In the past I've followed a recipe and made a marinade for the chicken and veggies but I took the easy route this week and just used Italian salad dressing as the marinade. We paired this with baked potatoes. Picky Paul refused to eat any of this. Go figure.
The best money spent was on books for Paul that feature people of color and are written by people of color. I started following @theconsciouskid this week - they have posted about the importance of discussing race with your child from a young age. Studies show that by 3 months, babies look at faces that match the race of their caregiver. By 2.5 years, most children use race to choose playmates. It's not a topic parents can ignore. So I ordered 4 books for Paul to give us a start on acknowledging race and making sure we raise a child who is antiracist. Luckily there are tons of resources out there to help you select books! Paul goes to Spanish Immersion daycare so all his providers are LatinX; we hope that is helping him be a more open-minded kids but I know we have work to do at home as well.
My plans this weekend include a play date with our daycare friends on Saturday morning and going out to Phil's mom's for take out on Saturday after Paul's nap. We don't have any plans on Sunday but I am hoping to do some weeding at my garden and re-plant the things that haven't grown, like some lettuce and cucumbers.
Bonus Paul photos!
8 comments:
It has been a *very* long week here in Boston, so I can only imagine how it's feeling in your part of the country. If you're looking for more books, I recommend Frugal Books, which is an independent and Black-owned bookstore in Boston. They ship across the country using UPSP Media Mail, which is very inexpensive (I had something shipped to Texas for $2!), and they're a great local Boston place that I want to lift up and share to all my book-loving friends. I love the pictures of Paul and his water table--it looks like a lot of fun!
Last official week of school! Only one project assignment and then a week full of zooms! :) I got a root canal and just trying to survive. I delivered a bunch of donations I had been organizing which had taken up a lot of the prior weeks. We went on a walk. This week has blurred. My weekend plan is to open up my book.
I think it has been a hard week for many, so you are not alone! A high this week was visiting (outside, socially distant) friends from church and catching up with them. Their son and ours went to daycare together, and we both got the call yesterday that the daycare is FINALLY reopening at the end of June, and that both of our kids are included in the soft-open at 25% capacity! We are both so glad! A low is - well, all the exposures and racism and heartbreak. I'm filing away your books and ideas for when the baby is a little older. It's a topic we can't afford to ignore.
I'm amazed your company is WFH for the rest of the year but glad for you - it will be easier for you to stay healthy and still collaborate easily with your coworkers. Having some at work and some at home might lead to feelings of exclusion or communication barriers.
That book called In 5 Years sounds so good! Adding to my list of books to read.
The high of my week would probably be every morning. We've had some great summer-like weather here as I bet you have too, and I have really been enjoying my morning walks with my husband, followed by riding bikes with my younger son over to the gym so he can swim. Today I hit tennis balls with my older son instead. I love that time of day and it's just felt so wonderful to be out and about outside, enjoying the weather and having the flexibility in my job to do so. I've shifted my works hours to more of a 10-6/ 11-7 pm type shift so that I can enjoy the mornings, and then work a bit later. So far it has been working out well.
The kabobs look terrific -- what's with Paul? Those kabobs would win my heart! And I love the idea of buying/getting him books about people of color. I see why you are feeling heavy hearted.
No real highs, no real lows. Just a good week!
Wow - I'm amazed that you will be working from home for the rest of the year! That's the right call, I would assume, but how crazy for you! We found out that we may start reopening the office on July 6th but on a completely voluntary basis - I'm definitely not going to be raising my hand for that, ha! And who knows if we'll even reopen then. We've had 4,000 new cases over the last 3 days so things are getting worse, not better, in Florida.
Let's see... the high of my week was spending Friday with my mom. We went to the beach and then I went back to her apartment and played with Chip. It was really nice!
Those two books you are reading both sound good! I read one book about race recently, called "Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria," and it was really informative. "How to Be an Antiracist" sounds like another I'll have to pick up.
That is great that you got Paul books with black characters. This past year when buying Barbies for nieces and friends kids who were all turning 4 or 5, I made sure to get three Barbies for each, all that looked very different (varying body size, and different races). I think it is very important that kids see people who are different from them in a positive way. I am happy that kids today are growing up with much more diverse classrooms than in the past.
I too ordered several diverse books for Olivia, including pre-ordering Antiracist Baby. I also got How to be an Antiracist on audible and plan to start listening to it soon! I also ordered her a Black toy baby as she has a few white ones already, so I'm going to try and start paying more attention to diversifying her toy collection as well. I'm glad your company organized a conference call and did a good job addressing everything that has been happening.
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