"We are our history"

 The documentary "I am not your Negro" written by James Baldwin is a chilling, deep, resonating, and personal reflection of his life and the world around him. Before watching this documentary I knew nothing about James Baldwin, or why he was so important. I was able to learn a lot not only about him but about the history that revolves around him. His words were so beautifully put together, everything he said hit deep. It was though provoking, and caused me to reflect myself.

                                                              

I thought about my own identity in America. I am a lower/middle white woman. In the movie Baldwin talks about how the white people have created a world were they excluded black people from on purpose. Today white people are still benefiting from the same systems, and black people are still disadvantaged. As a white person you have to become aware of this, and then you have to directly take action against those systems in any way you can.

As a teacher you can take that direct action. The movie talked about the segregation of schools, and the protesting of black students integrating. Something that is not a far away history for us. The same policies are still existing in schools that are from that time period, and still are racist. As teachers you have to actively change that. Specifically as an ELA teacher you can look at James Baldwin's writings and figure out why the FBI labeled him as a "dangerous individual". Looking at other black authors, and not only their writings but their history and cultural context of their writings. That way students can become aware of the struggles and the oppression that these writers faced. as Baldwin said "The story of the negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story" and as an ELA teacher you can find the black American story in texts, and together as a class you can analyze them. Ask questions about text to self, text to text, and other questions.