Working Towards Long-Lasting Change
A year ago at this time, I wrote to you, our dedicated community, acknowledging the unprecedented challenges of the year and to express my support. Sadly, this continues to be a difficult time for schools, impacting educators, school leaders, care givers, and most of all, our children. The impact of the coronavirus and its variants continues to challenge the world, and with details changing every day, it is not lost on us, at Roots ConnectED, how much you must adapt, with patience and flexibility at the forefront. Educators are a cherished and often unseen essential worker. Thank you for your relentless work. We know that it’s the children who bring you joy, but hope that time is also being made for your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well being. You are so critical to the changes this world needs.
We have been reflecting a lot this year on change and the work required to reimagine new ways for education to operate as a tool for justice, liberation, and freedom. We believe the work is process driven, both personal and collective, and requires a envisioning of the role of the individual, the community, and the institution.
The work is process driven. Although the setbacks have been many, we have been inspired by the ways in which schools have continued to center justice and equity work, making anti-bias education a priority. Staying committed to this work often means making mistakes, and moving past them requires both humility and detachment. When a school community has remained determined to learn from the mistakes that naturally occur, progress is attainable. Creating transformational change, while urgent, takes time and consistency to truly take root. Our commitment is to partner, collaborate, and do the deeper work required to make the changes necessary to create truly equitable institutions.
The work is personal and collective. As we reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during this time, as well as the many who fought alongside him to organize and inspire, we recognize that the work requires both a personal and collective commitment to the vision of racial justice. We do the personal work each day to learn and to find our voices even as white supremacy continues to drown them out, to examine our biases, to pull apart our power and our privilege, and to develop a deeper understanding of our identities and our interdependence. However, that learning and thinking cannot happen in isolation. To work towards change, we must engage with others, with a deep commitment to create an impact within our spheres of influence, working collectively toward social transformation.
The work requires the individual, the community, and the institution. For true change to occur, we need to see transformation at the level of the individual, the community, and the institution. In our work towards community building and justice, these three protagonists must collaborate to push learning and deepen action. Since Roots ConnectED first began in 2017, we have had a firm commitment to supporting each child in recognizing the humanity in one another. I have been reflecting on what this seemingly simple act means. To recognize the humanity on an individual level requires a deep understanding of our own nobility, our intersecting identities, and our innate capacity to grow and learn. To recognize our collective humanity, our interdependence, on a community level requires space, meaningful conversation, and the humility to learn with and alongside others. This takes practice and commitment. To recognize the humanity on an institutional level asks us to rethink how and what institutions are, ensuring that institutions center marginalized voices and learn from individual and collective insight in order to create new systems that serve all people. Asking questions like:
What institutional changes can we make based on the learning that has emerged in the community around the power of human connection and the honoring of all people?
What role does community building and friendship making have in how institutions work and function?
How does individual empowerment shift the way we think about systems?
This is how we dismantle pre-existing power dynamics and work towards the types of educational spaces we believe our country deserves. The hope is that, as these three protagonists grow in their capacity, their relationship to one another becomes a dynamic one of growth, learning, support and development.
bell hooks, beloved author and activist, stated that education “...enables transgressions - a movement against and beyond boundaries. It is that movement which makes education the practice of freedom.” Creating and recreating anew is our ongoing commitment. Thank you for your belief in our work.
Warmly,
Sahba Rohani
Executive Director