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<![CDATA[CHAP EQUITY INC - BLOG]]>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:30:54 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[My son is not ok!]]>Fri, 05 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/my-son-is-not-ok

[what] you don’t understand is how long this has been happening police brutality and police officers killing black ppl has been going on for so long, and nothing, NOTHING has happened.”

With permission from my son I share a conversation he had with some peers via text messaging. Details of the other children are vague to protect their identities.

My son is not ok.
I can only imagine that his friends of color,
his Black friends,
and more specifically, his Black male friends
are not either.

My son is a light skinned, biracial boy, part Latino and part white. He is raised within a Black, Afro-Carribean cultural household where Puerto Rican, Dominican, Latinx, Black American, African American, and African history, culture, people, and ancestors are explicitly honored and celebrated. He knows he is not racially Black, meaning that he would not mark Black on the US census. However, he is coming closer and closer to understanding that he is culturally Black and Latino and ancestrally African and European. While our DNA results do demonstrate that we have large percentages of various African ethnicities in our DNA story, I am not talking about a percentage number. I am talking more about the history my older brother and I have done to better understand the African diaspora and history within our own Puerto Rican and Dominican family tree.

This rich home environment and family socialization practices are intentional. I know they are positively contributing to his self-concept (personal self-esteem + a sense that he belongs to a group). There are other macro and micro factors that influence and inform his development. He lives in a neighborhood and interacts with people in Harlem that are racially diverse -- African American; Black; Asians; Pacific Islanders; white; multiracial; Latinx (recent immigrants and Latinx people like me who have lived in NYC all their lives); and African (recent immigrants and people who have lived in Harlem for more than 20 years but still call their African country their home). His God-father is Chinese and his God-mother is white. He attends a predominantly white school (my choice because it is where I worked for 17 years and the progressive education he and my other two children receive is what I love). He is a tap dancer, having joined the American Tap Dance Foundation when he was three years old. At ATDF he has learned the history of famous Black tap dancers, female dancers, dancers of other racial backgrounds, the history of tap in NYC, and the dance forms that influenced tap, such as African, Irish and clogging.

My son and daughter (sitting on a chair together) with their cousins in the Dominican Republic.

American Tap Dance Foundation Award Time!

For Halloween one year my son tap danced for neighbors in honor of Peg Leg Bates, a famous Black and disabled tap dancer.

My son knows that racism never went away. Not in my 51 years and not in his 15 years. From the time he was 3 and began to ask questions about identity, I (and his other loving adults) engaged in anti-bias parenting. I have had explicit conversations about gender and genderism, sex and sexism, skin color and colorism, race and racism, religion and religious intolerance, socio-economic class and classism, gender identity and transphobia, sexual orientation and homophobia, temporarily able bodied and disability, body type and discrimination against different bodies. Why have we touched on so many identity markers and isms in his short 15 years? Because he is a human being in the United States and each and every one of these identity markers will impact his daily life either because he is on the receiving end of privileges or the devastating end of bias and discrimination, and because I want to support his ability to step up for others.

So, why is my son not ok? It is because he is pained by the choice he needs to make after a challenging race conversation (or rather text exchange) he had with white peers. When he came to find me on this Monday morning in June I knew something was wrong. He was in the middle of one of his on-line classes, but it took seconds after I saw him in my office and asked, “What’s up, papi?” (my Latinx nickname for him) for him to say, “I’m so frustrated!”

His school opened up Monday morning’s session, with one week left of school, with an all high school gathering to frame the conversations they were about to enter. These high school gatherings are not unusual for his school to host on various social issues. Following the 5 minute gathering, the students would move into racial affinity spaces to process the weekend's protests, the events of the past few weeks, and dare I say the past 400 years of racial atrocities.

The school has a rich history of running racial affinity groups -often facilitated by the HS seniors (an amazing rite of passage), though this particular session had the adults stepping up in their advisor role. One of the challenges when the students engage in racial affinity work is that the school does not have an ongoing white affinity space. This absence is not from lack of trying. Many white students and/or adults over the past many years have tried, but they have never been able to sustain the interest of a large enough group of white people and, those who were interested, eventually took their efforts to organizing equity and whiteness discussions in other directions. Conversations and trainings about whiteness have increased in the past five years, but no such luck with a white affinity space. All this to say that many white students at my son's school are not used to active engagement in white affinity spaces and all that these sessions provide. This is where the problem on Monday began for my son.

In a text exchange with a few of his white friends and one other friend of color, a text was sent from one of the white children about how boring his white affinity space was. My son affirmed that his friend’s space might be boring but he should understand that the topic is important, that even though his white friend and family have these discussions at home it is not the same as trying to figure out what to do about racism as youth, and white youth. When another white peer named his concerns about the protestors negatively impacting the spread of covid-19, my son replied,

“But the fact that this has been ignored for so long that this is the point where it has come to is upsetting and disappointing
I don’t support it [the stealing], it’s irresponsible and is not helping the current virus but there’s a valid reason why they’re doing it”

My son did not agree with the response he got to this message and in his final text exchange before he came to get me said, “[what] you don’t understand is how long this has been happening police brutality and police officers killing black ppl has been going on for so long, and nothing, NOTHING has happened.”

He didn’t come get me right after he sent this last message. He came looking for me for support after his white friend sent a picture of a video game they usually play together as a response to the text above. Later my son learned that this was the friend’s attempt at lightening the mood.

To gain a deeper perspective, my son connected with three other students of color to gauge if he was making a mountain out of a molehill. The affirmation, support, and advice he received was priceless. One of his friends of color suggested that if his friend was trying to lighten the mood he could have considered, “better ways to make people feel better Than to make jokes about the situation they are taking seriously.” Another friend of color said he is giving up talking to white people about this [racism and police brutality]. A third friend of color said she was available to talk and process if he needed a friend and agreed that people not stepping up and taking action was problematic.

This is when the researcher in me would elevate the work of Drs. William Cross, Janet Helms, and Beverly Daniel Tatum on racial identity development, or Dr. Derald Wing Sue on strategies for healing from racial microaggressions, or Dr. Howard Stevenson on RECAST Theory, or Dr. Ali Michael on the need for white people to build microproficiencies. But that is all I will offer now - the names of powerful people and the work they have done to inform my parenting practices.

During the processing discussion I had with my son I did a few things.

I sympathized with him.
I affirmed his feelings of disappointment about receiving text messages that ignore the state of the situation we are all experiencing.
I asked how he felt about the fact that these texts were coming from two white friends he has known since they were all four years old.

NOTE: I know these two white children. They have sat in on the same progressive education and, at times and depending on the teacher they shared, participated in meaningful anti-bias, race focused and identity conscious lessons for ten years together. I know these kids and their parents. I know a little about the work their families have done to wrap their own heads around equity work. I am not passing judgements about their parenting or values or explicit or implicit lessons. I am here to write about the impact of colorblindness on my son and the way this may potential fray cross-racial relationships at a time when youth of color need their white friends to step up.

I suggested a few possibilities, elicited a few from him, and asked him to think about his next step. I suggested he could:

Ignore the text exchange and hope they come to their senses;
End the friendship and not engage in a reason why;
End the friendship and explain why;
Hold onto the friendship and explain that he is upset and needs a break from them;
Hold onto the friendship and explain that he is upset and needs to talk with them about why.

I wanted him to know he had options and that, as devastating as it may have been to end a friendship, he did not have to care for anyone at this moment. One of the things I said to my wife later that evening is that it is not enough that he has to process his hurt and frustration, but now he has to make a decision about two ten-year long friendships with white kids. He chose.

“I’m not ready to end the friendships,” he told me. Knowing that I had given him plenty to think about for one day I encouraged him to sleep on it.

The next day I checked in on how he was feeling and if he had decided to connect with his white friends. He sighed heavily and shared a series of text messages that added to his frustration, BUT this exchange gave him another opportunity to name his reality and share why he is not ok. The last exchange my son sent to one of his white friends is below. I do not think at all that this is where the story ends or where their friendship ends. I end this post here because this is a catalyst moment we are experiencing for all, and certainly for interracial friendships that exist between our elders, adults, youth, and our youngest children.

"Aight
I just need a break
Listen man let me just say that making jokes either way was inappropriate given the current situation, i appreciate the sentiment but if u were trying to lighten the mood then there were other ways to go about it. And honestly I don’t think there was a reason to lighten the mood, to look at this as something that can be moved on from by some jokes is honestly offensive. If you really did have good intentions then I appreciate that but I just need to say that it feels as though you were disrespecting me, but more importantly the lives of those who were murdered"

To read more about anti-bias parenting, visit my resource page here.

]]><![CDATA[Musings on Identity - Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/musings-on-identity

McCarthy aka D Gale on HART: the Harlem Art Collective

The outdoor market under the railroad tracks was an integral part of my life and the life of the residents. Credit...Dith Pran/The New York Times, 1986

I grew up in El Barrio, NYC. Spanish Harlem is what you might see on a map, but the residents referred to our hood as El Barrio. I attended a predominantly Latinx and Black school from my Head Start program to the Catholic school where I entered at Kindergarten and graduated in eighth grade. My future possible self as a Latina was nurtured at home and school. Though I didn't understand the impact of my micro and macro environments, I clearly benefited from my surroundings. I lived in a strong Latinx household where familia, culture, history, music, community, and language where overtly, and sometimes, covertly expressed, and I attended a school community whereby my neighbors, the church, clubs, store owners, and peers I socialized with were of Latinx or Black racial and cultural heritage. All around me, adults communicated goals of family commitment. and academic success.

My educational foundation, while culturally affirming, did not adequately prepare me for high school's academic rigor. My older siblings, however, served as role models to continue with my future possible self as they overtly communicated the importance of completing high school, beginning and completing college, and having aspirations for their future career goals. I realized that this snapshot of my personal story was reflected in my research on Latinx youth’s racial-ethnic identity development and academic success. I discovered that there are key components to my experience that are echoed in the literature.

The formation of racial-ethnic identity for children and youth of color matter, particularly in the context of home and school. Young children’s racial-ethnic identity, “has implications for their relationships with in-group and out-group members and is associated with their level of perceived competency and self-acceptance,” (Corenblum & Amstrong, 2012, .p. 133). Increases in cognitive development is associated with increases in racial-ethnic identity (REI) and REI is linked to self-esteem and attitudes towards the in-group.

Adolescents consider the idea of doing well in school a central component to their potential and perceived options for the future. The possible future selves of youth are developed based on personal ideals and social influences such as the family, school, peers, and the media. Youth who connect their academic identity to other important social identities, such as their racial-ethnic identity or social class, are able to work through academic challenges to attain academic goals. Likewise, when educational aspirations are synonymous with family values, youth are able to envision academic achievements and success as part of their academic possible selves.

To read the findings from my dissertation click here.

]]><![CDATA[My Journey to Becoming an Anti-Bias Educator]]>Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/my-journey-to-becoming-an-anti-bias-educator

I owe so much to a three-year old I taught so many moons ago. This post is dedicated to Afiya Bediako. Among her many accomplishments, she is the Co-Founder of Harlem Handbook: Headed by Harlem based professionals, Harlem Handbook has set out to share, promote and celebrate the vibrant and ever-changing Harlem community/cultural scenes of the past, present and future.

(click below to continue reading)

As I considered the personal stories that contribute to my identity I realized that school and schooling, in the home, the Catholic Church, my community, and at school, substantially affected how I thought of myself and others. I grew up financially poor and culturally rich in Spanish Harlem in the 70s and 80s. My friends, neighbors, classmates, church, and community were primarily Puerto Rican and African American, with a sprinkling of Dominican and Mexican people. The nuns and priests of my Catholic elementary school were the only white people living in the area, except for one white boy in my class who left the neighborhood after third grade. I didn’t have white students in my class again until I attended a predominantly white Catholic high school in midtown Manhattan. High school was also the first time I got to know more intimately friends of color who were Asians, Hatians, Jamaicans, Pilipino and South Americans beyond what I heard and absorbed from the media and society at large (assuming some of their narratives even made it to pop culture by the 80s).

I heard many stereotypes about Asians and math, about poor or dangerous Blacks, and lazy Latinos, yet I also heard the frustrations from my friends who belonged to those groups. We sometimes joked about how naive white people were for thinking such limiting thoughts about us, but we were never encouraged to talk about it outside of our circle of friends. Some of us developed relationships with the white kids in our grade, but lunch time was very much as Beverly D. Tatum spoke of in her book Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? Cross-racial relationships were rare, and discussions about identity and culture in the curriculum did not exist. No mention of Black heroes or sheroes; no discussion about Latinx immigration; no role of, or room for, contributions from Asian-American activists. These limiting cultural and historical perspectives was the air I breathed throughout high school.

By the time I entered college I was making sense of the racist comments coming from others, including my own parents about dark skinned people, never mind that we had Latinx relatives with dark skin. Between my late teens and young adulthood I learned to see and operate in the world through a racial, and more likely a racist, lens. The intersectionality of my identities; ethnicity, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and class, were ever present for me when I became an assistant teacher in my first independent school.

Fast forward to November 1991, and I am finishing up my first set of parent-teacher conferences as a new head teacher in an independent school in New York City. I will never forget this one particular conference because the outcomes of this parent discussion propelled me to become an anti-bias educator. These African American parents, and their 3-year-old daughter, had experienced their first three months in an independent school and they were concerned about their child’s racial identity. Their daughter was hitting all of her developmental milestones and so I was prepared to talk about her easy transition to an all day three’s program, her strong cognitive and social skills, and her infectious laugh. I was also anxious to speak to them about some comments their daughter had been making. This brown skinned Black little girl told me she wanted yellow skin, yellow hair, and blue eyes. The parents had heard the same comments at home. Talking about her racial identity was their main priority.

From the start, the parents and I connected. We all grew up in Harlem in poor or working class communities and strongly connected to our rich cultural heritages. During the home visit in August they learned that I am Latina and they shared that they were raising their children in an Afro-centric home and community. They were comforted knowing they were experiencing their first independent school outside of their community with a teacher of color and a handful of other students and families of color. Three months later, however, the dad wondered if they had made a grave mistake to have taken their Black child out of her community to expose her to so many white teachers and students at such a young age.

I naively thought that my personal experiences would suffice as a window into the experiences of poor or working class families and families of color in an all white school. No doubt my personal experiences with racism, sexism, classism, learning differences, and homophobia have allowed me to enter conversations from the “I” perspective. However, a missing component to my training as an educator were the skills needed to address bias when it surfaced in my classroom. Race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender were rarely the focus of the many classes I took between my junior year in college, when I majored in the Pre-Education program, and graduate school. I began to wonder how I could have entered the field of education with plenty of early childhood development training under my belt, but little to no knowledge about how to address social identities or social inequities with young children.

Quite coincidentally, authors on racial identity development and anti-bias education with young children were visitors to the graduate school that year. While I had already graduated, I was allowed to attend these forums. Lucky for me because these authors and their books shaped my personal views on education and put me on the path to becoming an anti-bias educator. I learned not to discredit my personal life experiences, but to add to my perspective a repertoire based on anti-bias training which included systems of oppression, identity development, multicultural education, and inclusive communities. I was beginning to understand the skills I needed to develop for my own cultural competencies.
In short, I am an educator for social justice and equity, who continues to learn from others. I am touched by the many identities that inform my work and life. I am dedicated to finding and nurturing spaces for myself to discuss my personal experiences with others (affinity groups). I pursue relationships with people across varied differences. I will read journey stories and empirical research about the same topic to inform my practice and sit to listen to what you have to share about your own journey. Mostly, I enjoy taking action to create a world that is different for my children and their future selves.

]]><![CDATA[I'm Ready to Work With You! - Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Mon, 01 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/im-ready-to-work-with-you-dr-sandra-chapman

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those affected by COVID-19 around the world. We are all in this situation for the long haul, and taking care of ourselves, our family, friends, and communities is a top priority. I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and taking time between running your organization or teaching on-line and maintaining social distancing to breathe and laugh. Laughter is a powerful way to fill our lungs and a wonderful release of energy.

Those who engage in equity and inclusion work have done so to address and, whenever possible, remedy the ways bias and discrimination impact people. The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously altered all of our lives; seeing loved ones ill, maintaining social distancing, on-line learning, canceling of summer opportunities and travel, the weight on parents to co-educate their children at home, and the overload on parents who are also teachers who juggle their children's needs while simultaneously caring for their students. In addition, data shows that the pandemic is having a disproportionate burden on people with marginalized or stigmatized identities. Within your organization you are likely hearing and talking about or directly impacted by the overrepresentation of Black people in hospitals, the economic hardships on those who were previously struggling to make ends meet, or the essential workers who risk their and their family's health,

I would like you to know that I am here. My goal is to connect with you to continue building equity-related skills and developing inclusive strategies for your organization. Let's stay connected and in conversation as you re-think how to effectively live out your organization's mission and diversity, equity, inclusion efforts.

Workshops are conducted via Zoom or other platforms that keep us all safe.

Workshops

]]><![CDATA[The Clash of Cultures-Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Wed, 20 May 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/the-clash-of-cultures-dr-sandra-chapman

Who are my children racially-ethnically and culturally? How do my collectivist parenting practices influence their developing sense of self? How do my children experience individualism in their other communities? The cultural styles in our home, within our home and family communities, and within the school community are pervasive. These styles influence many aspects of how my children and I function in the world and the occasional clashes I encounter while raising them. These are the questions, concepts, and stories I will address in this post.
My collectivist identity as a Latina, of Dominican and Puerto Rican decent, greatly inform how I was raised and how I am raising my two multi-racial children. My cultural style not only influences how I see myself, it also impacts aspects of my behavior and the decisions I make on my children’s behalf.

An ongoing struggle for me are the ways in which I honor my children’s mixed racial-ethnic identities, make room for the cultural style (individualism) they are learning from society at large, and the collectivist practices I use while socializing them to understand themselves as Latinos. The initial attitudes and positive images and messages I convey to them about our culture and values contributes to their perceptions of themselves and aids in their understanding of how they fit into our collective social group. However, because of the influences from other communities (peers, teachers, school neighborhood, and society at large) they are developing their own racial-ethnic identities and cultural styles. On occasion, I encounter clashes with my children due to the many micro and macro influences around them.

What exactly is collectivism and individualism? Here is a small example. A White woman I know, who is raising her adopted Black child from an individualistic cultural style, needed a babysitter. I told her my daughter could do it. This mother wondered how I could make such a decision for my teenager. I explained that my daughter has many liberties to make decisions about her weekends, and she is equally responsible for the needs of our collective community. As the oldest child, my daughter and I regularly navigate her family responsibilities with her growing independence.

Kendra Cherry wrote a great piece about collectivist culture. In it she talks about the emphasis being on the group, not on the individual. She writes, “Where unity and selflessness are valued traits in collectivist cultures, independence and personal identity are highly stressed in individualistic cultures.” Below are a few more concepts Cherry shares that capture what it means for me to have a collectivist identity.

Working as a group and supporting others is essential
People are encouraged to do what’s best for society
Families and communities have a central role
In collectivistic cultures, people are considered “good” if they are generous, helpful, dependable, and attentive to the needs of others. This contrasts with individualistic cultures that often place a greater emphasis on characteristics such as assertiveness and independence

I came across another example of collectivism while my girlfriend read to me the following book, The Knight in Rusty Armour by Robert Fisher. The short paragraph below created an image of how I define my sense of self and how I see myself in relation to others.

Exert from The Knight in Rusty Armour
“Ambition from the heart is pure. It competes with no one and harms no one. In fact, it serves one in such a way that it serves others at the same time.”
“How?”
“This is where we can learn from the apple tree,” Merlin said, gesturing above him. “It has become handsome and fully mature, bearing fine fruit, which it gives freely to all. The more apples people pick, the more the tree grows and the more beautiful it becomes. This tree is doing exactly what apple trees are meant to do — fulfilling its potential to the benefit of all. The same applies to people when they have ambition from the heart.”
The apple tree in the story above becomes nourished because of what it allows others to take. The tree becomes “…handsome and fully mature,” even bearing “fine fruit,” not from what it takes from the world or what it does for itself, but from what it gives away freely. Reaching beauty is possible when more is taken from the tree. Image being that tree — with endless gifts to offer.

I realized that the interactions my children have both within and outside of the family are impacted by my cultural beliefs, values, and practices as a collectivist and by the many times they encounter individualism. In fact, I recently read a study done in 2009 which showed that people’s cultural styles (ex: collectivism or individualism) and cultural affiliations (as collectivist or individualistic) even influence the brain functioning and underlying sense of sense. In addition to the cultural style I use in my parenting practices, I see the ways in which collectivism influences my children’s explorations of what it means to them to be racial-ethnic beings.

My teenage daughter is a brown-skinned half Black and half Latina (Dominican and Puerto Rican) young woman. Up until recently, she used the words Black and Latina to define herself and I often thought that she saw these as two separate parts of her whole. This winter (2017) she began a Latinx high school course which has provided her with opportunities to further develop meaning around her identity. At a student-led conference at the end of January, 2017 I overheard her define herself as an Afro-Latina. This was a first for her, even though she has heard me use the phrase about myself. She is experiencing what the great Chicana scholar, Gloria Anzaldúa, refers to as “un choque,” or the “cultural collision” of her new consciousness, (la conciencia de la mestiza). She is entering a stage of her identity development that is abandoning the need to be either/or (Black or Latina) and instead to think in a more synergistic way about her sense of self and the intersectionality of her identities.

My son is a light-skinned, half White (Lithuanian and Russian) and half Latino (Dominican and Puerto Rican) boy. He is a pre-teen and the language he uses to define himself is still rather departmentalized. He embraces all four ethnic groups to which he belongs and is beginning to explore what each of these mean to him. I am grateful to the work of Maria P.P. Root and her Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage because it has taught me ways to step back so he can independently navigate his multiple identities. An experience he may encounter, if he has not already, is what it means for him to navigate his predominantly White school and school neighborhood with the privileges of being white and male in a way that his sister and I cannot.

My children have an intimate relationship with their biological fathers, though these fine men are not raising them.

Anzaldúa, G. (2012). La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a new consciousness. In G. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza (77–91). San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books.

Chiao, J. Y., Harada, T., Komeda, H., Li, Z., Mano, Y., Saito, D., Parrish, T. B., Sadato, N., & Iidaka, T. (2009, September). Neural basis of individualistic and collectivist views of self. Human Brain Mapping, 00:000–000, 1–8. doi:10.1002/hbm.20707

Henriquez-Betancor, M. (2012, December). Anzaldúa and ‘the new mestiza’: A Chicana dives into collective identity. Language Value, 4(2), pp. 38–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/LanguageV.2012.4.2.4

As a child I was raised to consider the needs of my family and society before my own needs. Educación, from the Latino family’s perspective, is a more comprehensive term than the accepted American usage. In addition to individual academic success, the terms education and educated refer to how people conduct themselves politely, act collectively, support and respect others, and how they respond to authority. The emphasis is on relationships with others and this basic premise is taught within our home through overt and covert forms of family socialization.

The following experience I had with my son is a good example of the clash of cultural styles (collectivism and individualism). My children, my girlfriend, her young daughter, and I were gearing up to leave the house on a cold winter day. My well-layered son was beginning to get hot as he waited for the rest of us to gather our things and head to the elevator. I could see how uncomfortable he was getting just as we entered the elevator, which was already occupied by an elderly couple going to the basement, or C level. I also had to go to the C level so I assumed we would all ride together, let the elderly couple out, drop off what I needed, and then jump back into the elevator to go up to the main lobby.

My son had a different need. He asked if he could get off at M, the lobby, so he could step outside and cool off. Acting on my “do what is best for others” collectivist practice I told him he could not. He began to express his frustration that I would not honor his individualistic need. I gave him the “you are embarrassing me” face because it is also not acceptable in my Latino culture to publicly disagree with your elders, let alone your parent. My girlfriend later asked me why I didn’t let him off on M, which to her seemed like it would relieve him of his personal discomfort and, perhaps, relieve me from getting upset with him as he challenged my authority in the elevator.

At first glance, one may think I was entering into a battle of wills with my son. In fact, the more crucial lesson I was imparting on him was how to set aside his needs for the need of others. He and I have had many encounters such as the one in the elevator whereby he cannot understand why I am insisting on him doing something that inconveniences him, but benefits others. For me, it is as simple as the apple tree…fulfilling its potential to the benefit of all. For him, not so much.

Every moment I can, I want to teach my children to live by Latino cultural values, to see themselves as members of a proud collective, and to develop the necessary skills to live as contributing members of this American society that often, though not always, emphasizes individualism. Later that evening I asked my son to tell me what his perspective was about my two and a half year journey to complete my dissertation. He talked about how hard I worked, what a great accomplishment it was for me, and how proud he was of me. I then read to him the dedication page. It started by naming them, then my parents, my siblings, and my nieces and nephews. The final sentence reads: Any individual accomplishments I experience are in the spirit of the Latino collective to which I am proudly a member.

]]><![CDATA[Do I ask or do I tell?: racial and cultural socialization- Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Tue, 19 May 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/do-i-ask-or-do-i-tell-racial-and-cultural-socialization-dr-sandra-chapman

How do we racially and culturally socialize our children or students? I would like to begin with a scenario followed by a question or prompt. The scenario should be familiar to many readers regardless of your role in a young child’s life; parent, caretaker, educator.

Scenario: It is lunch time and a wonderful array of food is spread across the table. The smells are enticing and the young person who the food is intended for really needs to sit and eat before she melts down from lack of food. The trouble is she is engrossed in play, has told you she isn’t hungry, and has already ignored your first attempt to get her to the table.

Writing Prompt: Consider for a moment how you might try again to bring the child to the table to eat. Write down your own response before you continue reading.

Now read the options below.

You ask, “Would you like to eat now?”
You say, “Come sit down and eat.”
You say, “I need you to come to the table, it is time for you to eat.”
You take the child by the hand, lead her to the table, sit her down, and tell her to begin eating.
You explain how hard you worked to make the meal the child wanted so she can be well fed.
You leave the food at the table, ignore the child, and move onto other things.
You reprimand the child for disobeying you and explain that this is rude behavior. Then you command the child to the table to begin eating.

How you get the child to sit at the table and begin eating may be influenced by racial and cultural socialization patterns from your own upbringing as well as the patterns you are explicitly or implicitly using to socialize the child. Monocultural families (where the child and parent(s) are of the same race and culture and perhaps even live around and among others of the same race-cultural background) often socialize their children by the practices around them. I encourage you to reread the options and this time, consider your reactions to the approach(es) you would not use. Have you heard these approaches used in schools or in your other communities? Is one approach too punitive, or too passive?

It is sometimes difficult to know your own cultural patterns until they are challenged by others. I can vividly recall the time I was reprimanded by the White, Jewish parents I worked for while in college. I wanted their son to brush his teeth so he could eat and then we could play. I used a bribing strategy my Latina parents used for all six of their children, including me. I told the three year old that I couldn’t play with him until he brushed his teeth and got dressed. It worked for me because the child did what I wanted him to do. It was clearly not ok with the parents who were listening in on the intercom. The parents told me he didn’t have to brush his teeth or get dressed if he didn’t want to. That was the first time I was confronted with an unfamiliar child rearing practice, the idea that the child had a say on what the day was like. The fact that the parents were listening in on my via the intercom was something I processed years later, but that too was a style I was unfamiliar with. In my collectivist home, family, and neighborhood, you would never second guess what the person in charge was doing with or said to the child.

During my years as an early childhood educator in a progressive school I experienced many more unfamiliar child rearing practices. I picked up on subtle differences in racial and cultural patterns used by parents and caretakers at drop off and during pick up. Through readings I learned that these racial and cultural patterns are as ingrained in them as my own cultural patterns were for me (Whelan Aziza, 2006). In addition to the diverse ecosystem existing in my room, there was also the school. As an institution, schools carry with them their own philosophies of education and considerations for good teaching practices. While I believed in the school’s progressive approach, I was conflicted when the practices I learned to use through coursework and at faculty meetings didn’t work for some of my culturally and racially diverse students. The more familiar I became with anti-bias and culturally relevant practices (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010), the easier it was to consider ways to teach the three year old students in my class through a racial and cultural construct.

Schools are fodder for the racial and cultural socialization that takes place between and among students and adults. Educators have access to a wealth of resources to nurture healthy racial-cultural identity (see resources below). Perhaps readers are familiar with the Teaching Tolerance Anti-bias Framework. Their four domains do more than teach about social justice causes or encourage students to engage in activism. What is most appealing about their framework is that it includes identity as an essential part of anti-bias work. Pre-K to 12th grade educators are offered goals for identity development that positively affirms the social identities to which students belong. In addition to recognizing and affirming students’ racial-ethnic identity, educators should consider ways that cultural patterns develop field independent and field dependent learners.

Cultures vary in the ways in which they interact with children and this informs how students interact with each other, with adults at school (are they raised to see adults as peers, caretakers, authority figures, or a combination of several roles), and with the processes used to acquire and analyze new information. Whelan Ariza (2006) discusses the differences in learning strategies and approaches used by students to solve problems, interact with others, and function in classroom settings. European Americans tend to be field-independent learners who like individual recognition, are comfortable approaching tasks without the need to consult with others, and are self-reliant. Students of color (African American, Arab American, Latino/a, Native American, and many Asian American students) tend to be field-dependent learners. For these students, their work with others is to achieve a collective or common goal and they are greatly influenced by the teacher. Other differences in learning styles include silence versus vocal and physical movement while engaging in tasks; working on a project independently versus sharing work and answers; how the student understands and uses time; amd comfort asking questions in class. In addition to providing an overview of cultural diversity in the classroom, Whelan Ariza (2006) discusses some of the cultural traditions taught from parent to child from Native American, Asian American, Muslims, Followers of Islam, Haitians, and Latinx communities.

Re-consider the approaches used to get the child at the table to eat her lunch through a racially-culturally relevant perspective.

You ask, “Would you like to eat now?”
You say, “Come sit down and eat.”
You say, “I need you to come to the table, it is time for you to eat.”
You take the child by the hand, lead her to the table, sit her down, and tell her to begin eating.
You explain how hard you worked to make the meal the child wanted so she can be well fed.
You leave the food at the table, ignore the child, and move onto other things.
You reprimand the child for disobeying you and explain that this is rude behavior. Then you command the child to the table to begin eating.

]]><![CDATA[Continuum of Awareness to Action: Part One of Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation. -Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Tue, 19 May 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/continuum-of-awareness-to-action-part-one-of-overcoming-roadblocks-to-personal-transformation-dr-sandra-chapman

]]><![CDATA[Latinx Affinity Group-Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Sun, 17 May 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/latinx-affinity-group-dr-sandra-chapman

The best part of entering my affinity space is the mix of Latin music playing and the warm hugs and greetings offered by the facilitators. Coming into the space is like seeing familia. You give the bendición to your elders and welcome the newest members.

Today one of our facilitators grifted us with a spoken word about his abuela (grandmother). It was a most wonderful mid-afternoon wake up to culture, language, affirmation, self, and values.

Another participant shared a song by Roberta Carlos

En ciertos momentos dificiles que hay en la vida.
Buscamos a quien nos ayude a encontrar la salida.
Y aquella palabra de fuerza y de fe que me has dado.
Me da la certeza que siempre estuviste a mi lado.
Tu eres mi amigo del alma en toda jornada.
Sonrisa y abrazo festivo a cada llegada.
Me dices verdades tan grandes con frases abiertas.
Tu eres realmente el mas cierto de horas inciertas.

We ended with words of wisdon from PoCC veteran Crissy Cáceres.

]]><![CDATA[Heads of Color - Women of Color Heads-Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Thu, 30 Apr 2020 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/heads-of-color-women-of-color-heads-dr-sandra-chapman

HART: the Harlem Art Collective

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise
I rise
I rise.

]]><![CDATA[Four Lessons from Bryan Stevenson- Dr. Sandra Chapman]]>Mon, 24 Feb 2020 15:06:24 GMThttp://www.chapequity.com/blog/four-lessons-from-bryan-stevenson-dr-sandra-chapman

The following four lessons, Stevenson claims, will help change the world.

1) Proximity is essential - we must get closer to the people who experience inequality and are marginalized and learn more about their stories and experiences.

2) Change the narrative behind the problems we are facing so we can move away from a narrative based on fear and anger.

3) Remain hopeful. It is essential. We cannot battle without hope.

4) We have to be willing to do uncomfortable things.

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