Week of February 25th

It’s a winter wonderland outside. I did a lot of plowing and shoveling yesterday, but also was able to have some fun, sledding and building a snowman with Moziah.

This upcoming week we will be following up on our investigation of racial disparities in America. It was very interesting to see how relevant and timely this topic is locally, nationally, and globally. Students talked about disparities they have seen in their own communities, we examined data regarding disparities in RI and the US, and we heard about disparities that exist in other parts of the world. For example, we connected our discussion to the current situation in Australia where the prime minister formally apologized to Aboriginal people for the country’s 70 year policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families so that they could be assimilated into the white culture. Another great connection came on Friday, when Clarice Odhiambo came and spoke to our students. Clarice is the founder and CEO of Africa Center Engineering Social Solutions, she is from Kenya and has been there over the past few months, so she has seen first hand the disputed election and resulting violence. Clarice was able to explain to us how much of the tension and violence in Kenya now has less to do with the election and more to do with the ethnic disparities that have existed there for the past 45 years.

This week we will look more closely at responses to racial disparities in America, including cultural responses through music and art, urban uprisings, political protest, organized activism, Affirmative Action, and the call for reparations. On Friday we will be going to the Black Rep in Providence for a showing of “The Bluest Eye,” a play adapted from the novel by Toni Morrison.

Throughout the week students should be focusing on project work as we gear up for the Student Showcase on Thursday, March 13th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

You may have noticed the new heading on this blog, “The Dream Team,” this is our advisory’s name. Finally! The new moniker was inspired during our latest visit to the YMCA when Seana was singing one of the songs on the radio and managed to incorporate everyones name into the song. The artist who sings the song calls himself The Dream and our advisory is a team, hence the name “The Dream Team.” I think this new title is truly appropriate as we definitely have an amazing group.