JEDI Committee

Guest Speaker: Aminah Ghaffar

November 5, 2019 - 6:00-7:30 PM

How do we teach children such a complex and difficult history such as that of Thanksgiving? 

The Aidan JEDI Committee welcomes speaker Aminah Ghaffar, who will be presenting an overview of Native American history and how the Western narrative affects both Native peoples and colonized communities today. Aminah will provide content such as the history of Thanksgiving and tools to find credible, historically-inclusive and accurate narratives that are age-appropriate for children 2-12 years old.  

This event is designed for parents, administrators and teachers. All are welcome to attend. Childcare and dinner will be provided. 

Please RSVP by November 1! 

Guest Speaker: Dane Edidi

Date: January 16, 2020

Time: 6:00-7:30 PM

Location: Sweet Gum Upper Elementary Classroom

Food and childcare will be provided, please let us know how many adults and children to expect.

RVSP HERE

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“Parent through love, not fear. Parent through love, not trauma.” - Dane Edidi 

Dane Edidi Black, Indigenous and Latinx Author, Advocate, Performance Artist, Playwright, and Educator will be joining us again to teach us about LGBTQI+ in history. With context, storytelling, information and love, Dane will provide resources and information so we can best support our children from 2-12 years old.

We collectively believe that when children see themselves and diverse members of society represented in history, a true sense of respect, appreciation and understanding can manifest. We often don’t realize how many important people have been omitted throughout historical education courses. It is this lack of information that leaves us ill-informed or completely uninformed. Often times we are left unsure on how to support our children as they navigate the world. So we ask ourselves as parents, how do we properly teach our children? Is teaching kindness without context enough?

What if in our Greek Mythology class we learned about the intersex deity Aphroditus and not just Aphrodite? How would that affect our understanding of gender? What if when we learned about the civil rights movement, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., we learned about Bayard Rustin and Marsha P. Johnson and all of their contributions? What if we learned that Take the "A"  Train was actually written by Billy Strayhorn? Or that in countless ancient and Indigenous cultures Trans people existed? How would that change how we view of LGBTQ people as valuable contributing members of society? How would having these key pieces of information growing up change our perceptions, interactions and support?

Please join us as we dive into our journey in removing our fears and teaching with love!

March 3, 2020

Details coming soon! 

May 20, 2020

Details coming soon!

In this video link below, we learn that according to a national survey, 40% of Americans do not know Indigenous people are still alive. The speakers in this symposium explain the research data on just how potently problematic misinformation on American Indians actually is.

The National Council of Social Studies still perpetuates the manifest destiny narrative that is based on a racist perception that devalues indigenous peoples. K-12 US history curriculum standards and their representation of indigenous people indicate there is a predominantly misinformed and limited inclusion of American Indians both in a pre-1900s context and after that. When we have politicians refusing to recognize sovereign nations we can see that the intention to erase an entire group of people is still a strong racist agenda all across the Americas.

If you are looking for way to familiarize yourself with American Indian history and learn about the direct effects misinformation has on present day communities, please check out this video! You can quite literally skip and play any section and learn something profound and life-changing. A big thank you to the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum and all of the speakers who put this symposium together!

https://www.ustream.tv/channel/1265792

For parents and teachers looking to gather resources with the mission of learning about factual Indigenous History, check out: https://www.reclaimingnativetruth.com/

Additional Resources

We Can Do Better: Rethinking Native Stories in Classrooms

Native Land Territory Acknowledgement

'I Was Teaching a Lot of Misconceptions.' The Way American Kids Are Learning About the 'First Thanksgiving' Is Changing

https://time.com/5725168/thanksgiving-history-lesson/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Decolonizing Thanksgiving: A Toolkit for Combatting Racism in Schools

https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/decolonizing-thanksgiving-a-toolkit-for-combatting-racism-in-schools-5d4e3023a2f8

This Thanksgiving, Make These Native Recipes from Indigenous Chefs

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/indigenous-native-thanksgiving-dinner_n_5be1c1b3e4b01ffb1d06b538

Earliest Use of Mexican Turkeys by Ancient Maya

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120809090706.htm

• https://emmaredden.com/2017/06/20/talking-with-kids-about-racism-is-an-act-of-kindness-and-an-act-of-freedom/
• https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2018/05/talking-with-young-children-0-5-about-race/

• Blue City by Ismael Reed 
• White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privilege Son by Tim Wise
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• How Does it Feel to be A Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America by Moustafa Bayoumi
• Are We Not Foreigners Here?: Indigenous Nationalism in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands by Jeffrey M. Schultze