First of a two-part story
When Africans arrived on American soil, the colonial society deemed them slaves. Their persistent fight against enslavement gained some traction after the Civil War during the Reconstruction era. But this was short-lived and ushered in a new version of enslavement named Jim Crow.
The Civil Rights Movement several decades later defined freedom as equal access to resources and opportunity. This movement ultimately resulted in the first African American president, followed by the first African American woman vice president in U.S. history.
On a local front, Minnesotans had the privilege of the teachings of Professor Mahmoud El-Kati. Teaching from college campuses and community spaces, he challenged us to reject the false dichotomy of race.
“‘Race,’ as we currently carry such a notion in our head, is a myth, a fiction, or a stage of false consciousness,” he writes in “The Myth of Race: The Reality of Racism,” published in 1993. “The construction of race does not correspond to reality, no matter how much we think it does.”
For over 20 years, the Cultural Wellness Center (CWC) in Minneapolis has set forth teachings to deconstruct the myth. They are moving from an outward study focused on equal rights to resources to self-study, acknowledging history, and honoring culture.
In this two-part story, the CWC will share their ideas for moving African Americans to a new definition of self. This week, in part one, the focus is education.
For children of color, one of the first systems they interact with is the educational system. It is in sharp contrast with their culture during their formative years.
Julia Berry has been with the CWC for seven months. She was a former classroom teacher, then moved to work around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). At the CWC, Berry serves as dean of students. She uses the knowledge they have been developing for almost three decades to create a curriculum to support these young learners.
“In my teaching in education, I remember hearing things like ‘Kids are sponges, they soak everything up. Kids are an empty vessel and you’re here to pour and fill them up,’” says Berry. “And I think that is one of the philosophies or ways of thinking that has been detrimental.”
An educational model that values the individual child poses questions like, “‘What do you know about who you are and what you’ve come from,’” Berry says. This model encourages children to know themselves first.
It allows them to gain knowledge and skills on what they are engaged in learning about. It also supports the knowledge and lived experiences they have been exposed to at home. This is very different from what happens in our current system. However, the goal at CWC is to break down the barriers built as a result of white supremacy.
“We are going to be able to see [society] with more compassion and understanding,” Berry says. Then, “We can live in it and still feel whole and not feel fragmented, separate, objectified and victimized.”
There are pockets of conversations among people of African descent about returning to their cultural origins, but it is not yet mainstream.
“We live in a society that has a hard time looking at itself,” Berry says. “I know that the DEI industry has grown, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the things [it] promotes have changed the way that this society thinks about itself. That’s what we are trying to do.”
Critical Race Theory (CRT) was introduced almost half a century ago. It has most recently been attacked primarily by conservative Republican white-led organizations when it interfaced with the educational system.
CRT began as a conversation about the history of sorting and coveting power based on skin color in the U.S. It was an examination of how it has impacted the lives of Black and brown people.
“You have these brilliant theorists and Ivy League ideas coming forth to have us think about how we are living, who we’re living with, and why things are the way they are,” says Berry. “That conversation is being attacked.”
For people of African descent, lived experiences are synonymous with knowledge. In attacking CRT, “They’re taking that very original ancestral teaching and bringing it into the mainstream.”
Part of the reason that CRT is rejected is because our educational model teaches history devoid of culture. This creates a society that neglects a true representation of itself.
“Trying to pour in this ‘Critical Racism’ [referring to the opposition of Critical Race Theory] is causing sparks and friction and things…. So, I reject it,” Berry says. “Not only do I reject it, …I don’t have to [accept it] because none of those things serve my pocketbook. They don’t sever my position. They don’t serve my power.”
For those who have avoided an examination of their cultural history, “It causes so much discomfort…to look at themselves and look at their own ancestors and look at how whiteness has been functioning to be where we are now,” says Berry.
Fighting for equality based on race gives the person, organization, or society in opposition the decision-making power. Using culture to understand oneself better brings like-minded people together sharing their knowledge and ideas to make collective decisions for themselves.
“That is a practice that reminds me of who I am,” explains Berry.” [It] reminds me of my genius, who our ancestors are, and what I am here to do.”
Others are invited into this conversation, but only if they are willing, able and ready. Leaving the door open and welcoming others eliminates the need to fight to be heard.
“We show up to the practice, and we invite people into the practice,” Berry continues. “And that seems like a simple thing. It’s hard, but it’s so valuable.”
Julia Berry is a coach, facilitator and educator who centers love, healing, joy, liberation, communication and relationships in her career focused on youth and adult development. The Cultural Wellness Center is a transformative space that incubates culturally-based solutions to real world problems.
Vickie Evans-Nash welcomes reader responses to vevans@spokesman-recorder.com.