In our September 2020 newsletter, we framed the upcoming school year by quoting Ashley McCall, a 3rd-grade teacher in Chicago Public Schools, in an article she wrote for the blog Chicago Unheard:

“What if we listened? What if we made space to acknowledge the anger and demands of students? What if our priority was healing? Individual and collective. What if we respected and honored the work of healers and invested in healing justice?”

It feels appropriate to revisit these all-important “what if” questions in June of 2021, especially as backlash and resistance to the movement for equity and racial justice create obstacles to progress. As some voices work to preserve an unjust status quo through a denial of systemic racism, sensationalizing DEI work in sympathetic media outlets, or simply by trying to apply a “colorblind ideology” to a world that clearly sees and responds to color, the “what if” questions in McCall’s blog post remind us that the greatest desire for change, justice, and healing comes from those who will inherit leadership and stewardship of our society.

• The horrific rise in anti-Semitism and Asian hate crimes.
• The first anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and the movement for racial justice it elevated, renewed and energized.
• The 100th anniversary of the Black Wall Street Massacre in Tulsa and the fight to appropriately memorialize this tragic event.
• Pride Month this June, when we hope more of us can gather together safely to celebrate and advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Any one of these incredibly worthy individual topics could fill the introduction of our monthly newsletter. Rather than choosing between them, we want to lift up all of them and name what they hold in common: networks of committed, resilient, caring individuals willing to navigate resistance to create more equitable and just communities. 

In his keynote speech at the Dalton Conference, 2020: What Did We Learn? How Will We Continue to Move Forward?, Dr. Rodney Glasgow perhaps put it best:

 “You meet resistance with resilience. You show up every time because it matters. It’s that important.”

As summer approaches, many of us might begin to think about how we will rest and restore ourselves in the coming months. We also hope you will think about how you personally can “meet resistance with resilience” as we continue our work through the summer and into the next school year.  

• How can we continue to put our energies into forwarding action, progress, and positive change in the face of fear and resistance? 
• As resistance to change mounts, how can we continue to bounce back to support and lift each other up? 
• How might we continue to center children in our efforts to create a more equitable and just world?

With good wishes for a restful, restorative, and resilient summer,

School Conferences 2021-22

Join Far Brook School, Dalton School, Francis Parker School, Harvard-Westlake School, Ravenscroft School, Town School for Boys, Tuxedo Park School, Vermont Academy, Watkinson School, and others as a host school of our Intra- or Multi-School Conference models next year! For more information, please email info@pollyannainc.org