Friday, February 10, 2023

February 10, 2023 DDF Breathes New Life Post/on Celebrating Your Culture


When I taught, this was the month of celebration of cultures. We watched Martin Luther King Jr. speeches and read about the life of Maya Angelou. There were many others like the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first African American soldiers to successfully complete their training and enter the Army Air Corps. Nearly 1000 aviators became the first African American military pilots. So many other examples to list here. 

Never in the time I taught that even through their perseverance and accomplishment they died in oppression. No matter how much they proved to be the greatest of heroes and heroines really made no difference as half of the classroom is doomed to be oppressed based on being students of color. And the rest of you deserve to be shamed into obscurity as all you have done is be oppressive. 

A bit of hyperbole, but that is what Critical Race Theory does to students. Instead of sharing and appreciating each other's lives, history, and cultures, it is used to divide and empower one group to be angry, bitter and mean. The other fearful, silenced, and rightfully dominated. 

At the end of the month, I always had the kids write a heritage research paper. We celebrated differences, not shamed them. Foods, holidays, languages, geography, etc… They would present their heritage collage with pics, cutouts, drawings, etc… We hung the collages on the wall and it was always one of my favorite times. I don’t remember one student not loving that unit. 

In my podcast, I tell a few stories about my own experiences, okay ended up being 4:

1. with segregation in Las Vegas when I was in elementary school where the projects were separated by a cement fence, but we found a way to get to the other side and mix up the races we did.

2. I will talk more about my traumatic childhood, but I will tell the story of being back in school after the climax of my trauma. How some very beautiful black girls befriended me and pulled through with their kindness and friendship. I cherish those memories as I believe God put them there to help me overcome and start trusting again.

3. High school-My mom had her share of discrimination. She didn’t want anything associated with our Hispanic heritage because she was treated so badly she didn’t want that for us, so none of us kids speak Spanish and for a long time I thought I should be ashamed to say my mother was Mexican. 

4. High school-In the 80’s was the first time students had the option of attending magnet schools. It brought kids of all colors to one school. You know what happened? We got along. The only segregation was based on the profession we chose, but in regular core classes we were mixed and no one cared. We thought it was great to have such diversity because it was a positive experience. Today, diversity almost seems like you have been put into a penalty box that you can never exit. Such a big difference. 

The stories I mention are because in the book, Divine Mentor, it talks about watching over your heart.

If we allow this CRT to infiltrate our minds and hearts it will eventually weaken our belief that we are all created by God and that we have many shades out there, but all creation is under the umbrella of one God who created us with the need to be in relationships. Our eternity is beyond our life spa on this earth. Shades of color will fill the streets of gold in heaven. 

Remember to protect and cultivate your spiritual root system!

“Turn to the Lord and pray to him, now that he is near. Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the Lord, our God;  he is merciful and quick to forgive.” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

“He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises” (2 Samuel 23:3–4).

I pray that we value humanity through God’s eyes. And at the end of the day, that is why we are all here- we value life and truth and God’s ways in all things. He is worthy to be praised! 

Get ready to sway those hips and enjoy some Latin groove praising God and being Grateful for all He has done and will do in your life. 

English version of “Agradecido” by Danny Gokey. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY08Ptnu28Q

Spanish version of “Agradecido” by Danny Gokey and Alex Zurdo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY08Ptnu28Q