Back in Black

It's time to restart and revamp this written adventure into our world of institutionalized injustices. A year of service does not lend itself to outside adventures, but as I become more used to the routine, I become more committed to once again writing down my observations and reflections in the form of this blog.

This is mostly due to a plethora of newfound observations. Over the summer (when I started this blog) I saw institutionalized sexism every day, but my encounters with race were almost non-existent. This is mostly because at the summer program I taught at, the tuition for three weeks is a whopping $5,000, and, not surprisingly, almost exclusively white, minus handful of rich foreign kids. Needless to say, not once did I come to face to face with my white privilege. But now, serving in a school in the infamous MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools) for 12 hours a day, things look a little different. A little darker. And not just because of the low, low amount of white students. Every day, I see the realities of life for the underprivileged side to my privileged side of the coin. And here is where I bring my thoughts to the table to write, reflect, and struggle to find a tangible solution.

That is still what this blog is all about. Studying the issues of race and gender in our society is great, but nothing pisses me off more than a well-written article on CNN.com debunking the latest hidden piece of sexism or racism in our society, making you aware, then angry, and then offering no solution. No, for the record, just knowing about these issues doesn't do much of anything to solve them. It's a start, but to truly fight against these evils in our society, we must actively fight them. I aim to deliver an actual action step of some type after my vent, uncovering, explanation, reflection, etc. And as I admit to being nowhere near close to really understanding these issues, I need all the help I can get. So please, please, if you want to collaborate, suggest a topic, or just agree or tell me I'm full of it, email me at schmeeves@gmail.com. I will appreciate it.

This weekend, I plan on putting on a black dress and going to a nice restaurant that will, in all likelihood, be inaccessible to my black students. This fact troubles me, so here I am, trying to figure out what to do about it. Thank you for reading.