fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Planning How Lesson Planning Should Work
By: Street Consulting
Tags: Principal, Planning, Plc, Teaching, Improvement Science

Most schools afford teachers a period or two of planning time within each instructional day. The reality of these time periods is that they tend to be used for a myriad of things, other than planning — meetings, finally getting to the restroom, grading, extra help, parent calls etc.

In recognition of the importance of planning and the lack of intended use of the period, I suggest a different model. Planning time should be considered learning time for teachers and designed as such. Principals, please consider these principles in putting together your master schedules. Planning periods should be considered teacher learning periods and designed as such. Teachers should be planning in groups, with other teachers who will be teaching the same material.

The planning period should be long enough that the team can settle in and wrestle with a problem of practice they are trying to solve. The planning period should happen regularly enough that the team can come back together and discuss how their plan worked, compare results, and make revisions or improvements.

In short, planning should be much less about creation and documentation of lesson plans and much more about the creation of improvement cycles within a team of teachers trying to improve their craft. Removing the regulatory element of lesson planning will help planning to become much more powerful in shaping student learning.

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.

– Albert Einstein
İş Modeli Nedir? Kanvas İş Modeli Nasıl Hazırlanır?
By: Gökhan Akçay
Tags: İş, Canvas, Planning, Bi Dünya İçerik, Business

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Why Planning your day in the morning is the worst thing to do
By: Prakash Joshi Pax
Tags: Planning, Habits, Productivity, Life Lessons, Self Improvement

Why Planning your day in the morning is the worst thing to do

Photo by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash

Planning is in fact one of the most important factors you should consider if you want to live a productive and fulfilled life. It’s hard to get that sense of organization and to actually get the most out of your day if you are not prepared.

Having a clear goal of what you need to do and when you need to do helps you to get the most out of your day. Planning your day also helps you to save a ton of time. Brian Tracy said it best:

“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent return on energy!

Organizing your life is a way to live a fulfilled life but it becomes too late if you are doing it early in the morning.

You should have your plans ready when you wake up. If the first thing you do after waking up is planning your day, you will spend most of your mental energy on finding things you need to do and prioritizing them. This might even make you feel a little stressed and worried about your day.

Instead, do this:

Before going to bed every day, pick a pen and paper and write down all the things you need to get done tomorrow. In simple words, create a to-do list and prioritize the 2 most important tasks that need to be completed.

Making plans the day before has multiple benefits. As the author of the book Getting Things Done said, “Your head is for having ideas, not holding ideas, and it’s certainly not for filing things away. Without exception, you will feel better if you get stuff out of your head.”

When you plan your tomorrow, you will already have the list of things you need to do already prioritized.

This will not only help you to be relaxed but also sleep with a beautiful feeling that you are well prepared to tackle your next day.

Key Takeaways

If you start planning your day in the morning, it will not only suck your mental energy but also make you a little overwhelmed and stressed in the first hour of the day.

But, if you already have a plan for your day when you wake up, it creates natural momentum and motivates you to complete the tasks on your to-do list.
What do we do wrong while preparing for JEEs?
By: Tanya Sharma
Tags: Jee Mains, Planning, Tips, Jee, Mistakes To Avoid

For an exam like JEE where you see lakhs of students appear every year, you’d want to know what are the best possible strategies that can help you to not only crack the exam but land you in the top ranks. Like any other exam preparation, the journey to top ranks has its highs and lows, and many times candidates do not even get qualified because of the flaws in their preparation. Hence, it is absolutely essential to know the right strategies to work smarter alongside working hard but at the same time create a strategy that suits you. Moreover, it is equally important to know the mistakes done by other aspirants so that you can easily avoid them. Listing some of them which are most common:

1. Studying without having a proper plan

Not planning the preparation process is a huge mistake. Preparing for JEE involves a vast syllabus and everyone should create a timetable so that they have enough time to study the entire syllabus properly. You must have a solid study plan in place which covers all subjects and topics and you should completely adhere to it. Also, the goals should be created on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis so that they are achievable.

2. Improper time management

Time management is one of the underrated tools which you need to be equipped with during the JEE exam. Even a simple tool like Google Calendar can be used to allot time or days to chapters/sections. Allowing breaks in between study sessions to break the monotony is also equally important.

3. Avoid the ‘Burnout’

It’s common practice for JEE aspirants to sit up late at night and study back to back, day after day, which makes the adage ‘burning the midnight oil’ sound literally right. Aspirants also often let go of their sleep so that they can cover an ‘extra chapter’ or ‘topic in the beginning and by the end get burnt out from this. No doubt, utilizing the highest possible number of hours in a day is essential to cover more and more of a vast syllabus but what aspirants must understand is that you should never compromise on your healthy eating and sleeping habits. It is very important to eat a well-balanced diet and include a healthy portion of vegetables and fruits in your daily meals. Also avoid eating fried or heavy meals, because they will make you sleepy while studying. Most importantly stay hydrated and drink at least 1.5 liters of water every day.

4. Not believing in yourself

It is a well-known fact that when you believe in yourself, half the battle is already won. Keep reminding yourself why you have embarked on this journey and what do you aim to achieve. By remembering the reason and your goal, you will realize that all the sacrifices you have done until now are not meaningless. This will help you work even harder to achieve what you intend to achieve.

In my case, I joined FIITJEE and to my surprise the faculty there really helped me overcome the challenges during my prep and helped me avoid mistakes too.
Manage your money to be wealthy.
By: Dr. Preeti Singh
Tags: Planning, Investment, Finance, Financial Planning Tips, Short Form

Manage your money to be wealthy. The first step to being wealthy is to be a careful spender. Enjoy everything in life but be wise. Always save 15–20% from your monthly take-home salary. Build your investments. Keep on adding investments and also diversify them because all eggs in one basket do not give good results.

Tips for becoming wealthy:

#1. Start with a savings plan.

#2. The first thing to save in is a savings investment plan (SIP) whereby a sum of money is saved every month.

#3. Do not overdraw your credit card. That is a cause for failure.

#4. Do buy mutual fund securities if you are new to investments as it has fewer risks.

#5. Add investments and increase your portfolio.

Do diversify into different types of investments. Equity, debt funds, mutual funds, silver, gold and finally some property.
How has planning changed my life?
By: Ajay Kashyap
Tags: Discipline, Planning

The story behind why I always plan has two reasons.

I’ve learnt it out of my grand father. I would be ahead even if I fail to accomplish the goal.

Photo by Lital Levy on Unsplash

I was never a self disciplined person, but one instance always stuck in my head, that was as a kid I always was weak at math, looking at my class mates I always felt am I incapable of scoring in math or is it lack of planning and interest in it? that’s when I started to plan things and started to finish every work as planned without intricating it. The next test I scored better than I had expected(not a topper of the class though.).

“How has planning changed me as a individual?”

As A individual everyone’s got their own capabilities and interests, I would say that without denying because one individual good at something isn’t good at another. But even having the talent or a skill and not able to utilize is the saying I’ve come across with my friends and I too was one among them before.

But when I came across Elon Musk’s insane work ethic and work schedule I totally switched my thinking. One instance I would like to tell how has planning changed me is, if at all a friend calls me and asks out, the first thing I do is look at phone reminder and then decide, because if at all I sacrifice something for a sheer entertainment sake, I’ll never sleep peacefully that day in fact. As Warren buffet say’s

“A idiot with a plan can easily beat a genius without a plan.”

And this saying definitely comes handy and I myself have experienced it in many ways possible. With all these I’ve stopped overthinking, because once a person sticks to a plan and starts acting accordingly, there’s no one who can stop that person from gaining and achieving something.

“what are the benefits of planning?”

the change I’ve seen in myself over years of planning and doing it is immense.

Change in coherent thinking strong mindset reduced over thinking (in my case yes, this point is valid) active through out the day self discipline over all the satisfaction of doing something.

out of 168 hours, 56 hours of good nights sleep, 50 hours work, considering 10 hours of entertainment totaling to 116 hours, and the left over 50 hours can be feasibly used if a person plans out and starts sticking to it. No one here is actually busy, we’ve been a lazy sloth and prioritize sleep over our passion.
Embrace the unexpected: Focus on your business in times of crisis
By: Aaron Copeland
Tags: Management, Planning, Company, Leadership, Crisis Management

Through an economic downturn, natural disaster, or public health concern — your day-to-day concerns are tougher to manage during a crisis.

You still have to push forward and manage your budgets, provide your staff with comfort and resources, and address stakeholder concerns before paying attention to any personal need.

Take more time for reflection: With even less time to spare, it might seem strange to suggest that you should take a breath. But you should, and here’s why. Taking action today can save tomorrow’s problems.

Set aside thirty minutes to an hour to ask yourself these questions:

What are the biggest challenges facing my company, and how can I prepare to address them?

What departments or teams need more resources, and how can I give them more access?

Who needs more attention on my team, and how can I support them?

Plan for the worst-case scenario: The unknown is scary, but being unprepared for the future is absolutely terrifying. Although most nightmares never come true, you must anticipate that they will and adapt accordingly. Your company will be a lot healthier with a backup strategy.

Be flexible, don’t stay stuck: It’s easy to run away from fear, but your company depends on your leadership during the bad and good days. Use your community, your network, and your friend and family members as trusted advisors through whatever you’re going through. You never know what idea might come out of a tough time, or prepare you for what’s down the road.
Travelling Tips Part1
Tags: Travel, Adventure, Planning, Tips, Explore

Trip planner who will create a tailored plan according to your needs
✍🏼 ความมึนในสองรูปแบบ
Tags: Agile, Projects, Goals, Planning, Leadership

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Opinion: Chaos for Christmas
By: J. Lee Graves
Tags: Car Bombing, Terrorism, Nashville, White Supremacy, Domestic Terrorism

Opinion: Chaos for Christmas

We live in a country where car bombs go off on Christmas Day. Let that sink in.

I am not someone in the know but I am going to say it now; the Nashville RV bomber will be revealed to be a right-wing extremist Trump supporter. Bet on it.

Donald Trump has sown the seeds of division and violence. We are now a country where our elected officials and employees associated with the election are receiving death threats. Plots against anyone who disagrees with their collective extreme world view are all over the news. For example; white supremacists plotted to destroy U.S. power grids. This particular attack has disrupted emergency communications for three States including police, Covid response, and hospitals. Was this a trial run?

The FBI has labeled white supremacy groups and QAnon as threats to the U.S. government and our citizens.

I wrote a novella called Order 88, a fiction quickly becoming a prophetic non-fiction. This should not be our nation, once a beacon of democracy in the world. Now a hypocritical shadow of itself.

The Nashville bombing may be a foreshadowing of things to come, cities that voted for Biden in states that went to Trump, viewed (potentially) as traitors by the extreme right to be made examples of. Cincinnati locked down a few blocks Christmas night as calls came in about a suspicious RV in front of the federal building; fortunately that scene was cleared without incident. How many won’t?

If I am wrong we could be looking at any city that voted Biden as a potential target. That would be truly terrifying if there is no rhyme or reason to what cities are targeted.

Keep in mind, this is total speculation but I truly fear the worst may be yet to come.

Photo Credit: Associated Press
The [assumed] Mantra of J.K. Rowling
By: Amateur Tattletale
Tags: Jk Rowling, British Culture, Equality, White Supremacy, Transgender

…an opinion…after reading far too many articles by writers who care far too much about the homophobic, transphobic, equality-phobic opinions of a washed-up writer who was never really ‘great’ so much as commercial.

[begin mantra]

Yes, of course, it isn’t hate to speak the truth…I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them, as long as they understand, acknowledge, accept and live by the social hierarchy of which White men are at the top, followed by menstruating White women, followed by all others, and this ranking and ordering of others is the work to which I have dedicated my life’s writings.

[end mantra]

Of course, Rowling, a White Briton, hails from the ancestry of global entitlement for reasons wholly unknown to me except for their straightness, paleness, and bottle-blondeness (which is not to be confused with attractiveness, as white Britons are about the ugliest people on the planet, due largely to their, ah hem, incestuous practices that lasted far too long) being the marker for perceived superiority, which, naturally, entitles them to rank and order all “others” who must then not only acknowledge their inferiority but also, who must then subjugate themselves to their White Rulers. What else is to be expected from a White Briton but this ideology?

The society from which J.K. Rowling rose, believes whole-heartedly in this ruling of others through subjugation. The existence of “others” is hardly the problem. There are all sorts of people; they know this. The problem, instead, is when those “others” fail to recognize the innate superiority of the cis, wealth-inherited (again, a marker that lacks the actual merits or abilities of the person who inherited the money), White, ruling class.

And then, when all is said and done, the White Briton can walk away, nose held high, because when faced with the unadulterated rage of the oppressed, subjugated, enslaved and altogether exploited and abused, the White Briton scoffs in incredulity at the rudeness of one’s behavior, and then, with nose still held high says, “See.”

Etiquette is, after all, the White Briton’s preferred tool of oppression because it works so well. Thus, equality (on all counts) is not for Britain or their Commonwealth for equality is the antithesis of being part of the British hierarchy.
Darkness is the Dwelling Place of God — Day 22 of Simplicity
By: Mike Rusert
Tags: Dark, Advent, Racism, Darkness, White Supremacy

For many of us, especially those of us who are white-bodied folx, it’s time for a reorientation to darkness. It’s time to move beyond the dualistic and over-simplified language and images that equate light with good and dark with bad.



As we seek to heal our bodies and our country from the disease of racism and white-body supremacy, one place we can focus our attention is our language.



Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes does this in her book, “Race and the Cosmos.” She calls for new language with a depth and nuance informed by science as well as global indigenous and ancestral wisdom.



Astronomers and physicists are making new observations of a universe not only full of dark matter and dark energy, but dependent upon it, even birthed from it.



And many of us are humbly waking up to the essential wisdom within the practices and beliefs of indigenous traditions which were (and still often are) deemed “primitive” by dominant white culture.



As we find ourselves in this time of dark night, may it envelop us with rest and healing. May it allow us to see what the blue-light of screen would distract us from. May it allow us to turn away from and take responsibility for the harms perpetuated by the White Lie.



May we practice a diligent and grace-filled attention to our language of dark and light. And may this time of darkness be a gift in our lives. May it be a birthplace for healing and transformation.
White people assume that things that they think and feel must be primal and traits shared by all…
By: I.M. Johnson
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Propaganda, White Supremacy

White people assume that things that they think and feel must be primal and traits shared by all human beings. They say things that as far as we can see only they believe , think and feel. Black People obviously don’t feel this way or we would be fighting to be separate and apart from you and we do not. Propaganda to make the white people who honestly give a shit about people other than themselves out to be problem , totally ignoring those who have all confessed to the crime.
Why Not Wearing a Mask is a Form of Colonialism
By: Sirius Naught
Tags: Colonialism, Masks, Cookies, Racism, White Supremacy

Photo by Kobby Mendez on Unsplash

It is no secret that America is currently going through a resurgence of the coronavirus. Despite calls from public officials to take precautionary action, like wearing a mask, a sizable chunk of the population has reacted quite harshly to these measures. These selfish “anti-maskers” have demonstrated a lack of regard for their fellow humans, which has only prolonged the pandemic here in the US.

Even President Trump has expressed doubt about the effectiveness of masks, and one cannot deny the influence these words have had on his supporters as well.

But while you may think that not wearing a mask is an insignificant thing, in this article I will explain how being anti-mask promotes modern-day colonialism, and the risks people of color face today because of it.

First We Must Briefly Explain Historical Colonialism:

America’s colonial past can be best understood by looking at the European conquest of the Native Americans. While it is clear that the colonizers had no regard for the peoples they were conquering, they also killed off nearly 90% of the native populations inadvertently. How? Smallpox.

Europeans had contact with many kinds of germs from animals in their land that they had developed resistance to over a long time. However, the Natives had no such immunity. Thus, the smallpox infection spread quickly and wreaked havoc on the indigenous peoples in the land.
Tokenism in orchestras is racial violence.
By: Brandon Keith Brown
Tags: Culture, Classical Music, Race, Racism, White Supremacy

A token Black musician on stage isn’t diversity. Whites believe it’s inclusion, and more than one threatens white supremacy. Thus, they limit us to one at a time in white spaces. A group of Blacks is perceived as a social threat. Think about how you feel about a group of Black teenagers on a corner vs. whites.

Tokenism compromises the mental and physical health of Black musicians. Struggling to adapt to spaces not intended and where we’re not wanted wears the body down. We’re given a far more difficult score to play, full of thorny ornaments — microaggressions to flat out racist attacks, all in the key of white supremacy.

This is the Black orchestral musician’s daily experience.
Why is the history of America so obscured?
By: Teresa English
Tags: Propaganda, Lost Cause, Education, White Supremacy

Why is the history of America so obscured?

The American education system has evolved a lot over the last 100 years. Our systems are locally created and controlled but affected by national and state policies. Over the decades, several movements began changing modern education and each contributed to obscuring the truth. My top five:

Education is an ever-improving institution where the next generation is trained through the scholarship of previous generations. In 1920, less than 1 in 5 adults completed high school. Within a generation, more than half of adults were educated outside their homes and exposed to new ideas, a significant amount of that history had been manipulated or fabricated. For seventy years, scholarship continued to progress and the lies of old are being challenged.

The wide-spread accessibility of information is creating hard conversations and unrest. Information is not the problem though. Facts do not change. The accessibility and uncomfortableness of education have changed. Learning creates discomfort and facing decades of misinformation does not feel good. Our only hope of survival? We must become vulnerable and ask questions to increase understanding.
The problem is not sexism, it’s patriarchy
By: Maarten Schumacher
Tags: Politics, Feminism, Patriarchy, Racism, White Supremacy

The problem is not sexism, it’s patriarchy

Photo by Gabe Pierce

We must realize that gender is an identity which is based on nature, but not in itself natural. But that doesn’t mean we can simply dismiss gender as “not real”: because it’s ideological it’s more real than if it were merely natural.

Sexism is defined as discrimination based on sex. So the first thing wrong with this definition is that we don’t interact with people based on their anatomical sex, we interact with them based on gender. But ok, even if we call it “Genderism” it still misses the point because it doesn’t describe the specific way in which women are oppressed.

So without an analysis of the particular system of oppression women face, feminists are then reduced to simply pointing out differences in gender and saying “this is oppression”, which doesn’t always work. Also, men can easily turn it around and say, hey, men are more likely to die in wars, that’s oppression too, so it kinda evens out.

But arguably the worst result of this abstract definition of sexism is a kind of censorship we impose on ourselves, where we are afraid to even acknowledge gender difference, because doing so already implies a discrimination based on sex. In a hypocritical way, we are only allowed to talk about gender difference when it is at the expense of men, never women. Such hypocrisy and censorship have unfortunately proven to be a breeding ground for privately held patriarchal views.

Just like not being able to criticize Israel can be a breeding ground for antisemitism. Speaking of Jews, imagine if we were to replace the word “antisemitism” with “religion-based discrimination”, or “religionism”. Immediately it’s clear that such a neutral, abstract way of putting it actually diminishes the violence done to the Jewish people. It would dangerously obscure the reason for the particular violence Jews have suffered by lumping it together with other religion-based violence.

The same exact thing goes for the term racism. When talking about Black people in America we should always use the term white supremacy or anti-blackness. Because again, simply using the word racism bypasses the particular history and the particular grievance Black people have with America. You could easily imagine a white liberal saying “end racism!”, but then opposing reparations, because if the government writes a check based on people’s race, isn’t that racist?
Rivers and Mirrors
By: Postcolonial Intimacies
Tags: Postcolonial Literature, Postcolonial, White Supremacy, Karen

What Happens if I no longer hold your mirror blond?

Will you have the decency to stop?

Or are you still craving more of my attention?

Will you go on consuming your own bones and bonfires of death

Or Will you cling to stories of loving hate?

Will you stop yourself from spreading love to empires of hate?

Manifesting the flickers of your hair

Manifesting scents of Empires

Scents of ink and blood

Morphed in the shape of a blond

What would happen if I am no longer your mirror,

Blond?
remember when håkan geijer called drawing attention to white supremacy “racism”?
By: Genders Black Communisms
Tags: Håkan Geijer, Chaz, Chop, White Supremacy, Antiblackness

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: in this twitter screenshots, håkan geijer bemoans the reaction to a white teacher who wore an anatomical bodysuit to class as a teaching aid, denouncing "Body shaming, racism, and a general lack of worldliness". asked for clarification about their use of the term racism, geijer writes: "there were people specifically commenting on how much worse it would be if she was a black woman. That's racism"

no? what about the time they said it was wrong to describe a self-appointed “security” force at CHOP/CHAZ as white supremacists after they shot and threatened to pistol-whip two Black teenagers, killing one of them and putting the other in the hospital?
My anti-racism novel Mississippi Reckoning
By: Mitchell Zimmerman
Tags: Civil Rights Movement, Black History, Thriller Novel, Anti Racism, White Supremacy

My anti-racism novel Mississippi Reckoning

An opportunity to learn about the realities of white supremacy in the South of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s while reading a “riveting”*, “enthralling,”** “revelatory”*** thriller. Mitchell Zimmerman Dec 12, 2020·2 min read

Give the novel to someone who won’t read a history book or treatise about racism, but is up for a “gripping and harrowing” thriller that “punches the reader in the gut” (Los Angeles Review of Books).

Mississippi Reckoning — praised by civil rights veterans, historians and reviewers — employs the road trip / vengeance / suspense novel as a vehicle to recount tales of the civil rights movement and of the naked violence America’s apartheid system rested on.

To learn more about the book or read an excerpt, click here

* Pulitzer-prize winning historian Eric Foner (“riveting”). ** Civil rights leader/SNCC founder Diane Nash (“enthralling”). *** Los Angeles Review of Books (“revelatory”).

“Linking the story of a condemned man in present-day California with the story of deep-southern horror from which that man emerged, Mitchell Zimmerman has crafted a heart-pounding, soul-wrenching narrative.”

–Federal Judge and civil rights pioneer Thelton Henderson

“Family saga, freedom song and cry for justice come together in Mississippi Reckoning, as a despairing man seeks vengeance for wrongs beyond his power to right.”

–Diane Nash, legendary civil rights leader
Diabetic Cyborg Life 12/12: On the Last 50 Years of the GOP
By: Adam, Diabetic Cyborg
Tags: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Optimism, Racial Equality, White Supremacy

The party of me over we got its footing with the so called “Reagan Revolution.” That’s where a ton of “Welfare Queens’’ and other racial bias and stereotypes and tropes spawned a generation of racism and hate inside the GOP. Later invention of the “TEA Party,” “Taxed Enough Already,” grew more racism with the same stereotypes and tropes against Barach Obama and the “Affordable Care Act, ACA.

His signature landmark legislation named “Obamacare,” by his detractors, so I never use it, was the latest tool of white supremacy in the GOP. Be it Reagan’ s “Revolution” or the “TEA Party,’’ same hatred, same lies, and racist claims by white supremacists.

All the Republicans will say they hate the policy not the man/people and their race, yet, look and use simple logic. “Occam’s razor,” the problem-solving principle, simply, the simplest explanation is usually the right one, reveals just plain racism. Trump used hatred and racism to be the true white supremacist that the GOP harbors to scare a whole white electorate into seeing things his way.

The ruthless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used Occam’s razor again to show that hate feels so good. McConnell used that to whip all his minions, GOP Senators, into being the callow wimps they are …
I Wear My Fro to Work (Poem)
By: The Stormy Poet
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Hair Care, Black And White, Racism, White Supremacy

Every day, at work, I wear a full head of luscious black.

It’s the kind that sparks many judgments, I can clearly see in many eyes

‘Cause of the Euro-type of beauty it lacks.

Some treat it as a pet, and some despise.

Some stroke with no consent or care

as if my name were Fido.

If I’d done the same to any other ethnicity’s hair,

I’d certainly be pronounced “pervert” or “psycho.”

It gets the evil stare in meetings

from the boss and all above her.

It makes people stutter in their greetings,

and, because of it, many potentially useful conversations never occurred.

They’d prefer it shaved down, but that’s just too bad.

Such isn’t expected for any other ethnic group.

I love that something so small makes some so mad.

I love making admins' faces droop.

‘Cause, I know of the “blackness” fros amplify —

something not welcome in their workplace.

And, though, their sincere pledge is “diversify,”

that’s mainly to pacify those who always bring up race.

And, that’s why still gloss it with coconut oil

cleanse it with cannabis seed, and pick that bad boy out.

I love causing emotional turmoil

so that critical thinking with come about.

When some try to pet it,

it’ll, now, be a chance to teach.

I’m sure they don’t forget it,

when I reach back for the heads of the brunette, gingers, blondes, and of hairs bleached.

And, I care not if my hair is adored

by those at my job.

I’m there to work, not to make sure I’m not a boor,

to mental midgets and prejudice snobs.

And, if those are the type that won’t promote

or invite me to their fancy functions,

over my un-groomed “do,” then, they’re nothing but a slave to the rote.

I need you NOT. For, my blackness, professionalism, and morality do ensure my success, when working in conjunction.

From the Soul,
Dear White People: Yes, I Am Talking About You
By: Savannah Worley
Tags: Racism, Anti Racism, White Supremacy

Dear White People: Yes, I Am Talking About You

Photo by Melani Sosa on Unsplash

It finally happened.

I received my first piece of feedback from an overly-defensive White person on Medium. I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I first made this account months ago.

I don’t want to call out the person directly; this isn’t meant to be a call-out post. But it was the classic, “Not all White people! Stop generalizing!” argument. I’ve heard it before, and I’m sure many Medium writers who discuss racism and White supremacy have heard it thousands of times as well.

I just want to reassure all White people who are reading this post that I am absolutely talking about you.

ALL of you.

But not just you. I’m also talking about my White mother, my White step-father, my White half-brothers, my White friends, White people I love, White people I admire, White people I respect, and all of the White people who are currently in my life or have ever been in my life.

I’m not excluding any White person here.

Maybe you’re confused as to why I’m not excluding you. You might have even attended several Black Lives Matter marches and follow “ally checklists” religiously.

So why? Why am I not excluding you? Do I just not appreciate your efforts? What can you do to convince me that you’re “one of the good ones?”

The “not all white people” derailing technique has been addressed at least 100 trillion times. It’s considered to be Racism 101 material, and I see no need to make another post about it.

However, I want to try to dive more deeply into this sort of White fragility that makes White people panic and think, “Are they talking about ME!?”

That thought usually causes White people to feel deeply insecure. That insecurity can make them act overly-defensive.

However, derailing what’s being said by shouting, “Not all White people!” isn’t the only way they show their defensiveness. They can also seem to work overtime to prove that they are not “one of those” White people. They can act passive-aggressive, subtly demonize the Black person who are discussing their experiences, awkwardly go all pollyanna and preach “love and kindness” (A.K.A. spiritual bypassing), and/or unnecessarily walk on eggshells.

Practicing the types of behavior listed above and STILL feeling criticized would inevitably make anyone feel resentful. Sooner or later, resentful people tend to stab the perceived source of their resentment in the back.

I have enough stab wounds, many of which are from shanks of bottled-up White indignation I didn’t see coming. I’m sure many other Black and Brown people feel the same way.
Yes, We Need Unity
By: D. Denise Dianaty
Tags: Unity, Bigotry, Election 2020, White Supremacy, Xenophobia

Yes, We Need Unity

We cannot sacrifice progress for a more just and equitable society by compromising with those who embrace the “alt-right” MAGA and QAnon ideologies.

There is no meeting “half-way” with Trump supporters — they have embraced the alt-right ideology. The Alt-right ideology is nothing less than white supremacy. It is nazis and skinheads and racists and bigots and xenophobes, cloaked in religious “Christian” extremism.

Let us be clear: white supremacists are advocating oppression and genocide. The agenda is unreasoning, fueled by illogic and hate: If the “other” cannot be suppressed and oppressed to benefit the white race, then make war against it at home and around the world. And, they cloak it with a “Christian” veneer that has nothing of Christ in its ideology.

White supremacists must not have a “voice at the table.” Theirs is the voice of hate. Hate isn’t ever going away through compromise.

“Hate is a contagious mental illness that requires qualified and substantive psychiatric treatment.” ~MomzillaNC

We must never compromise to get along white supremacists. Ultimately, it’s a kind of cowardice for the sake of a delusion of peaceful society. White supremacy is an ideology of evil. It is extremism cloaked in a veneer of reasoned seeming qualifications and wrapped in patriotic religious fervor.

Compromise with evil cannot ever bring peace, will never change hearts and minds. No matter what reasoned-seeming dialogue white supremacists use, nothing can change that white supremacist ideology is nothing more than bare bald, and unreasoning hatred. Compromise will not change hatred. Compromise only empowers the white supremacist agenda and makes us all complicit in that agenda of oppression.

The way forward cannot again compromise with hatred and bigots. From the very founding of this nation, our American history has been one of compromise with white supremacy and bigots. The long arc of our national history led us to what now must be a national reckoning.
What is it about a historical genocide that inspires giving of thanks?
By: S.G. Liberated Being
Tags: Culture, Indigenous, Oppression, Thanksgiving, White Supremacy

IG @muertapaz

The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue

“In truth, massacres, disease and American Indian tribal politics are what shaped the Pilgrim-Indian alliance at the root of the holiday.”

The myth is that friendly Indians, unidentified by tribe, welcome the Pilgrims to America, teach them how to live in this new place, sit down to dinner with them and then disappear. They hand off America to white people so they can create a great nation dedicated to liberty, opportunity and Christianity for the rest of the world to profit.

That’s the story — it’s about Native people conceding to colonialism. It’s bloodless and in many ways an extension of the ideology of Manifest Destiny. This myth was created so Americans could feel good about their colonial past without having to confront the really dark characteristics of it.

Personal Reflection

ameriKKKan ignorance is normalized,

To resist tradition is stigmatized,

but the truth is stifling

I am not one who can close my eyes

And knowingly celebrate a genocide…

That has never felt right

It will never be right.

How can I ever call this land “great” when I see Amerikkka for what it is,

stolen land built upon war, torture, murder, and rape

Speak the truth about AmeriKKKan history.

Talk about the bloodshed to honor the lives, the communities that were destroyed at the hands of white murderers.

Love and light to our Native ancestors

Love and light to all B.I.P.O.C who continue to survive and majestically thrive in this land of ameriKKKa,

Conscious Resistance

I choose to honor this day by…

-Fasting

-Educating myself on the true history of the myths of Thanksgiving

-Reflecting on the emotional impact of this day, a day of mourning
White Supremacy…
Tags: Culture, Social Justice, Racism, Whiteness, White Supremacy

was the ideology that John Wilkes Booth ascribed to and because of his belief in that ideology he murdered President Abraham Lincoln (the first president of the United States who was murdered).

American history…strange that Booth is rarely identified as a white supremacist…you would think we were trying to hide it or something.
America Will Never Learn Its Lesson
By: John Kennedy
Tags: Politics, Donald Trump, Racism, Election 2020, White Supremacy

America Will Never Learn Its Lesson

After four years of fuckery, the presidential election shouldn’t have been this close. Donald Trump has flailed and failed his way through his tenure as president, from spearheading inhumane immigration practices to royally botching a pandemic to covering up all types of sketchy shit (from his tax payments to alleged collusion with Russia). Yet while he was trumped by Joe Biden’s popular vote numbers (a record-setting 74 million-plus), Trump managed to surpass Barack Obama’s previous record of more than 69 million popular votes. That’s right, 70 million people voted for this dude nationwide.

As much as it’s shocking, it really isn’t. Especially if you’ve paying attention to the inner workings of the U.S. at any point during these past 300 years. Our countrymen are who we thought they were: sheep; racists; capitalists with few morals and even less compassion; Bible thumpers with selective virtues; those so stuck on supremacy that they’d rather watch the nation burn than cede even an ounce of their own power and privilege.

Writer Bonsu Thompson was reminded of this truth while watching this election play out. In his latest piece, “What Half of America Choosing Trump Again Taught Me,” he reflects on why Biden and Harris’ victory has a sour feel.

White supremacy is a mindset inherited and kneaded into human fiber like soft kernels to yellow dough. That their poster boy of the decade failed to repeat doesn’t matter as much as one may assume.

Read the piece in full here:
Responsibilities of the “Asian Best Friend”
By: Jenny Arimoto
Tags: Friendship, Women, Asian American, Diversity, White Supremacy

“My favorite chink.” As I flipped through my dad’s high school yearbook, I couldn’t believe how many of his classmates left racist handwritten messages. In shock, my sister and I confronted him. How could he be okay with his friends using slurs against him? My dad responded with a laugh. “It was a joke. It’s all in good fun.”

As a fourth generation Japanese American, this is how I was raised. Blend in. Don’t make white people feel bad. And when you feel bad, keep it in. Your grandparents survived Pearl Harbor and the Tokyo fire bombings — keep things in perspective.

I was a shy and timid kid. Inside my head I had grand dreams of being on SNL, but I had come to the early conclusion that it was impossible. Hours of television had taught me that 1. Asians couldn’t be on TV, 2. Asian people couldn’t be funny, and 3. Asian characters weren’t interesting enough to be the main character. I could be the yellow power ranger, but never the pink ranger.

Growing up, I was mostly friends with the other Asian kids in school. It was always easier that way. Then my nightmare happened. I found myself in a middle school where I was the only Asian girl in my class. Alone, I immediately connected with the only black girl. Our friendship was somehow pre-determined by the fact that we were the only 2 POC girls in 6th grade.

It was in this majority white environment that I learned how to interact with white people. I learned that my sense of humor was a tool. By making people laugh, I could prove my worth to the white kids. I was no longer just Asian, I was also fun. At one point, my crush even said that I was “hot for an Asian girl.” S w o o n. I couldn’t believe he thought I was hot, despite my crippling Asian-ness.

What I saw on television and my daily interactions convinced me that I was destined to be the fun, less pretty, ethnic best friend in a white character’s story. I played the role well. Throughout my young adulthood, I worked hard to downplay my Asian-ness and align myself to whiteness. I surrounded myself with white friends and was careful to avoid talking about my feelings. Sharing my feelings would center me and unfortunately that wasn’t in my character description of “funny sidekick.” My job was to support, listen, and make jokes. After all, it was a privilege to call white people my best friends.

In my mid-20s, life seemed perfect. I had made the greatest group of friends via improv class. The word “improv” should be enough to know that my new friends were mostly white. I was going out, doing dollar store quality bits, and laughing more than I ever had. But then the strangest thing started happening. I began having meltdowns regularly. I would cry all day, unable to move. I felt so deeply lonely, which was weird because my social calendar was packed more than it had ever been.
What Half of America Choosing Trump Again Taught Me
By: Bonsu Thompson
Tags: Biden 2020, Trump, Election 2020, White Supremacy, Covid 19

What Half of America Choosing Trump Again Taught Me

milwaukeeindependent.com

I needed no more evidence that the United States was its own antonym. Nor that this country is an old oak with rotted roots of racism. What I didn’t possess strong knowledge of was it being possibly more misogynistic than racist. 2016 taught me that. Americans had to grin and bear a biracial president in the White House for eight years. A whole woman sitting on the throne appeared to take national progression a bit too far. Clearly, the U.S.A. preferred a novice at the helm. Oh, and not just any novice — a crude, inarticulate former reality TV star with Twitter thumbs. Four years later and the United States has received exactly what it deserved: a brutal reminder that nations should be run by studious thought leaders and strategists who have a genuine concern for human beings.

The 2020 election proved that on a macro scale the reminder was a success. On a micro level, though, it failed. The lion’s share of the reminded never wanted Trump in the first place. Those who voted for Trump four years ago — even after an alleged collusion with Russia, lack of transparency with taxes, revolving door of an administration and inexcusable failure during a pandemic — were repeat offenders. This told me that America isn’t any smarter today than it was in 2016. After such an uncomfortably transformative and educational 2020, this nation is still a global leader in falling for the banana in the tailpipe. The proof is in how Trump worked over Florida. Man, that was intoxicating theater. Two parts lower tax promise and lie topped off with Biden slander had those COVID disbelievers stumbling to the booths singing expired Flo Rida hits. The bar was both open and set low low low.

What’s more sobering is accepting that the people of this country don’t have a heart for humanity. Immigrant children were discarded into cages on 45’s watch. Their mothers were caged and violated with the unauthorized removal of reproductive organs before being deported. That is biological genocide. That was this year. To vote once for a president who commits crimes against humanity (please make the UN great again) is redeemable with a second chance. To choose this man as the leader of the “Free World” twice is inhumane.

This election also taught me that Americans do not value character. Your leader should not be a pathological liar. Your leader should be smarter than a terrible liar. I’ve spent the last few years perplexed at transparency not being a requirement for the president of the United States. The 45th version burrowed the details of his conversations with Putin, the truth that he was warned about the coronavirus pre-pandemic, his IRS files — that is until it was revealed that he paid less taxes than Americans with annual salaries under $60,000. And those are just his highlights. What exactly is a devil that doesn’t live within the details?