Growing up in inner city Toronto,
the twelfth of thirteen children,
to a disabled war veteran and a mother who never finished nursing school,
and living in social housing,
I look back on the school and the community that I lived in for 19 years,
and I know that I was really blessed.
Others would see this community as dangerous, too racialized,
violent and filled with drugs and gangs – and it was –
but to me it was home,
and it taught me so much about life, diversity, and inclusion.
While some would see this as a disadvantage,
I realized this as a richness.
Having worked in education for close to thirty years,
my stories will provide you with insight into the ways
that you can challenge, disrupt, and disturb
those who do not feel and see inclusion as adding value or richness,
or even a part of ethical leadership.
When we place racialized people at the center of our work,
we can alter our programs, our policies, and practices
so that all can flourish.
Recently at some equity training in our city,
there was a group of disgruntled principals posing the question,
"Why are we having this training on equity and diversity again?"
Challenging them, I said, "Look at this group of principals.
You can clearly see that we're navigating in a culture of whiteness."
It was a sea of white from the front to the back of the room.
It was obvious that our hiring practices needed to change.
We must do better to ensure those who we mentor, encourage, hire, and promote
are diverse in race, thought, religious beliefs, ability and class.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission explains that race is a social construct.
It advantages some, and it disadvantages others.
In Ontario, we use the term "racialized person"
instead of the term "person of color."
I have unearned privilege because I was born white,
but because of my lived experience,
I bring a lens that does not view things from a middle class,
heternormative stance.
And I have a passion to serve those who have been underserved and marginalized.
In this current political climate,
when women, trans people, indigenous and racialized rights are being jeopardized,
and childhood poverty is on the rise,
it's even more important that we speak our truth and lead our authentic lives,
to work, to develop diversity as a richness, a strength.
In my current role as a principal and a leader in education,
and as a married gay male for almost 25 years,
that's 50 in the straight world,
with two amazing, biracial children,
I work to put marginalized people at the center of our programs,
our planning, and our policies.
Years ago, as a new VP, I wrote on the school calendar,
"International Day of Anti-homophobia."
I was called into the principal's office to clarify,
what exactly was I trying to do?
Well, I was trying to be inclusive, and I was challening the dominant,
heteronormative structure.
And when I was scolded for being too political,
I was asked, "How is this related to our work?"
I was chastised and reprimanded.
When I discussed this with my Superintendent of Education,
the first thing she did was apologize.
The second thing she did was connect me with a leader of equity on our board,
and we developed a friendship, a mentorship, and a connection
that has stayed with me to this very day.
The first time she visited me at my school, as a principal,
we went on a learning walk-thru.
There was a little black girl in grade three.
She was struggling and she was being underserved.
She was one of a handful of black students at this school.
When I entered the classroom and Introduced my friend and my mentor,
this child asked, "Is she really your friend?"
She looked so shocked.
When I confirmed this, and added that she's also someone who teaches me so much,
she smile. She wanted to hug my friend– she was also black.
It was a revelation to this child
that her white principal could have a black friend and a mentor.
When we recognize race, we can alter life trajectories.
And if we're not actively working to combat racism,
then we are being complicit in the perpetuation of racism.
My question to you is this:
how might you enter into alliance with those who experience racism,
and be complicit in the ending of racist practices?
Let's improve outcomes for racialized people.
Some time ago, when I was in a meeting with a teacher,
he made negative comments about a racialized mother.
In front of me, was a racialized teacher being racist toward a racialized mother.
He said, "She's just sitting at home all day, lying on the couch, eating candy."
This was so untrue, when in fact
I knew that she was working two jobs to support her family.
Luckily I had some recent training.
I had my sentence ready.
I said, you need to know and I thought you should know
that your comment was really offensive and racist.
Years later, when our paths crossed again, he brought up our conversation.
He thanked me for challenging him.
Do you have your sentence ready to challenge racism when you hear it?
Let's acknowledge the complexity of race, culture, and language.
When we realized that the lived experience and life trajectory of racialized people
are impacted by race,
then we may be able to join into community to try to improve outcomes.
Not as a savior, or someone who's going to fix it all,
but somebody who works in community for positive outcomes.
What does your leadership team look like?
Who do you mentor?
Is your leadership team fixed or fluid?
Do you lead in an autocratic manner, or do you allow for the voice of others?
Who gets hired to your organizations?
Recently while interviewing a racialized candidate
I noticed my colleague scoring him much lower than I thought he deserved.
I challengeed the scores that she gave him.
I asked her to check her white privilege.
She got so offended with me, she said,
"Listen. My parents are immigrants,
and I'm a member of a persecuted religious group.
How dare I ask her to check her privilege?"
I acknowledged this, but then I repeated,
"Why are your scores so much lower than mine?"
This candidate hit every required look for, and then some.
We sat in awkward silence for some time.
I followed this up with a message to my superintendent,
to ensure that this teacher was offered the position that they deserve.
Data can be a powerful tool to highlight the inequities in schools.
Let's use traditional and non-traditional forms of data,
in both traditional and non-traditional ways.
Let's look for the narratives, the histories, and physical evidence
that are both qualitative and quantitative.
Does how you analyze multiple data sets disrupt or perpetuate
current inequities in your school?
Are you seeing the faces behind the data and altering pre-determined destinies?
What are your next steps?
In one of the schools that I worked at,
which happened to be the most racially diverse community in Canada,
we looked at the data,
and it told us that racialized dads were not feeling welcome in the school.
They were not true partners in their child's learning.
So we established a dads and significant others club
and we brought dads into the school.
Together we ran events like Family Math Night, Games Night,
literacy events, to show that these fathers valued school
and they cared deeply about what their children were learning.
I will never know the intricacies of being black, First Nations, or trans,
but I can listen to learn, care deeply, recognize lived experience,
and then think about my actions and next steps.
I can learn to deepen my understanding
as someone who has potentially caused harm in the past
and is now attempting to right past wrongs.
Let's be cautious of whose voice is both first and last,
and work in collaboration and consultation with affinity groups.
Let's recognize the multiple identities.
Race can intersect with gender, ability, sexual orientation, class,
and a myriad of other identities that are both fixed and fluid.
These identities are at the essence of who we are
and how we navigate our journey.
If you're a part of a dominant, privileged identity,
how might you use this privilege in service of those who are not?
Let's question the white, colonial, Judeo-Christian, middle class,
heteronormative structures
that are shared and repeatedly positioned as the only and often right way.
A few years ago, while presenting at a local university,
a young lady wheeled over to me and said,
"I've always wanted to be a teacher. Do you think I could be a teacher?"
She had minimal use of her hands, and she used a motorized chair to move around.
I said I thought she'd be a great teacher if that was her passion.
She assured me it was, and soon she became a volunteer at our school.
She was dedicated, caring, eager to learn, she loved the kids,
and the kids loved her.
That year, she was accepted into Teachers College.
I recently watched her teach an awesome math lesson.
I will act as a reference for her to gain full-time employment.
Let's ask ourselves this question:
In all of our actions, are we creating equitable and inclusive outcomes?
I'm so excited that we are embarking upon
an indigenous and racialized leadership mentoring program,
as a starting point to combat racism.
And we will include these leaders in real leadership opportunities.
Let's work to disrupt disparities for racialized people
that will in turn bring a wealth of richness into your school
and your school communities.
I am so grateful for the community that I grew up in
because it's helped shape me into the person that I am today:
a person who challenges the inequities
that exist for racialized and underserved people;
a person who strives to always have their sentence ready.
Do you have your sentence ready?