Your Voice Matters: Injustices Being Unsilenced from an Educators Perspective

 When you come from a city like Philadelphia, it is easy to look around and think that Black people do not value education. This may seem like the case, but in reality this is what society wants you to think. The society that we live in today wants you to think that Black people do not get married, they live off of welfare, live toxic unhealthy lifestyles, and keep having babies to collect another check. Though this may be some Black people's reality, does it really speak for the entire Black community? I would argue no, because the more my horizons broaden, the more I see Black excellence and success. Despite this, it still seems like the world around us evolves every day, but our perspective and lenses seem to reflect the lies that has been passed down from generation to generation about Black people. I think that it is time that Black people take a look around them and realize that baby steps are still being made, despite all of the trauma we witness everyday that makes us want ...

                                        School to Prison Pipeline       The school to prison pipeline is a discussion that does not seem to get as much publicity as other topics that we constantly hear on the news. I would take it even farther and say that most people do not even know what the school to prison pipeline is. It is not something that is discussed nearly as much as it should be. Due to this, I thought it would be a good idea to first explain what the school to prison pipeline actually is.                                           What is it anyway?      The school to prison pipeline in short terms is when schools make a conscious decision to allow police officers to take the role of administration when it comes to disciplinary protoc...

       Why Should African American People Exercise their Right to Vote?  Election Day is coming soon, and I felt that it was only right to do a blog on the importance of voting, and why African American people should absolutely exercise their right to vote. We live in a world where we see injustices happening around us everyday. Unfortunately, a lot of these injustices are usually happening to people of color. The list of injustices goes on and on, but I will name a few: school to prison pipeline in poverty stricken areas, police brutality, high incarceration rates for non-violent crimes, and so much more. When you really think about it, why are things the way that they are? Well, we could make the biblical argument that we live in a sinful fallen world. We could also make the argument that this is just the sad world we live in, and it will only get worse. We could also open our eyes and realize that the people who are placed in positions of power in o...

The history of Black hair goes back centuries. Most people believe that it all started with the Egyptians as they wore dreadlocks in their hair, but Black hair has a history all on its own. Not only is Black hair seen as a way of expressing oneself, it is also seen as a journey that each Black women and man partakes in to define themselves. Black hair has an identity all on it's own. It is super versatile, and you will probably see a Black women change her hair several times over the course of a year. It can be straight one day, in an afro the next day, and in braids the week after. Black hair is art, but unfortunately society does not see it that way. This issue of Black hair being seen as nappy, unacceptable, not beautiful, and undesirable started way before the 21st century era. This has been an issue for a very long time, and still remains an issue today. This is why so many Black women go to great extremes to straighten their hair, and spend thousands of dollars a year on weav...

As a Black woman in today's society, I feel pressure from everywhere. As a child, most Black women are taught to be strong and not depend on anyone for anything. You can imagine how this is problematic. Some Black woman are even taught to be totally independent, and this causes problems when it is time to settle down to be in a relationship, because psychologically the Black women has to reteach herself that it is okay to depend on someone else than herself. This is not the only pressure that Black women face in today's society. We face having to smile despite everything NOT being okay. We are also required to hold the family together, and to never break or get tired. We are practically supposed to be superwoman, but this is not realistic. Why are Black women taught to be strong and hold all the pieces together from falling apart? I ask this because culturally we do not require this from our White women counterparts. For whatever reason, they are allowed to feel, be fragile, an...

After the death of George Floyd, we have all witnessed how everyone has a different opinion about what happened, and how we as a society should view this injustice. There has been people who argued that what had happened to George Floyd was totally unacceptable, but he still had a lot of incidents with law enforcement, so they can see why he was involved with law enforcement again during his death. Some people have stated that the death of George Floyd was wrong, that there needs to be a change when it comes to systemic racism, and how Black people should not be viewed as less valuable than their White counterparts. Then there has been arguments that stated there is so much Black on Black crime happening in Black neighborhoods, how can the Black Lives Matter Movement be seen as a creditable public figure for Black people, when they clearly do not see all Black lives as valuable. The people who have made this argument feel like the Black Lives Matter Movement should focus on people who ...

If you are reading this today, then you have probably heard about all of the racial tension that is happening in our society right now, but this has long been an issue. As I sat to reflect on all that is happening in our society today, I now have come to terms with how my ancestors must have felt when they were beaten, raped, violated, and forced to work for free. Even writing this saddens me, because the truth of the matter is that many African American people today do not know who their ancestors are. You may be wondering why not? The simple answer is the slave trade. When African people were forced to come over to the Americas against their own will, we then became dismantled. We were taken away from our families, our home, our way of life. We went from being humans, to a price tag to sell to the next European that wanted to profit off of our free labor. This pain that Black people have suffered came way before George Floyd. We as a people have a history of suffering, but still bein...