Full transcript
0:00I would like you to think about the
0:11first time you were invited to a
0:13birthday party how did you feel what did
0:21you feel and why it was Kindergarten
0:28when I received my first invitation
0:30I remember feeling so special seeing my
0:35name printed at the front of the
0:38envelope for the first time in my memory
0:43I felt the part of my school and
0:46community you see I grew up in Maine a
0:52predominantly white state in a
0:57kindergarten classroom with
0:58predominantly white students and me
1:05often times I felt other dinh the
1:08classroom from coloring activities
1:12consisting of drawing your families and
1:15being confused do I pick up the peach
1:21crayon like everyone else in my
1:24classroom or the brown one commonly used
1:32to color in tree trunks or being the
1:38only one with kinky curly hair protected
1:41under braids each week as classmates
1:45we're discussing having to brush their
1:48stray hair every morning or maybe I
1:54really felt different during class
1:58discussions talking about our favorite
2:01food and classmates went around saying
2:05pizza macaroni and cheese
2:11and being self-conscious to sputter out
2:14my mother's traditional food of rice and
2:17Pandu recognizing that's so young that
2:22no one had said anything similar to it
2:25than when it was my turn
2:27Pizza was the only thing that could come
2:31out of my mouth this situation in
2:37kindergarten was the first time I
2:39realized I'm split between my Congolese
2:46and Rwandan culture and my way of life
2:51at school but you see this invitation
2:59this golden ticket was what made me feel
3:02special my classmates they saw me they
3:09wanted me
3:10I remember feeling so excited to go home
3:16and share my golden ticket with my
3:18family when I got home no it's not in
3:27our culture my father said after making
3:32sense of the word sleepover at the
3:35bottom of the invitation leaving my
3:40six-year-old self left with anger and
3:42confusion why was culture in my way of
3:45possible attendance and acceptance my
3:52Rwandan and Congolese culture is a
3:56component in my identity and my family's
3:59identity and it has norms that I've been
4:03able to differentiate since I could
4:06recognize the difference from my
4:07family's traditional food and the
4:10Lunchables I saw in my elementary school
4:12cafeteria so I knew this sleepover was a
4:16lost cause the next day
4:21I know I have to deliver bad news I
4:26can't go I say to my classmates as I try
4:31to explain to them my identity and
4:34culture to other six-year-olds that's
4:40weird
4:42they said they didn't understand but I
4:49did a task often left upon the shoulders
4:53of underrepresented kids and this split
4:59that I was feeling has been coined by w
5:03e BD boy in double consciousness where a
5:09person's identity is divided into
5:12different components and his novel the
5:17souls of black folk he states one often
5:23feels they're tunas an American a negro
5:33two souls two thoughts two warring ideas
5:41in one dark body my body and this Tunis
5:49or three nasur Faunus is how I have
5:52maneuvered all my life from having to
5:56coin from having to code switch into the
5:59Grecia
6:00I felt most necessary for my environment
6:02and having to be self aware on how I
6:05behave constantly having to advocate for
6:08all parts of my identity from English
6:15courses being the only black girl in the
6:18room and recognizing the awkward silence
6:23at the beginning of every conversation
6:26when race is brought up and feeling the
6:30stares as classmates look to me as
6:33though I know the answer
6:35or history lessons when talking about
6:40black history and only hearing about the
6:43civil rights movement and slavery but
6:47never once about the life before and
6:49what still exists within Africa causing
6:55me each year to ask my teachers on what
6:59are we gonna get a little more in depth
7:00when discussing Africa and being left
7:07with the same two answers each year
7:11it'll be taught next year or it's not in
7:15the curriculum to me it's like saying
7:22your identity and culture is not
7:25important enough to be taught within the
7:27school and it's frustrating attending
7:32school each year and never hearing your
7:34culture be taught to the fullest extent
7:36and then being expected to know the
7:39answers each time and it's unsatisfying
7:43and that makes me think back to when I
7:47was in kindergarten hearing it's not in
7:50our culture - now it's not in the
7:54curricula I'm unsatisfied with it not
7:59being in the curricula unsatisfied with
8:02being told it will be taught next year
8:06unsatisfied with being forced into the
8:09teacher role within the classroom
8:12unsatisfied with having to have an
8:14invitation be what makes me feel
8:17accepted so I did something about it
8:24this past summer I attended girls nation
8:29a nationally recognized program or two
8:34girls from each day simulate a
8:38congressional process each bringing in a
8:43handcrafted bill
8:46My partner was Iraqi and I we created
8:51the cultural awareness Corps Sedition
8:53Act better known as the caca Act
9:00requiring grades K through 8 to take on
9:03a cultural awareness course or they
9:07would be taught a unit on each continent
9:10so students regardless of or lack of
9:13would be taught about the differing
9:16cultures and ways of life out there in
9:18the world at a time point where they are
9:21most receptive to new information and
9:26like any congressional you know what
9:30there's always a debate and during the
9:34debate the only people who were able to
9:38talk to the affirmative were girls of
9:41color and what makes this so unique that
9:47they all had a common theme when talking
9:51it was about their experiences within
9:54the classroom you know like only talking
9:59about the civil rights movement and
10:01slavery during the shortest month of the
10:04year or only briefly touching upon Islam
10:09during the month of September this
10:14builds microaggressions within schools
10:17and communities because students are not
10:20being taught accurately and as this is
10:27occurring it continuously makes students
10:31of color be other dwith in the classroom
10:35and after all of this had been said by
10:42girls of color across the nation the
10:47bill was denied and you see it was way
10:52more than just getting a bill passed or
10:54denied it was to make a point that our
10:57education system
10:58is failing us people are making opinions
11:03without knowing the facts people are
11:06made to feel not safe with who they are
11:08people are not listening to the
11:10differing of perspectives and quite
11:16frankly I'm not saying that there's one
11:18person or one thing that can fix this or
11:20is at fault I'm simply saying that
11:22there's a problem and we need to address
11:24it I believe that cultural competence is
11:37something that we all need to invite
11:39into our lives seeing as my whole life
11:44has been an independent study of trying
11:47to understand my culture and world or
11:50worlds we all need to engage with people
11:55we've never talked with before listen to
12:00the other perspective be our own
12:03teachers because the education system is
12:07not going to tell us everything and
12:12quite frankly if we don't start now
12:15we're going to continue a system where
12:17we do not hear voices of all students
12:22and we cannot be satisfied that with a
12:27you cannot be satisfied with that we
12:33need to do something thank you
12:38[Applause]
12:55you