Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force

This edition of the newsletter is packed with equity and anti-racism holiday-themed resources for kids! We hope you find them useful over winter break. Please join the Equity and Anti-Racism conversation at Hyde-Addison by joining us on Konstella, utilizing the resources here and/or participating in the monthly reading group discussion. As parents, teachers and staff, we are interested in doing our part to promote equity and end racism in constructive, supportive ways.

The next Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force reading group discussion will be held Thursday, January 14 at 9pm. We’ll discuss two books and/or a blog post that one of the books grew out of. The book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge, grew out of a 2014 blog post she wrote, which is included at the beginning this edited excerpt of the book that appeared in The Guardian in 2017. If you don’t have time to read the book, just read the Guardian excerpt. We’ll also discuss the book I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, by Austin Channing Brown. Get reading now and please join us on January 14! Here’s the Zoom meeting information, which can also be found on the Konstella calendar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88161788292?pwd=SFM2NWlaZzVyd1RmMDQvQVlYL0hCUT09

Meeting ID: 881 6178 8292

Passcode: EARTF

There are lots of great 2020 lists around, but NPR’s annual interactive book concierge is a great year-end reading guide. You can mix and match between subjects to find reading inspiration - books from around the world, graphic novels, identity and culture, sports, memoir - it's all there!

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20201204&utm_term=5002806&utm_campaign=pop-culture&utm_id=20239414&orgid=1#view=covers&year=2020

Hyde Addison teachers have compiled a list of their favorite holiday books. Please see below.

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow's book from this year, Your Name is a Song is on many best of 2020 lists. Here she reads Mommy’s Khimar, about a girl who loves playing with her mother's Khimar or headscarf - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Hv3N_-cdo

Earlier this year, Netflix launched Bookmarks, https://www.netflixbookmarks.com/ a series of short read-aloud videos featuring prominent black celebrities to celebrate black voices and experiences. You can watch on YouTube too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHdPi5-xs8o

PBS has endless activity suggestions, including holiday crafts and more book lists, on their website (https://www.pbs.org/parents/holidays) that you can filter by age and learning area. These are some lovely suggestions for five meaningful holiday traditions for kids. https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/5-meaningful-holiday-traditions-for-kids

Looking for something your kids can listen to, but not just watch? Below is a list of gateway episodes to a range of great kids' podcasts:

• Australia's ABC Radio produce kids' News Time and this episode celebrating International Day of People with Disability is excellent (14m:19s) minutes). https://www.abc.net.au/kidslisten/news-time/idpwd/12951830

• Circle Time adapts folktales from around the world into sound and music rich radio plays for kids. This episode "The Olive Jar" which is an adaptation of folktale from old Jewish texts, as well as One Thousand and One Nights (23m:32s). https://www.wbur.org/circleround/2020/09/29/olive-jar-circle-round
  

• But Why? - this episode is on the power of language and who gets to decide what words mean - https://www.vpr.org/post/why-live-words-and-language (49m:19s) or this episode on race and racism from over the summer - vpr.org/post/why-live-words-and-language (19m:19s).

• Rebel Girls - an offshoot of the Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls books, the podcast features interesting and amazing women from across the world, from Greta Thunberg, Ada Lovelace and Hazel Scott. - https://www.rebelgirls.com/pages/podcast

Did your student celebrate any holidays or traditions related to their culture, race or ethnicity this month? Please share any photos or videos related to your celebrations via email: hyde.addison@k12.dc.gov.

• Hanukkah (December 10-18, 2020)
• Christmas (December 25, 2020)
• Kwanzaa (December 26, 2020- January 1, 2021)
• Watch Night (December 31, 2020)
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 18, 2021)

Disclaimer: The Hyde-Addison ES Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force is an independent group not associated with DCPS and any viewpoints or activities associated with this group are not endorsed by DCPS.