Antiracism - The Teacher Bees Blog

Antiracism

Books with antiracist topics or themes

Exploring Books by Black Poets in Middle Years

Exploring Books by Black Poets in Middle Years

This month two of my classes have been exploring novels-in-verse by Black authors. In part, this was to recognize Black History Month, with many of the stories focusing on different points in history. Other books included Black characters in contemporary settings that offered a range of different themes and topics,

Continental Drifter

Continental Drifter

Continental Drifter, by Kathy MacLeod, is a graphic novel memoir about the author's childhood where she navigates two different worlds. With a Thai mother and an American father, Kathy feels like she doesn't quite fit in with the other kids in her Bangkok neighbourhood. She dreams

Graphic Novels by Asian Authors - Improving Representation in my Classroom Library

Graphic Novels by Asian Authors - Improving Representation in my Classroom Library

I have the feeling that students are looking for mirror books that reflect their own experiences as Asian Canadians. As a result, below are four new graphic novels that reflect in different ways the experiences of Asian students at my school.

Front Desk

Front Desk [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36127488-front-desk?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8gCCUiQfWT&rank=1\] , by Kelly Yang, tells the story of ten year old Mia, a Chinese immigrant who helps her parents manage a motel. Mia's life in America is

Prairie Lotus

Prairie Lotus, written by Linda Sue Park, tells the story of Hanna, a girl who is half-Chinese and living on the American frontier in 1880. Hanna and her father settle in LaForge, hoping to set up a Dress Goods shop in the growing town. Hanna dreams of attending school and

So You Want to Talk About Race

So You Want to Talk About Race

So You Want to Talk About Race [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53249847-so-you-want-to-talk-about-race], written by Ijeoma Oluo, offers knowledge and tools to help people engage in conversations about race. Oluo teaches about racism and pushes people to view it from a systemic lens, defining it as "a prejudice

New Kid and Not Talking About Race

New Kid and Not Talking About Race

This year, I was able to teach my identity literature circle [https://teacherbees.ca/identity-literature-circle/] for the first time. Having put together the text sets before going on parental leave, I was excited to finally dive into a unit that explored identity in a variety of ways. As a final

The Skin We're In/Policing Black Lives

The Skin We're In/Policing Black Lives

Counter-stories are important. Counter-storytelling is defined by Solórzano and Yosso as "a method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are not often told (i.e. those on the margins of society) and a tool for exposing, analyzing, and challenging the majoritarian stories of racial privilege."

Piecing Me Together

Literature Circle

Piecing Me Together

Piecing Me Together [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25566675-piecing-me-together?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=T5AcnMoIGn&rank=1] , by Renée Watson, is a young adult novel that examines issues of race, privilege and identity for a teen girl from a poor neighbourhood. Jade, the book'

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

When I write about books under the Education [https://teacherbees.ca/tag/education/] tag on my blog, I aim to recommend books I think teachers should read. Often I think these books give useful insights when it comes to teaching for social justice or sustainability. Today's recommendation has

Repeating the Mistakes of Underground to Canada: Examining my own Biases

Repeating the Mistakes of Underground to Canada: Examining my own Biases

While I was in middle school, I only read one novel with Black characters for language arts class: Underground to Canada. This novel told the story of four Black people escaping from slavery using the Underground Railroad. In retrospect, it seems odd that a book written by a white author

Black Lives Matter

Young Adult Books

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter. Some people view this as a controversial statement. It shouldn't be. Black people in Canada experience systemic racism [https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/06/01/racism-exists-in-canada-these-are-the-stories-from-people-who-have-lived-it-as-eyes-turn-on-us-after-george-floyd-death-in-minneapolis.html] . It is present in the education system [https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-of-anti-black-racism-in-schools-persists-across-generations-120856] . It is present when Black

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

Middle Grade Books

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You [https://teacherbees.ca/this-place-150-years-retold/] is a remix of Ibram X. Kendi's book Stamped from the Beginning. Jason Reynolds, an acclaimed author for young people, remixes the content to create a vital text for teaching students about racism. Most of the book focuses on

How to Be an Antiracist

How to Be an Antiracist

How to Be an Antiracist [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40265832-how-to-be-an-antiracist], by Ibram X. Kendi, is an essential book for people who want to better understand how racism is embedded in our society and how we can work more proactively to be antiracists. Part memoir, part guide, Ibram X.

White Fragility and the Canadian Classroom

White Fragility and the Canadian Classroom

Four months ago, I finished reading White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43708708-white-fragility], by Robin DiAngelo. Appreciating this excellent book, I opened a tab to create a blog post and immediately got stuck. The subtitle

Seven Fallen Feathers and Systemic Racism in Schools

Seven Fallen Feathers and Systemic Racism in Schools

This week I finished reading Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City [https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1487002262/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=330641&creativeASIN=1487002262&linkCode=as2&tag=ebees-20&linkId=5ef4fb94a45083fe9d60b87bf8b111b0] , by Tanya