Bell Hooks speaks of teachers, professors; who educate to liberate not dominate. Many can’t understand this because they aren’t students of history. The ability to make connections, identify and understand causes and effects is a powerful tool.
Undergrad was an experience. Encountering microaggressions and having to accept that my inquiry skills were still developing allowed me to see my professors for who they are. Having had Black teachers for the majority of my K-12 education, I'd left my alma mater with a veil.
The day I had to accept that nothing in history is inevitable was crushing. To have a white male professor explain to me that the chains lifted off my ancestors was not an inevitable event, was a hard pill to swallow. But his body language and side eye reassured me and allowed me to understand that this connection is necessary for true anti racist education.
Nothing is inevitable. Work always has to be done in order for change to come and progress to prosper.
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