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Leading While Black in a White-Centered Profession
December 9, 2022
Sometimes we conflate race with racism. I don’t think we should. Every day of my life, I’m going to wake up and be Black. Now, if that’s a hard or difficult thing, it has nothing to do with my blackness, it has to do with the environment that I’m in.
-C. Davida Ingram, Artist
-C. Davida Ingram, Artist
In the powerful new book, Stories of Resistance, Rukia Rogers writes,
How ironic that I traveled thousands of miles to study the philosophy of the educators of Reggio Emilia, and yet I under-appreciated my own history, including the fact that I live mere miles from the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. In pondering this, I found a correlation between the narratives of the schools of Reggio Emilia and those of the Civil Rights movement. Both were communities coming to grips with the reality that all of their citizens were unable to attain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Rogers continues,
Our industry still remains a white-centered profession, wherein the dominant theories and organizations are Eurocentric. This reality often places our work in direct conflict with family and community expectations. I, however, continue to remain hopeful, especially as emerging Black and brown voices such as Bettina Love and Beverly Danielle Tatum share insight and new understandings. My story remains the collective tapestry of joy, struggle, and an unwavering belief that we can create a better world.
Rogers and eleven others share their stories as Black women rising to lead in a field with a leadership less than one fifth as diverse as its workforce. In the book’s introduction, Alissa Mwenelupembe writes, “While all of the stories are very different, common threads run through each of them. These threads create a tapestry that reflects the experiences of Black women in America… It is my hope that you find inspiration in these stories that you can take into your own life. And that some of you, who maybe already have seats at the table, might move over and make room for a new person to join you.”
PS—Mark your calendars for January 31, 7-8:30 pm, when Rukia Rogers will be our guest for the next Engaging Exchange!
How ironic that I traveled thousands of miles to study the philosophy of the educators of Reggio Emilia, and yet I under-appreciated my own history, including the fact that I live mere miles from the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. In pondering this, I found a correlation between the narratives of the schools of Reggio Emilia and those of the Civil Rights movement. Both were communities coming to grips with the reality that all of their citizens were unable to attain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Rogers continues,
Our industry still remains a white-centered profession, wherein the dominant theories and organizations are Eurocentric. This reality often places our work in direct conflict with family and community expectations. I, however, continue to remain hopeful, especially as emerging Black and brown voices such as Bettina Love and Beverly Danielle Tatum share insight and new understandings. My story remains the collective tapestry of joy, struggle, and an unwavering belief that we can create a better world.
Rogers and eleven others share their stories as Black women rising to lead in a field with a leadership less than one fifth as diverse as its workforce. In the book’s introduction, Alissa Mwenelupembe writes, “While all of the stories are very different, common threads run through each of them. These threads create a tapestry that reflects the experiences of Black women in America… It is my hope that you find inspiration in these stories that you can take into your own life. And that some of you, who maybe already have seats at the table, might move over and make room for a new person to join you.”
PS—Mark your calendars for January 31, 7-8:30 pm, when Rukia Rogers will be our guest for the next Engaging Exchange!
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