October 12: Schomburg Center Conference on Enduring Slavery
I got myself up early to take the train to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem to attend this free conference. I got off at 125th Street and walked up Malcolm X Boulevard to 135th Street. I learned about slave uprisings in Lousiana and digitizing slavery archives. The Schomburg has a great museum and bookstore and a nice outdoor sitting space. It looks like this conference was put on by the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery, a research center based out of the Schomburg. The Schomburg is actually part of the New York Public Library System. October 19 : Teachers College Reunion Days
Again, FREE learning! My coworker and I took the train in, then she showed me how to use the bus to go crosstown from 125th St to Columbia Teachers College. I heard Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul talk about teaching about racism is a mostly white school, and that's what inspired me to start my Anti-Racist bookclub with coworkers.
October 26: African Burial Ground National Monument and Brooklyn Bridge
Daughter and I took the train and subway into Lower Manhattan because I wanted to visit the African Burial Ground National Monument. There was a Junior Ranger badge that my child refused to do. We also walked over the Brooklyn Bridge on a nice fall day.
November 2: Hamilton Grange National Memorial in Harlem
Son and I drove in because I'd heard about Hamilton's home but had never seen it. It was pretty interesting and fun to see another part of the city. It's a National Park Service site so there was a Junior Ranger badge that we did.
November 15: Got my Taekwondo Black Belt!
November 16: Went to my cousin's baby shower in Revere, MA.
November 22-24 : NCTE Conference in Baltimore
This conference was incredible and I hate myself for not going to these earlier. My coworker and I drove down to attend this whirl-wind of all day seminars and events. It's beyond words how excellent this event is. There are SO MANY types of seminars for teachers from K-College, but every session I attended focused on race. I think I was laser-focused both because of Dr. Cherry-Paul's talk and because when I went to the funeral of my professor of African-American history this fall, I felt like I'd failed him by not learning and doing more, so I want to make up for lost learning. Not just learning, but connecting over changes that need to be made, and making change, and teaching others. I'm a good student and a good connector of people and I need to use that to publicize issues of race and racism.
December 28: Visited Richmond
I was in Virginia visiting my parents after Christmas and wanted to take my kids to see the Kehinde Wiley sculpture again. I also drove them by the Confederate Monuments on Monument Ave so they could see what the Wiley sculpture was in dialogue with. We also visited the American Civil War Museum. It's a new museum and very well done. Had dinner with two different high school friends in King George.
January 26 : Saw Hadestown on Broadway
This was my Xmas present to Quinton. It was so good, not as big and triumphant as Hamilton, but just as emotionally affecting and the music is excellent. If it still runs when Broadway reopens, I will see it again and this time take my 9yo as well.
This conference was incredible and I hate myself for not going to these earlier. My coworker and I drove down to attend this whirl-wind of all day seminars and events. It's beyond words how excellent this event is. There are SO MANY types of seminars for teachers from K-College, but every session I attended focused on race. I think I was laser-focused both because of Dr. Cherry-Paul's talk and because when I went to the funeral of my professor of African-American history this fall, I felt like I'd failed him by not learning and doing more, so I want to make up for lost learning. Not just learning, but connecting over changes that need to be made, and making change, and teaching others. I'm a good student and a good connector of people and I need to use that to publicize issues of race and racism.
December 28: Visited Richmond
I was in Virginia visiting my parents after Christmas and wanted to take my kids to see the Kehinde Wiley sculpture again. I also drove them by the Confederate Monuments on Monument Ave so they could see what the Wiley sculpture was in dialogue with. We also visited the American Civil War Museum. It's a new museum and very well done. Had dinner with two different high school friends in King George.
January 26 : Saw Hadestown on Broadway
This was my Xmas present to Quinton. It was so good, not as big and triumphant as Hamilton, but just as emotionally affecting and the music is excellent. If it still runs when Broadway reopens, I will see it again and this time take my 9yo as well.
Feb 29-March 3 : Last Pre-Pandemic Trip
Feb 29: Met sister in Virginia when she flew in from Nebraska to tour colleges with her 5 of her 6 kids. I took her middle 3 and my 2 kids around Richmond while she toured with the baby and the 17 yo. We visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts because by this point I was aware of COVID and thought a children's museum would be bad, but an art museum, where you can't TOUCH anything, would be better. I think I was right, and what a GREAT art museum. We happened to be there on African American Read Aloud Day, so there were cool events for kids.
March 2: Took my 2 kids and my sister's 3 kids to Mount Vernon where I did not let them touch anything, because by this point I was getting a little frenzied about Covid but was thankfully unaware of how airborne it is or I would have already holed up and missed out on the fun.
