Racialization in 10+ Tweets
3 min read
So the notification went off. I pulled down the shade to take a look.
@Ebonyteach @jgmac1106 @mmanderino Just might use this conversation in the LRA Presidential talk. Condenses racialization to 10+ tweets!
— patricia enciso (@patriciae1) March 1, 2016
I looked at the previous Tweet and my interest grew.
.@patriciae1 Twitter’s been powerful for advocacy bc media glean a lot from here. (LRA digital folks like @jgmac1106 & @mmanderino do tons.)
— Ebony Elizabeth (@Ebonyteach) March 1, 2016
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and Patricia Encisco were discussing something cool. I had to know.
When @ebonyteach drops knowledge on Twitter the only thing you can do is listen. If you follow one scholar this year on Twitter you should make a column just for @ebonyteach.
From conversations on the latest graphic novel to introspective tweetstorms on the power of race and academia Ebony has a voice that rings true.
So I went and traced the conversation back as far as I could. I had to take a screenshot because of the embedded quote that kicked it all off.
.@whimsylibrarian Same! I think many of us fall somewhere in the brown range. Between a paper bag and dark chocolate. Lots of shades.
— Ebony Elizabeth (@Ebonyteach) March 1, 2016
.@whimsylibrarian While they might have privilege in the larger world, for a young child, the world of their family & school *is* the world.
— Ebony Elizabeth (@Ebonyteach) March 1, 2016
.@whimsylibrarian And some of the current backlash predates Nina. I have heard about her “taking Black roles” for more than a decade.
— Ebony Elizabeth (@Ebonyteach) March 1, 2016
@Ebonyteach how I resembled her — -and I would still ID as AA.
— Jessica Anne Bratt (@whimsylibrarian) March 1, 2016
.@whimsylibrarian Older Black Americans, some of them biracial with a White parent, have shut me down for using that term. “I’m Black.”
— Ebony Elizabeth (@Ebonyteach) March 1, 2016
@Ebonyteach @whimsylibrarian See March 1 NYT op-ed featuring Latin@s talking about racialization. Moving and informative.
— patricia enciso (@patriciae1) March 1, 2016
In our class Power of Prose class I get the privilege of listening and learning from my students.
After our discussion on the Miami Police Department’s boycott of Beyonce the students sparked a frank conversation on race.
Biracial students who express feelings of being a nowhere man from a nowhere land. Students laughing off a mix of anger and disappointment recalling how their parents often deal with race and prejudice. Others expressed the importance of understanding all perspectives. Real conversations.
I am thankful when I get to listen to conversations on Twitter or with my students.
Recently as part of Letters 2 the Next President campaign. Students explained what civic engagement of youth meant to them. We invite you to listen.
The power of the Web allows me to connect the young scholars I work with to models in the field like @whimsylibrarian, @patriciae1, and @Ebonyteach.
In fact after I published this post. Patricia actually helped me find the other half of the conversation. Here is her image of racialization 8 Tweets.
Originally published at quickthoughts.jgregorymcverry.com on March 2, 2016.
