Daisy Han and Lorena Germ谩n agreed to answer a few questions about the new book they have edited, .
Daisy Han has over 10 years of experience teaching in the classroom and serving as a socio-emotional learning (SEL) facilitator. She is a partner of , a founding board member of , and a co-founder and director of curriculum at . Most recently, her work focuses on adult learning and the spiritual preparation of self in one鈥檚 own racial and ethnic identity through an organization she founded called .
Lorena Germ谩n is a Dominican American educator with over 10 years of experience as a classroom teacher. She was the recipient of NCTE鈥檚 Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award and winner of NCTE鈥檚 Latinx Caucus Excelencia in Teaching Scholarship Award. As a writer, she has been published by NCTE, ASCD, National Writing Project, EdWeek, Undertone Collective, and others. She co-founded , an organization supporting educators in developing a culturally sustaining approach to education. She鈥檚 also one of the co-founders of , a grassroots movement to challenge the traditional canon and push us toward a more representative and equitable language arts curriculum. Additionally, Lorena is the chair of NCTE鈥檚 . Currently, Lorena is an English instructor at Headwaters School in Austin, Texas. Twitter @nenagerman.
LF: How would you describe Speaking for Ourselves?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
Speaking for Ourselves is a book of diverse writings by writers of the Global Majority (aka People of Color). This is for everyone. All people are encouraged to read it. There are poems about motherhood. There are essays about religious matters. There are stories about identity. In the end, it鈥檚 about self-expression and finding a place where we have spoken for ourselves. Read this at home. Use it with students. Share with friends. Get your own beautiful .
LF: How did you bring all the selections together 鈥攚hat was your criteria?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
Originally, we put out a call for submissions through social media and then later through Embracing Equity and Montessori for Social Justice. We received so many submissions and we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the works. While it was challenging to select the writings, we had criteria that included details such as: works that maintained the mission of the journal; works that did not center oppression or the suppression of others; works by and about People of the Global Majority. Once we received all of the submissions, we created a process with our five 69传媒 Committee members. The 69传媒 Committee members went through an application process to volunteer as readers for this anthology. After reading all of the submissions, completing a rubric twice by two different people, and discussing the submission (without the names of authors) as a group, we had our final list of approved writings.
In the end, the collection includes voices of people of all genders, ages, and various religions and spiritual beliefs, as well as ethnic and racial identities. The experiences portrayed in this collection are broad and will hopefully help the readers celebrate the diversity and variety in our people, contrary to the narratives that often exist in dominant-culture publications.
We are proud to share these voices with everyone.
We are proud that there are children and students featured alongside adults.
We are proud that this collection is deep and complex.
LF: What do you hope readers will get out of the book?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
Readers will hopefully understand that People of the Global Majority have a lot to teach us and a lot to say when not mired by the white gaze. We have power in the wisdom we gain from our experiences. Ours are voices of resistance and endurance. There is joy in the midst of our pain and that survival is in our community. We鈥檝e been through too much, historically, and that strength is passed on. We believe that educators are uniquely positioned to share this anthology with students and young people, and that they should. We hope that this collection reveals to readers the power in our communities. We hope People of the Global Majority who read this collection feel affirmed and empowered to share their voice and speak for themselves as well.
LF: Can you share two or three brief selections (two-six lines or sentences each) and explain why you chose to share them?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
鈥淗ow is it that my people fight in battle with yours, serves your NASA with their unique radio telescope, test contraceptives on their women for you, lets your military practice with live ammunition in Vieques and Culebra, give you countless actors, writers, singers, and more, and still, you have no idea who we are or what they鈥檝e DONE TO US!?鈥� -Mar铆a J. Torres-L贸pez, 鈥淲hen Puerto Rico Was Distant鈥�
This passage highlights the tension present in Puerto Rico and for Puerto Ricans. Considering the current political context and motion in Puerto Rico as it relates to the recent protests against Gov. Roberto Rossello, this poem and these lines exemplify the way these people have felt and been silenced for too long. There was power in their rising up and there is power, here, for Mar铆a to share her voice.
鈥渋 learned to defang my words early, neutralize their acid with sugar, strain them of controversy. but you can only swallow your own venom for so long and i for one am choking. the acid in my throat is rising.鈥� -Valerie Wong, 鈥凄颈辫濒辞尘补迟颈肠鈥�
This piece exemplifies the internalized oppression and colonization that we as People of Color are conditioned to do, almost immediately as a means of surviving the hostility of racism. However, the irony is that the same techniques we have learned鈥攁nd often been rewarded by鈥攁re also the means by which we perpetuate the harm unto ourselves.
LF: 鈥淓mbracing Equity鈥� is the book鈥檚 publisher. Can you talk about its mission and purpose?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
is a nonprofit social-change agency dedicated to centering racial justice in education through racial and ethnic identity development, critical consciousness, and critical action. Embracing Equity supports individual learning and collective healing for racial justice. We facilitate a deep preparation of self in one鈥檚 own identity and capacity to foster an anti-biased, anti-racist mindset and practice. At Embracing Equity, we believe in a future where people have reclaimed their humanity and are affirmed in their multiple identities. We support people in taking action to dismantle systems of oppression in an ever-expanding cross-racial coalition.
LF: Is there anything I haven鈥檛 asked you that you鈥檇 like to share?
Daisy Han & Lorena Germ谩n:
The next call for submissions is winter of 2021. The best ways to stay abreast is to follow Lorena German on Twitter, , and @EmbracingEquity on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.