You know, Maha, when you get to that point and say, “this has turned out the be an angrier post than I intended…” That is where I feel you completely. On several levels of acculturation we learn to be polite and kind and to withhold our anger – as females, as young people, as POC, as foreigners, as academics, as teachers, as students, and on and on. Anger, we learn, is for bitter, unhappy, unpleasant, irrational people – so stay away from there!
Anger, however, has its place. It can be a tremendous source of creative power if we take the courage and time to acknowledge it and learn from it. The multiple steps we may take to make ourselves understood, heard and acknowledged are so often lost on those whose attention we are seeking to garner. So aptly put: 7 or 8 steps to 1 or 2. That is maddening and exhausting, especially when we must venture forth in the absolute singular.
@slamteacher is right is describing the role of civility. There are few established structures in education and elsewhere which do not need to be ‘shaken up.’ Anger is often what fuels the need to do the shaking; to interrupt the regularly scheduled proceedings and notice: why are there no people of color involved in this convo? From whom have we not yet heard? Whose voices are missing or have been silenced in this context?
In terms of exclusion/exclusion I am reminded of a tweet from @iamDrWill after his ISTE proposal was not given space at the conference (2013 or 14). He wrote: “No longer asking for a seat at the table. Time to build my own.” I blogged on it and I see now what an inspiration that thought still is. When I asked him about it, he told me he had been angry and so the response. So keep thinking about that anger piece and how you will and do use it.
Thank you, as always for bringing me back to the core of what I am here for.