Image Credit: Shawna Coppola via RawPixel & Canva
By The Educator Collaborative Fellow Vanèe Smith-Matsalia
Okay.
It’s truth-telling time.
It’s time for this truth because, once again, the nation is ramping up for a psychologically violent election season. One that will likely wreak havoc on our educational system and leave our most vulnerable students and educators open and exposed to attack. Our cultures, our identities, our backgrounds, our families, our friendships, our love, our expression, our credibility, and our very existence will be under attack.
I mean, to be honest, they are always under attack. But the frequency, boldness, and level of vitriol will be increased one hundredfold and we will, once again, be fighting for our lives and souls to survive the onslaught. Don’t get me wrong. It has been pretty awful in recent years for all teachers around the nation. Around the world, even. I know this. It’s just that the last decade has been loudly and publicly violent to those of us on the margins.
I’m going to be honest. We’re going to need the rest of y’all to step up this time.
Like for real, for real.
We don’t want any more social media praises about how Black women keep having to save democracy. No more expecting us to be the Lone Ranger of educational justice at our school sites.
Stop that foolishness.
We are tired.
Black teachers are not your magical negroes or mammy stereotypes. No, I will not do the labor of explaining those to you. Look them up.
I am tired.
We are tired.
The last four years have not by any means been perfect for us, but they have, at the very least, allowed us a small respite. Most of the criminally loud and violent attacks on our personhood had slowed down to a more survivable pace. Many of the macro-aggressions shifted to micro-aggressions as other things (mostly the economy) stole the nation’s attention. This is not to say that the attacks stopped. In fact, any quieting down of fascists generally makes us quite nervous, and we have a tendency to watch our backs. However, we also use that time to breathe, practice healing, and begin training up the next generation. It is not much, but it is what we have. It is the time that we get. Even that time is limited because those of us actively engaged in the work of abolition in any form are not fully resting, but instead tagging in and out with others of us in the constant struggle for justice.
Your Black teacher friend is tired.
Yes, even if they are not politically active.
Yes, even if you haven’t ever heard the word “equity” pass their lips in three years.
Yup. Even that one who holds a ton of anti-Black beliefs or laughs when that one history teacher makes untoward jokes.
Because they are still Black.
The thing is, a Black woman is running for president. I want to say we are all thrilled, but it’s not true. I felt the collective icy terror run down the spine of every Black woman when it was announced. Vice President Harris is not the only one being thrown into the spotlight. All of us are now. Every anti-Black, anti-woman barb that is thrown at her will hit us. Every demeaning and dehumanizing salacious attack will be felt in our souls. The reason is this: while we know those attacks are directly aimed at VP Harris, we also know that this is how America feels about us. The attack is real. Violence against us will be amplified and in the media. This is just what happens.
Much of America hates Black women, and this political race has just made it open season on us.
No shade to my Black male educators out there; we see you and feel you. Unfortunately, there are already groups of Black men organizing against VP Harris because they refuse to let a Black woman win. Yes. This is real. Conversely, tens of thousands of Black men banded together to support her. Black women needed that. We needed that desperately. They banded together to say, We do support Black women, and that is a big deal.
So, yes, we are rallying together. We are organizing, and we are mentally and emotionally arming ourselves against attack and shoring each other up in a close ball of protection. We are back on Twitter [X], because it was the last collective safe space that we had and we must retrace our steps to places of safety and connection to find whatever safe harbor that we can find.
It all may seem inspiring from the outside. We might look like we’re about to strap that “S” on our chest to come and save the day, but that is not what this is. We are the women of the convent in Toni Morrison’s Paradise, and the men are coming. We can see them coming, and we will not be caught unaware.
So, no, we are not here to save our democracy for you. We cannot fight your battles while we face off the hoard. Your Black teacher friend is tired. And they are busy.
Do not ask us to go fight for your student who is being overly disciplined.
Do not bother us with “Does this seem racist to you?” when you see something in your curriculum that’s worth questioning.
You’ve got that.
You can handle that.
I suggest you pull on your boots, sharpen your sword, gather your troops, and go into battle for yourself. We’re a little busy staving off mental, emotional, political, professional, and personal annihilation. It’s all love, but we are a little tied up at the moment.
We are still down for tacos at lunch, though!
We’re really gonna need our friends.
