Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a global vision, the Beloved Community:
"In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict."
The late congressman and civil rights leader, John Lewis, dedicated his life's work in the pursuit of the beloved community. Many others continued this effort in a variety of ways, including the vital work of Alicia Garza, Patrice Cullors, and Opal Tometi, who founded the #blacklivesmatter movement, among many, many others that cannot be listed here across a spectrum of issues. Know that I acknowledge the variety and scope of the different struggles in society.
What does the beloved community have to do with teaching? Superficially, perhaps not much. But upon closer inspection, everything, at least everything that matters. I fully understand why a person could say the following.
- "I teach math [or fill in your subject], it's not my job."
- "I don't want to be political..."
- "I'm just a small person, in a small city, doing my thing. I'm not Dr. King or civil rights leader. What could I possibly do?"
None of us are being asked to do extraordinary things, march every weekend, and sacrifice all our free time. As a college math instructor, I don't feel particularly powerful or influential. I know I am just a small person on a small stage in a small city. But if each of us pitched in and did our part, we'd be in a far better place. The lesson for me is that in order for us to create the beloved community, each and everyone of us must do our part with the people we live and work with in our communities. No hero is going to come save us from ourselves.
We all have something within our locus of control that can be impactful. For college math instructors this means doing something in our classrooms and our departments, colleges. We can center equity and inclusion. We can be visible about our values with our students and colleagues, and stop making excuses, such as "I don't want to be political." We can make equity part of hiring and retention processes, and we can insist that systemic biases, such as student evaluation of teaching, stop. Just stop.
Active, student-centered, equity-centered teaching is a pathway forward. We can teach students the values of we seek in society. We can show by example and lived experiences that equity and inclusion benefits all of us and creates a better, stronger society, where we are all better off. While schools and colleges by themselves are not enough, I firmly believe that education plays a central role. If it doesn't happen in our classrooms, then it can't happen in society. Therefore, we have an obligation to do this work.
So, use your power! Do something small in your next class, and nudge someone in your circle, and keep on building. Connect with people on our campus and in your profession, who have experience and expertise with DEI. Then we can build brick by brick, classroom by classroom, and more and more people will join the movement to reimagine, to rebuild, and ultimately to move toward the Beloved Community.
Need a place to start? Check out this self-paced workshop on Race in America (v1.0)
Stay strong, stay safe!
Link: https://thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy/
