Choosing to Be Happy: Oddball Munching

• In Event: Rethinking Teacher Preparation: Disrupting Marginalization of Children of Color With (Dis)Abilities

Abstract

Choosing to be happy is not an easy task, especially in a society that values capitalistic stratification of bodyminds and cookie-cutter pathways. From early on, individuals are informed that those who pull themselves up by their bootstraps by following the rules of the game is a desirable characteristic. An illusion of thriving is to be complicit. To cease being complicit is to recognize one matter. Mattering is not simply about surviving, but it is about a person recognizing and choosing their right to thrive. Love (2019) contends that any form of social justice and social change work must start with the realization that one matters to themselves, to the students, and to their communities. However, in spite of how simplistic this notion is, it does not come easily, especially among historically marginalized communities who have been taught that they do not matter from the beginning of systemic colonialism violence, and eradication.
Building upon Love’s (2019) notion of mattering and thriving, I address problematic curriculum pedagogy, praxis, and policies that impact culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families through an intersectional socio-spatial autoethnographic analysis. Through the lived experiences of a Deaf/disabled queer transracial adoptee who grew up communicating in American Sign Language and written/spoken English, I highlight how cultivating equitable education systems is co-centered around the needs and desires of the multiply marginalized communities. Part of this conversation stems from the need to grapple with the following questions: If you could, would you step down from your position to allow someone to gain opportunities, experiences, and mentorship who would normally not receive the same kind of opportunities? How are you complicit in maintaining the system? When inquiring, I asked these questions to future educators, social workers, and leaders, and often it is met with silence and awkwardness. The realization that we are complicit, and in a sense handcuffed to the current system, is difficult to realize and digest.
In response, there are numerous writings, workshops, webinars, and resources for folks who are not part of the historically marginalized groups to assess one’s own implicit biases, privilege, and power. As I observe this pattern happen over and over, I cannot help but think, “Okay, that is great, but what about the rest of us? Us, meaning those who are most impacted? Those who are most vulnerable? Those who have been historically marginalized and will more than likely be so?” I grow weary of the focus on “helping” white able-bodied heterosexual, ____ [fill in the blank] educators unpack. I am not saying this is not a worthy objective. I fully support this movement. However, when the energy is invested towards this particular population alone, I cannot help but ask, “Hold up, what about the rest of us?” What we need is not the same as what they need. What we need is our own unpacking, community care, and space to breathe. Here is where I extend the invitation to dream together of the possibilities.

Author

• Holly Pearson, Framingham State University