Sitting down to write this, the first thought that comes to
mind is that this week was not my finest.... My elevator pitch was by far the
worst presentation of my entire academic career. At first, I was really bummed
and embarrassed about it. Then I got to thinking a little bit deeper and
realized that this screw up (as I view it) underlines the theme of my social
venture. I want to create a place where students, teachers, anyone can talk
about race and challenging topics without tripping over their words because
they’re so focused on being politically correct. I practiced so much, more than
I would for any other speech, because I felt like I couldn’t mess anything up.
When in reality, the venture I want to create, is a place where screw-ups are
not just acceptable, but encouraged. In the words of Taylor Swift I decided to
shake it off.
I was further reminded of my passion for my venture topic this
weekend when I stumbled upon a book I read a few years back titled: White Like Me by Tim Wise. I designed an
independent study on white privilege my junior year of college and it was part
of my assigned readings. Going through the passages I highlighted I was
reminded of how much my personal public
school education experience informed my interest in this topic. I am now fairly confident
I want to narrow the ventures focus to middle school aged students. This is the age/time period where racial identity
really comes into play for adolescents. This was an important development for the week!
One of the readings for this week opened my eyes to a part
of the venture that I am going to have difficulty with. School districts are
notorious for their red tape and resistance to innovation. I will inevitably have
to work with the district. The Pittsburgh Public School district office is a
significant stakeholder of this venture. We learned that we need to identify:
1.
Potential allies
2.
Primary opponents
3.
Needed indifferents
If I were to wager a guess, the school district will most
certainly be a primary opponent. It will be important for me to develop a great
sociopolitical strategy. Finding a safe haven away from district personnel will
not be a viable option. It is imperative that I develop a working knowledge of
all the issues the school district is facing (financial issues mainly) so that
I can appeal to them in a way that will serve their interests and mine.
Main question for this week: how do you work with a primary opponent without being perceived as a threat or liability?
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