Why Words Matter

In today's class, our learning goal was to relate our new definition of "danger," Adichie's stirring speech "The Danger of a Single Story," and our new text Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence by Geoffrey Canada.

Canada is not only the author of this provocative text but is also the founder of The Harlem Children's Zone, a "pioneering, non-profit, community-based organization that works to enhance the quality of life for children and families."  

See Class Links to explore this organization's work. You can also watch the entire "60 Minutes" segment featuring Canada's work, of which we watched two minutes in class.

We discussed the power of words. I urge you to consider the single stories we all have of communities, especially those we have never lived in or visited. Let's take care to use language that honors the complex narratives of communities and of the people who live there. Instead of simply saying "That's a bad neighborhood" or "good neighborhood," what might be some other ways we could describe these communities?

ChiArts is one of the most diverse schools in all of Chicago. Students from every neighborhood in the city attend our school. We are a community of diverse learners. This is an incredible opportunity for all of us, and it is one of the reasons I so love to work here.

Scholar-artist Emilio suggested that some people have a single story about Muslims, when they say "All Muslims are terrorists." I invite you to examine the single stories we all have about people and communities, to deconstruct them and ask questions, so that we can begin to understand the complexities of these narratives.

Thank you for writing me thoughtful letters describing how class is going so far for you, providing both positive feedback about what you enjoy and appreciate so far, and constructive feedback (i.e., opportunities for me to develop, improve, and better meet your needs and appeal to your learning styles). I really appreciate your honest, candid writing here, so that I know exactly what is working well for you and what I can do for you. I appreciate your ideas and suggestions for creative writing prompts and hands-on activities. I've truly enjoyed reading your letters.

I look forward to hearing your reactions to this powerful text next week. Remember, your annotations provide an opportunity to "make the invisible visible" so that we can see the unique conversation you have with the text. Read and annotate all of Canada's text by next week (see TeacherEase for the deadline).

Enjoy your weekend,

Ms. Arbeiter