The first few paragraphs and the last, when I read them, I thought about replacing with addiction “How do you know when you need to leave an addiction? How do you know when you need to escape from that addiction? I had to leave my comfort zone in order to find the people who could teach me the answers” your writing is inspirational and a motivation for change. Thank you
When I first limped out of undergrad, the only "professional" job I could get was teaching adult ed. for a private, non-profit.
I remember the day early on I was having a conversation with a couple of the students and I realized that the problem they faced was that they knew all the wrong stuff. They could barely read and weren't really clear about the difference between the state and the city they lived in, but they had a wealth of complex and sophisticated knowledge about their neighborhoods.
Ah, thanks for this. I had the visual of a Venn diagram where the center circle is all the knowledge we need to thrive in the USA and all the other circles, representing different types of Americans, share varying amounts of space with that center. Growing up on the rez, my share of the center circle was just a slice.
I was a white kid raised by a lawyer and an English teacher, so my knowledge was pretty much right in that center circle, and I was talking to folks from the black hood. In class, we were working in the sliver where theirs overlapped mine, and I had to listen to them in a personal context to realize their circle was as a big as mine was. "Oh, so everybody's circle is about the same size. Wow."
Edit: I sound terrible. I went to integrated public schools and was aware of the broader diverse culture, but it took actually trying to teach people that this idea of knowledge hit me viscerally.
Wow! Have you published this somewhere before? This is a powerful story. So painful. So telling of the results of oppression. I grew up in Vermont and thought I wanted to be a social worker because my mother was a public health nurse and I heard her stories about dirt floors and the poor. When I did an internship, that was the end. To go into trashy trailers at 20 I realized I was too sensitive and compassionate to set rules. I could not do it. This is the story of not doing it. So hard a lesson.
You learned something about what you didn’t know. This awareness is a kind of wisdom, a kind of enlightenment. An accidental gift from Mr. K., I think. Wonderful story.
Thank you for this! Vivid, tight, moving. "I had to leave my tribe in order to find the people who could teach me the answers." That line really hit me, a first gen Korean-American who assimilated so hard I'm only now, decades later, as a father, finding my way back to my tribe.
How stupid were those white teachers?! How elitist those questions were. It's too bad that your class didn't have a chance to show how much you knew that they didn't. Did they know about your culture? Art? Dances? Music? How about survival? Did they know how to survive in a snow storm? How to read weather signs? What about what to do if they got lost in the woods? How to find food in the wilderness? Oh, sure, I guess we need to know how to survive in their world but If I got lost in the woods I wouldn't be so pleased with my knowledge of Romans. I's wish I knew how to fish without a fishing pole!
were all such stories told of coarse the earth should drown
par for the coarse;were all such storoes told would the earth drown?
Really good man! Keep up the great work!
The first few paragraphs and the last, when I read them, I thought about replacing with addiction “How do you know when you need to leave an addiction? How do you know when you need to escape from that addiction? I had to leave my comfort zone in order to find the people who could teach me the answers” your writing is inspirational and a motivation for change. Thank you
Yeah, I can see how that substitution works. It applies to my life, as well. The hardest part: I had to leave people I love.
When I first limped out of undergrad, the only "professional" job I could get was teaching adult ed. for a private, non-profit.
I remember the day early on I was having a conversation with a couple of the students and I realized that the problem they faced was that they knew all the wrong stuff. They could barely read and weren't really clear about the difference between the state and the city they lived in, but they had a wealth of complex and sophisticated knowledge about their neighborhoods.
This simple idea changed the way I see people.
Thanks for sharing this great story.
Ah, thanks for this. I had the visual of a Venn diagram where the center circle is all the knowledge we need to thrive in the USA and all the other circles, representing different types of Americans, share varying amounts of space with that center. Growing up on the rez, my share of the center circle was just a slice.
I was a white kid raised by a lawyer and an English teacher, so my knowledge was pretty much right in that center circle, and I was talking to folks from the black hood. In class, we were working in the sliver where theirs overlapped mine, and I had to listen to them in a personal context to realize their circle was as a big as mine was. "Oh, so everybody's circle is about the same size. Wow."
Edit: I sound terrible. I went to integrated public schools and was aware of the broader diverse culture, but it took actually trying to teach people that this idea of knowledge hit me viscerally.
Everybody’s circle is the same size is a good way to look at it—to value the different forms of knowledge.
Wow! Have you published this somewhere before? This is a powerful story. So painful. So telling of the results of oppression. I grew up in Vermont and thought I wanted to be a social worker because my mother was a public health nurse and I heard her stories about dirt floors and the poor. When I did an internship, that was the end. To go into trashy trailers at 20 I realized I was too sensitive and compassionate to set rules. I could not do it. This is the story of not doing it. So hard a lesson.
I have written fictional versions of similar events. This one is what happened.
You learned something about what you didn’t know. This awareness is a kind of wisdom, a kind of enlightenment. An accidental gift from Mr. K., I think. Wonderful story.
Thank you.
power here and we hear now the truth
Thank you, Vel.
Thank you for this! Vivid, tight, moving. "I had to leave my tribe in order to find the people who could teach me the answers." That line really hit me, a first gen Korean-American who assimilated so hard I'm only now, decades later, as a father, finding my way back to my tribe.
Yeah, I realized in appx 2007 that I am indigenous to the country and also a cultural immigrant.
How stupid were those white teachers?! How elitist those questions were. It's too bad that your class didn't have a chance to show how much you knew that they didn't. Did they know about your culture? Art? Dances? Music? How about survival? Did they know how to survive in a snow storm? How to read weather signs? What about what to do if they got lost in the woods? How to find food in the wilderness? Oh, sure, I guess we need to know how to survive in their world but If I got lost in the woods I wouldn't be so pleased with my knowledge of Romans. I's wish I knew how to fish without a fishing pole!
Yes, we had life skills and knowledge the white kids didn’t have. But we were lacking in academic skills that are also vital to survival and success.
I like your aunt!