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The Story of "These Miles in My Shoes"
Are you someone (or do you know someone) who is looking for a different way to get started, or continue the difficult, urgently needed work of antiracism?
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My name is Dr. Trudi Lynne Perkins, and I am the author of These Miles in My Shoes: Plural Positionalities and The Musings of an X Patriot. I wrote this book because I wanted to help people of various backgrounds understand the existential and mental acrobats that Black people perform daily. At the same time, I wanted to provide readers with a place where they can do deep, personal self-interrogation, before joining in group dialogue.
My hope is that, in reading this book, you will discover that the double-consciousness of Black people, which W.E.B. Dubois described, is a very real phenomenon that demands an ever-present act of “two-ness” from Black people. As you read, I hope that the power and possibilities of humanity encourage you to commit to doing the very hard work of embracing anti-racist behaviors as a way to enact change.
You'll hear stories such as...
How one question that was posed to me by a 7th-grade student, during my beginning years of teaching, still troubles me to this day.
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And you'll hear of the shock and dismay of coming face-to-face with a Black, male student who had stripped down to his underwear just to prove he had not stolen from his teacher.
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And the sad truth delivered by a school district representative who calmly and cavalierly stated (in front of an entire school faculty) that the district “had not thought that far” when it came to expending the same degrees of effort to provide English Language Arts support to African American students, as it does with establishing the ELD and ESL courses.
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You will love this book:
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If you enjoy reading a variety of materials such as poetry, creative prose, and academic discourse.
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If you are one who tends to draw outside the lines or have ever wondered what it might feel like to take a completely different approach to interacting with race.
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If you are serious about being the type of person who will do the hard work that is necessary, in order for us to have a racism-free world.
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These Miles in My Shoes: Plural Positionalities and The Musings of an X Patriot is a nonfiction book that speaks to academic and corporate educators alike. This book is also useful to anyone who is ready to begin engaging with their racism awareness journey.
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This book is like having two books in one! Inside, you will find a selection of poetry and prose, as well as scholarly resources and research that engages and supports readers in examining, experiencing, and questioning situations that present the need to explore race and racism more deeply.
Side 1
Sub-title: The Musings of an X Patriot shares personal thoughts and creative observations of the world from my perspective as a Black woman. These selected pieces independently and collectively act as a bridge that brings the unspoken thoughts that Black educators have historically been asked to leave outside of their school sites, into direct discourse with the professional consciousness of a Black educator.
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Side 2
Sub-title: Plural Positionalities is a discussion of some of the ways that racism has impacted my teaching practice. In this section, I share how the recent events of 2020 and anti-Black racism have placed new demands on educators that require them to become intimately familiar with their racial perspectives and biases. Additionally, you will find a robust discussion of how to use innovation, along with theoretical frameworks and practical activities to strengthen your experience.
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