S4E6: When Schools Fear ‘Noise’: Learning From the Controversial Speech Cancellation at Middlesex School w/ Nikole Hannah-Jones

How do we distinguish between sadness and remorse and individual guilt?  How do we teach children that you can feel shame for something your country did, without feeling responsible?  We have all heard about the controversy surrounding Nikole Hannah-Jones and the 1619 Project.  Now you can hear directly from Nikole herself. As an award winning investigative reporter for the New York Times and a Pulitzer prize winner, she has a lot to being to the table. Join us as we sit down together and discuss the 1619 project, the social construct of racism in our country, and pushing boundaries.

We’re exploring:

• Nikole’s theory on shoe culture in Black communities and why it matters
• Learning to study culture from the inside, as well as the outside, to really understand where we are coming from
• What it means when we say race is a social construct
• The theory that Blackness was created to define whiteness and how it doesn’t exist in a place where no one is white
• Nikole’s experience of being disinvited from speaking at Middlesex School and how that has created the “noise” they were afraid her visit would create
• How we can all work together to dismantle the system, so that we ALL can rise
• What “hope” means and how it relates to action, and why both are important

And so much more!

Learn more about Nikole Hannah-Jones:  https://nikolehannahjones.com/about/

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Cover art by: Kevin Soltau (Middlesex ‘97)

Production by Kim Difillippo