Showing up as a BIPOC Educator during the 2020 Pandemics: COVID & Racism

“To say that the current times are challenging would be a major understatement as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) have been disproportionately killed by systemic racism and COVID-19. In the quest to prevent the spread of COVID-19, schools and educators were left to scramble as they made the transition from in-person instruction to online learning. For all educators, there was a major learning curve. Educators’ problem-solving skills were put to the test as they decided which platforms were the best to use, asynchronous vs. synchronous learning, to hold scholars accountable for logging on participating, and doing the work. The absence of physical connection also made it difficult for educators and school systems to build and maintain strong classroom structures and cultures. The inability to have in-person classrooms required educators to over-rely on relationships or the lack thereof to support scholars. Some of us were struggling to manage online learning for our scholars and then online learning for our children who were now confined to being home with us, and the list goes on. Just when we thought we were effectively identifying best practices for online instruction, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and many others were added to the centuries-old list of Black lives lost as a result of the hate and violence towards Blacks in America.

BIPOC educators are feeling the added stress and pain all too deeply. Yet, we still have to log on to zoom calls and put on a good show. This is on top of the expectation to uproot the mantles of systemic racism in education and advocate for justice without regard for our own struggles with racism and the stress we feel as BIPOC educators. We were already tired. Tired from the major shifts in education, tired from having to balance a work-life with personal life, tired from simply being Black in America. So how do we cope? How do we balance it all and how do we show up for ourselves, our families, and our scholars?

The heightened tensions of the times have pushed us into a performative culture where we are constantly being questioned and told that we MUST show up on the front lines and being asked to show up in ways that can be proven. But we don’t have anything to prove to anyone. These antagonizing demands can be found in the countless social media posts telling us what we need to be doing right now and how we need to show up. There are the posts that read: if you come out of this pandemic and you haven’t done… then you lack discipline! Really? There’s, if you’re not uncomfortable, angry, or ready to fight right now then you’re not Black. Says who? There’s, educators are responsible now more than ever to dismantle the systems of white supremacy in their classrooms! Okay, as if some of us haven’t already been fighting that fight, and is it fair to lay so heavy a burden on the shoulders of educators alone, especially BIPOC educators who more than likely are fighting the battle of systemic oppression and racism in their workplaces in addition to society at large.

Here’s my response to all those who feel the need to judge or tell BIPOC Educators what they need to be doing or how they need to show up during these challenging times: The only thing we need to do right now is be BlPOC and Live! We committed to this work the moment we signed up to be educators and the emotional labor that goes into that as we carry multiple identity markers often goes unnoticed. Many BIPOC educators make a conscious choice to work in schools where the children look like them because we know that representation matters. BIPOC educators often make it a point to instill in BIPOC scholars a sense of pride for who they are and all they have to offer this world. We advocate for our children and each other in predominantly white institutions of learning that engage in systemic oppression, and micro/macro aggressions inflicted on us as people of color. BIPOC educators have been on the front lines of this battle long before the recent events AND we will continue to do this work even when the dust settles and the world reopens.

So what should BIPOC educators do? Here me when I say, no one should have the opportunity to tell you how you need to show up. That is a conversation between you and your maker, loved ones, and other people that you turn to for support and advice. You define you, you control you, and you write the narrative of your life! How you decide to show up and how you want to contribute to this movement and these times all depends on what you feel you are capable of and comfortable with. It’s what you are drawn to. Keeping that in mind, know that what you have been doing is enough. Know that when you made the choice to do this work you had already taken the steps to support your community and waging the war against systems of oppression in education. Showing up in your genius as a BIPOC educator, showing up as the master of your content and guru of your craft is enough because YOU ARE ENOUGH!