What Not to Teach Your Kids This Black History Month

Every year we find a way to screw up the Black History Lessons we teach our offspring.  I believe in the importance of educating children in the cultural contributions of our forefolk.  But how do you properly teach lynching to a little kid?  

I sugarcoat way too much already.  The Tooth Fairy. The Binky Fairy. Old Saint Nick.  I don't want my babies to grow up and discover that I've done nothing but make shit up their entire lives.  So I try to teach the cold, hard facts of America's fine past in a child friendly manner.  I try, but sometimes it backfires.

Take for instance, when my teenager was 8 years old we read this book together...

When she asked if she could share it in school, I was delighted.  "Of course!  It's Black History Month.  Why Not?"  Her elementary at the time was about 6% African American.  What greater way to chat up old times than in an academic setting?

We brought the book to school the very next day and spoke with her teacher.  Mrs. Funaki, visibly hesitant, pulled a chair to the front of the class.  My kid sat, opened Toni Morrison and paraphrased the subtext out loud to her classmates:

"Back in the day, back in the day White people were crazy!"

She then showed a picture that looked something like this...

Photograph Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times

Imagine a class full of gaping-mouthed third graders.  Imagine the conversations they had with their parents after school.  Imagine how the teacher avoided eye contact with me the rest of the school year.

There must be a kid friendlier way to tackle the sordid portions of our past.  

How does your family approach Black History?

Shake Hands with Castro

"Our friend Cuba which helped us in training our people, gave us resources to get on with our struggle."

Nelson Mandela, 1991

"Don't bite the apple Eve," rapper Jay Z warns us in his ballad to New York.  But we know forbidden fruit is always juicier and Americans are forever curious.  

Cuba, a country ripe with arts, culture, and a bad ass reputation, has captured the imagination of many US citizens.  But did you know you can now travel legally? 

Despite all the huffing and puffing about President Obama's hand shake with Raúl Castro, the floodgates are cracked open, ever so  slightly, and Havana is yours to experience!

Check out Time Out Travel's 20 Great Things to Do in Havana.

While you're there, extend a hand of reconciliation to your island brethren.  If one of them happens to be Raúl, even better.

Don't forget to send me pics!

Art, Chains & Freedom

I hate Twitter. I don't get it. And when I don't get it, I feel like a dumb ass. I hate feeling like a dumb ass.

I can't deny its power. There is evidence of the ability of this platform to draw world wide attention to the social, political, and democratic concerns of a people. I love that.  

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei reportedly spends eight hours a day on Twitter, cleverly calling for dissidence and celebrating the wonders of individualism under the watchful eye of a regime with a very different agenda.

The role of social media in the Arab spring is still being debated. What can't be denied is that when Egyptian authorities shut off the Internet, the people flocked to the streets. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they overturned a government. The struggle continues, but the thought of a little blue bird helping to topple a thirty-year-president is pretty intriguing.

I had planned to spend the whole month of December chatting you up about artful living in your home spaces. Then Nelson Mandela died. And I began to think instead about the role artists have played in political protest.  

I thought first to look to history, but we would be here forever, and it's too easy to romanticize the past.

Change is brutal. It requires sacrifice. And when Russian protest band PUSSY RIOT showed up uninvited at the national cathedral, asking through song, for the mother of God to become a feminist and get rid of Putin, they landed in prison - Russian prison. Twitter is still not happy.

These women captured my attention on Facebook - the social media site that makes me feel like a super smart ass. Their colorful balaclavas and girly girl brand of feminism had me cheering from across the seas. They smiled for the cameras, spoke brilliantly about their beliefs, and were sent away for it too. Pussy Riot's protest song lasted less than one minute, but it made Vladimir Putin shake in his boots. A song did this. A song sang only last year.

At the beginning of the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, a quote by Bertolt Brecht reads:

"Art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it."

How does your work redefine our world?

Follow @freepussyriot on Twitter to learn how you can take action in the global fight for gender equality and freedom of expression.

Image Source: http://www.notevenpast.org/listen/pussy-riot