Kara's Blog

       Abolitionist teaching and the future of our                         schools (video).                              Bettina Love author, We Want to Do More Than Survive,  Gholdy Muhammad author, Cultivating Genius, Dena Simmons author, White Rules for Black People moderated by Brian Jones of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture come together to share their common interest in abolitionist teaching.           I really appreciated Gholdy Muhammad's approach to abolitionist teaching.  Her model has four goals in mind.  Identity, Skills, Intellect, and Criticality.  This model keeps the whole child in mind and creates equality for all students with each goal building upon the other.  Bettina Love adds, "abolitionist education is starting over, evening the playing field, and a push for all humanity."  Abolitionist teaching is a way of life.  We need to abolish the education system that is oppressive.  Steering away from standardized tests, state mandates, out

                          "I Am Not Your Negro" by James Baldwin. In this piece, American civil rights activist and author James Baldwin discusses racism in the United States in the 1960's.  It's a radical narration about race in America based on his personal essays from the 1950's and 1960's.  It is also a reflection of civil rights leaders, Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. “You never had to look at me. I had to look at you. I know more about you than you know about me. Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” This particular quote resonates with me because it reminds me of how certain individuals can be biased or racist against a single person or group without even speaking to them.  This quote examines some of the assumptions made about African-American's in the 1960's through the eyes of James Baldwin.  It depicts the end of racial discrimination and radical segregation in the U

  In Sickness and in Wealth of "Unnatural Causes" (video) This video documents some of the disparities and inequalities we are facing in the United States of America.  The video is time stamped in 2008.  At that time, 2 trillion dollars is being spent on healthcare and 47 million people are without healthcare.  A couple of important questions are addressed.  Firstly, Is inequality making us sick? and Why are we getting sick?   This video mentions that lack of health insurance is not the cause of illness.  It addresses other factors such as access to income, education, and social determinants of health to be some of the main causes of illness.  Per the Louisville, KY study, living in a more affluent area allowed a greater life expectancy, more resources to manage stress, ability to buy healthier food, access to child care, and opportunity for vacations. Social gradients of disease were mentioned.  The top tier has better health and the bottom tier has worse health and excess d

 

 Hi! My name is Kara Randall. I'm pursuing a Masters in Health Education, along with a School Nurse Teacher Certification. This is my second graduate class here at RIC. I've been a nurse for 22 years and recently retired from hospital nursing. I am a school nurse in a lovely elementary school in Warwick, RI. I look forward to the next six weeks together and getting to know all of you.