The home of the Rams and the daytime home of myself, Colorado State University offers a Native American Cultural Center that "ensures a successful educational experience for students by providing support and services related to recruitment, retention, graduation, and community outreach. The office embraces and encourages a supportive environment based on the traditions and cultures of Native American peoples." I'm proud to be at a place that has this mission instilled, however it's not always easy to carry through with it entirely. For example, last year we had students in an indigenous community get called on the police by attending a CSU guided tour. What a huge step backward! How can we take a leap forward to improve our allying skills with students in marginalized groups?
The work that the Center for Native American Youth is doing is phenomenal in inspiring younger generations to "create positive change in their communities." Their mission is to address challenges, engage in stakeholders that strengthen support systems, and advocate for Native peers to be vocal and involved. As a future teacher, I want to be aware of resources like these to offer for my students. It is unfortunate that indigenous youth face the reality of disparities in the U.S. such as "poverty and exposure to violence--that can make them susceptible to being arrested, charged, or sentenced in the justice system." Being an ally to students of this marginalized group will require an exemplar of resilience in a depth of social abuse. Students need to know that we are on their side.
2 Comments
12/3/2018 06:40:04 pm
WOwz I remember that happening last year. It reminds me of something we have been discussing in class: preferred pronouns. People make mistakes a lot, but it is all about apologizing and working to ensure that mistake never happens again. By becoming an ally, we can somewhat work to fix our past mistakes.
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Julia
12/5/2018 08:10:06 am
Yes! It's always an important step to acknowledge WHAT and WHY something was a step backwards, which CSU was fortunately good at doing. I love the phrase "on their side". It's not leading their sides-- allies don't know better than those they are allying with, not by a long shot. It implies that we will just try to be there when it counts and try to listen.
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Greetings!I'm Kelly! I like to find beauty in what might seem mundane to us over time and bring to life what we experience each day. Check out the About Me tab for an additional look at who I am. Archives
July 2019
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