Saturday Open Thread | I Can’t Think of a More Worthy Subject to Study

Posted on December 29, 2018 by rikyrah

TURNING MICHELLE OBAMA’S ‘BECOMING’ INTO A CLASS CURRICULUM FOR BLACK GIRLS
by Kandia Johnson
December 27, 2018

Lauren Christine Mims is a former assistant director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia. She’s also one of the many women inspired by Michelle Obama’s Becoming, a New York Times best-selling book that sold more than 1.4 million copies within the first seven days of its release. Now, Mims is turning Obama’s book into a curriculum for black girls to further their learning and development.

“Reading Becoming was like sitting on the couch with your best friend and having one of those soulful conversations about life,” said Mims.

“Reading about how Michelle Obama felt unchallenged in elementary school, teased for the way she spoke, and noticed a difference in how she was perceived during adolescence was affirming.”

Mims hopes the Becoming curriculum will make space for black girls to thrive in a world that often seems to try and deny their humanity. As part of her doctoral research at the University of Virginia, Mims explores what it means to be a young, gifted, black girl in school.

“I disrupt the traditional practice of talking about black girls in pejorative ways and center them and their unique experiences to study how we can support them. For example, my research highlights what ‘Black Girl Magic’ means to black girls; the role teachers play in supporting or stopping the success of black girls; and more about what they are learning and how it makes them feel.”

“If you follow Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Norris, and Willow Smith, think about my interviews as Red Table Talks where black girls are supported in discussing challenges and designing solutions.”

As part of the curriculum, students read Becoming, and watch films featuring black girls in leading roles. Additionally, “we will have important conversations, like about what it means to feel like your presence is a threat or that you do not belong. We will discuss Maddie Whitsett and McKenzie Nicole Adams; two 9-year-old black girls who died by suicide after being subjected to bullying. At the end of the course, students will apply their knowledge to draft new research proposals, policies, and practices,” says Mims.

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73 Responses to Saturday Open Thread | I Can’t Think of a More Worthy Subject to Study

  1. madamewinnell says:
    March 7, 2019 at 6:04 pm

    Omg this class would be perfect. Talk about #blackgirlmagic !! As a black medical student, I am constantly undervalued, respected and represented. I recently wrote a blog post describing the most difficult thing about being a black female medical student. I hope you’ll have a chance to read.

    Reply
  10. SouthernGirl2 says:
    December 29, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    Only y’all thought he’d change. No Black or POC would have been given such a pass. All Trump had to be was rich and white was enough for the white media. Y’all helped put this monster on the American people by not vetting him properly. You allowed him to CON his way into the WH.

    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1079014219935334400

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 29, 2018 at 4:57 pm

      The absolute fucking gall if this mofo. Waiting & Hoping = setting the bar as low as possible. Typical white man’s goal-setting for success

      Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 29, 2018 at 12:37 pm

      LOCK HER UP

      Reply
    • majiir says:
      December 29, 2018 at 3:43 pm

      Thanks, SG2. I was hoping the police would catch her @ss. I hope you’re feeling better today. I’ve been busy painting the new cabinets I had put up in my laundry room, getting my closet organized, and getting clothing, furniture, and other thing to the Goodwill. The guy who is my go-to guy for home repairs I can’t do came by with his son, loaded everything up in the bed of his pick up truck and carted it away. I’m still not finished, though because I have a new living room set to put out, new curtains to put up, new bedding to do, new chairs for my island in the kitchen to set up, new rugs to put down, and just lots and lots of stuff left to do, so I’m going to be very busy. I’ve been working on remodeling my house for the last three years. The reason it has taken so long is because I’m doing it out-of-pocket, so that when I finish, I won’t have a loan to repay. The next thing on the list is having granite installed on my island. I had the other countertops done a couple years ago.

      Reply
      • majiir says:
        December 29, 2018 at 3:52 pm

        ” and other ”things.”

        Reply
      • SouthernGirl2 says:
        December 29, 2018 at 4:29 pm

        Oh my goodness! Sounds like so much fun. I know it’s going to be so beautiful. I need my cabinets redone. Some peeling is coming off. But how do I fix that? It makes me sad when I look at it.

        I know a couple who built their new home out of pocket and it’s a big house. It took them awhile but they’re in it now. And it’s gorgeous.

        Reply
  21. SouthernGirl2 says:
    December 29, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    She should have had her ass beat down…………..

    https://twitter.com/wvjoe911/status/1078747914380500993

    Reply
  24. Ametia says:
    December 29, 2018 at 11:26 am

    Word of the Day : December 29, 2018

    Fulcrum

    Definition
    1 a : prop; specifically : the support about which a lever turns
    b : one that supplies capability for action
    2 : a part of an animal that serves as a hinge or support

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/fulcrum-2018-12-29?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=f&file=fulcru02&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wotd&utm_content=pron

    Reply
  25. SouthernGirl2 says:
    December 29, 2018 at 11:19 am

    TOO SAD! Shame on you America!

    Take @SecNielsen to The Hague to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. She has to be punished for this.

    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1079059537137676289

    Reply
  33. SouthernGirl2 says:
    December 29, 2018 at 10:48 am

    What a cold hearted sob. They’re going to keep on until the wrath of God comes down……

    https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1078497680232534016

    Reply
    • vitaminlover says:
      December 29, 2018 at 11:32 am

      We are not surprised, are we? Watch Skunk say he didn’t know anything about it..

      Reply
      • majiir says:
        December 29, 2018 at 4:10 pm

        The lying dotard knew. He applied for HB1 visas for more employees at Mar-a-Lago and his other properties last year and this year. He did it after reducing the number of HB1 visas that the U.S. would grant. It left farmers and other small business owners who depend on migrant labor out in the cold. I remember reading that some owners of lobster businesses in the northeast couldn’t get the help they needed to process their products earlier this year. I was amazed at those who were whining about not having access to hire more migrant workers but still maintain strong support for DJT. You cannot fix stupid.

        Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 8:56 am

    😡😡😡

    The New York Times (@nytimes) Tweeted:
    Led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudis have used their vast wealth to outsource the war in Yemen, mainly by hiring tens of thousands of survivors of the conflict in Darfur to fight, many of them children.

    https://t.co/pv1ibfs7RJ https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1078834243978047494?s=17

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 8:51 am

    Luna Corbden (@corbden) Tweeted:
    So…

    1. Power plant failure in New York City causes explosion seen by thousands.

    2. Washington statewide 911 outage due to power failure.

    3. Russia is known to have capability to hack large portions of US infrastructure.

    4. Is it paranoid to connect these dots? Test run?

    https://twitter.com/corbden/status/1078536767190446081?s=17

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 8:47 am
    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 8:43 am

    🇺🇸🇭🇹 Only4RM 🇭🇹🇺🇸 (@Only4RM) Tweeted:
    Trump Thinks His Shutdown Will Stop Nancy Pelosi From Investigating His Corrupt Regime. Good Luck With That.

    1. She can walk and chew gum… in heels and backwards.

    2. He doesn’t get how House committee probes work.

    #TeamPelosi👠

    https://t.co/HhQqKUSljI https://twitter.com/Only4RM/status/1079017503194562560?s=17

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 8:08 am

    THREAD

    Tina Morphis #TrumpIsATraitor🕊️🕊️🕊️ (@TinaMorphis) Tweeted:
    I’m going to get some backlash on this tweet, but I’m going to say it anyway. Everything you’re learning about @realDonaldTrump, his family, his associates, his businesses, should have been known before the election in 2016. This was a failure of the US MSM, every outlet, every

    https://twitter.com/TinaMorphis/status/1078635710054305794?s=17

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 29, 2018 at 12:25 pm

      45 was glorified by media at those KLANNRALLIES, WHITE folks still voted for him.

      to this day, the media still glorifies him and hold him & his base as the reason he’s still in office

      Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:28 am

    Uh huh 😒 😒

    Indivisible Network (@IndivisibleNet) Tweeted:
    Another day, another racist in Trump’s ‘Merica

    A white woman in McMinnville, Oregon threatened a black couple on Xmas Eve with a knife while shouting racist slurs at them all because they parked their car crooked.

    Twitter, do your thing & find her.

    https://t.co/AUOmzZIzGD https://twitter.com/IndivisibleNet/status/1078846990753050624?s=17

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:25 am

    David Slack (@slack2thefuture) Tweeted:
    This is Robert Mercer. Remember his face & his name. Never forget that he funded Breitbart, Bannon, Brexit, Cambridge Analytica, & Trump. He hoped to force his will on people from the shadows. Make sure history books record what he did.

    https://t.co/lpiP85SOie https://twitter.com/slack2thefuture/status/1078527271147921408?s=17

    Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:24 am

    Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) Tweeted:
    I spent the whole damn 2016 cycle telling people Jill Stein was a con artist, not a real candidate. Her platform was gibberish. She played only to peel off votes and money from liberals, not to actually win or build her party.

    How much more proof do people need they got bilked?

    https://t.co/ChHhFUjsce https://twitter.com/fawfulfan/status/1078680064051564544?s=17

    Reply
  44. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:21 am

    What is the lie?

    (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) Tweeted:
    Jill Stein conned people’s votes and helped make Trump president, then grifted money from people shocked that Trump had been elected president for a fake recount, and is now using that cash for her personal purposes. And she told us *Hillary* was the same as Trump.

    https://t.co/Ah0fw4XYwQ https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1078649952702787584?s=17

    Reply
  45. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:18 am

    👏👏👏

    Chris Evans (@notcapnamerica) Tweeted:
    If he cared so much about civil rights why did he never vote until age 40? Why did he never hire any blacks? Why do the blacks in Vermont say they were invisible to him? Why did he say most drug dealers are black? Why did he say black men are hanging out on street corners?

    https://t.co/LAxvB381bX https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1078889218754166784?s=17

    Reply
    • majiir says:
      December 29, 2018 at 4:17 pm

      Well, when one comes from a state where as of 2016, only 1.2% of the people are black, one must resort to stereotyping and scapegoating because the likelihood of the person actually having any real, meaningful interactions with black persons is probably nil.

      Reply
  46. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:17 am

    John Aravosis 🇺🇸 (@aravosis) Tweeted:
    Nancy Pelosi isn’t even Speaker yet. Republicans control the White House, House and Senate, and Trump promised on national television two weeks ago that he would shut down the government, and it would be his fault and nobody else’s.

    But hey, blame the girl.

    https://t.co/YGrM31CBtz https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/1078881778381803521?s=17

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 7:11 am

    Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) Tweeted:
    It would be easier to accept that Jill Stein played “useful idiot” for Russia as it siphoned votes away from Hillary Clinton if it wasn’t for the photo of her at dinner, Moscow 2015, seated with convicted felon Michael Flynn & Vladimir Putin.

    https://t.co/c0rDPNbcfm https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1078467871687217152?s=17

    Reply
  49. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 5:55 am

    ReclaimingMyTime (@MonieTalks_1) Tweeted:
    Considering that PBO only won Florida (twice) out of GA, FL, and TX, there is a path to victory without two of those states. I actually think GA can flip but it will take MASSIVE voter registration of new Democratic voters. Purging/voter suppression in GA is still a major issue.

    https://twitter.com/MonieTalks_1/status/1078873538059218944?s=17

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 29, 2018 at 11:58 am

      Agreed.

      Stacey Abrams did yeoman’s work with her campaign, and helped uncovered massive evil voter suppression and exposing that nasty SoS.

      Folks need to keep that train on track and moving to stop further suppression.

      Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 5:54 am

    Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) Tweeted:
    In one of his earliest acts as AG, Sessions rescinded guidance that would have phased out private prisons.

    The private prison industry exploits and operates off sheer profit motive. Private prisons must be abolished NOW.

    https://t.co/u6Ks0OvDaV https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1078847250196021254?s=17

    Reply
  51. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 4:25 am

    The Daughter Also Rises: Liz Cheney, Crown Princess of Plutocracy and Duchess of Endless War

    https://skepticalbrotha.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/the-daughter-also-rises-liz-cheney-crown-princess-of-plutocracy-and-duchess-of-endless-war/ via @wordpressdotcom

    Reply
  52. rikyrah says:
    December 29, 2018 at 4:20 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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