I so loved seeing the Black Photojournalism exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art. As my first career, I was a photojournalist. One of my major influences was Gordon Parks, who also directed the movie "Shaft" and was an author, including of "The Learning Tree," one of my favorites as an adolescent. I was honored to meet him in person at the Edie Adams Workshop when I was a young photojournalist. It was amazing to be reminded of this as I saw work that I recognized and even more work that I want to explore as part of learning from an intention to decolonize my learning. Some of these photos were in the show and some are my favorites from Gordon Parks. The first is the artist himself.

Hey Awesome Allies! Checking in to see how your holiday is going—specifically around spending and shopping. Did you all shop Black Friday or sit it out? How are you feeling about holiday shopping this season? And so you need any support around investing with Black and BIPOC businesses during the holiday? Drop a note and let me know!!

Hi all- I’m going to preface this by saying that what I want to ask/discuss is somewhat fuzzily defined in my brain, but it’s something my brain has been circling around for months and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to express it any better by continuing to go over it in my own head. If you’ve been on threads today, you’ve probably seen the discussion re: Dolly Parton and racism. I’m going to be honest. As an Appalachian native who can’t hear Dolly speak without thinking of my own grandmother, this one hurts, so I’m aware I likely have some blind spots here. This is a topic that could go a lot of ways that are worth discussing, but something in particular struck me that I’ve been wrestling with already. Someone noted Dolly’s previous statements when removing the confederate flag and the civil war reenactment from her also renamed “Dixie stampede” and how she said she was unaware of the harm caused by the flag. This person was asking how that was possible. And I am deeply bothered by the fact that I can understand how it’s possible, to the extent that it’s part of my own story. I’m going to copy over what I wrote in reply to the question, asked by the same person, “what does the confederate flag mean to you” because it gets at the core of what I’m wrestling with. “I want to be really clear that I am only answering your question and not defending or excusing anything. I grew up in rural Appalachia- not far from where Dolly did. I was taught that the civil war was about states rights. I was told an extremely inaccurate and whitewashed version of history. I believed it for a while. I am not proud of any of that. At all. At that time, the confederate flag was presented as a symbol of “southern pride”. Something that was taught as important because of the way that southerners and Appalachians especially were belittled and berated by “the north” and people in “big cities”. The connection between the word Dixie, the confederate flag, and slavery was not acknowledged. None of that is logical and I know that now. But that is how it was, and until I grew up and learned from other sources, and was exposed to other perspectives and facts and a less white washed version of history, I didn’t know better and those things were not connected in my brain. I know this sounds ridiculously naive and ridiculous and it is. The internet wasn’t common where I grew up until the late late 90’s when I was in high school. There was basically no diversity where I grew up, and I wasn’t exposed to many people who thought differently. I was ignorant. I am not proud of this. When I heard other perspectives and more accurate accounts of history, I understood why the flag is a terrible symbol of evil and hatred. That’s what it means to me now But I would be lying if I said that has always been the case. I’m not defending Dolly or anyone else. And also, it’s not unfathomable to me that someone who went from extreme poverty in rural Appalachia to a wealthy superstar who I’m sure was sheltered from many things, would be ignorant about the harm and hate the confederate flag represents. It’s not an excuse. At all. But I can see how it could have happened. I deeply regret my own past ignorance about this.“

Check out this month's challenge in the classroom!

When I was 19 and struggling with the choice to quit community college so I could work more hours or move in with my very unhealed mother, my 45 year old photo lab mate took me in. I lived there 6 months with her, her career Air Force husband and teen son. I was always the odd ball in this adopted family and teased for it in a way I could see their work and find the love. Then Trump- at first they thought he was a joke, now they are happy he is “cleaning up DC and deporting the gang members.” It was a rough Thanksgiving and I will love and honor what they have done for me, from my safe space. There I can be genuinely me and be seen and heard. The trauma goes back even further than Colonialism and the current MAGA indoctrination has been decades in the making. Many of my white and in this case (Puerto Rican- internalized racism and sexism) friends are not capable of the needed trauma healing . The Ally Sip was so helpful in maneuvering this and focusing where I can be part of the world I want to live in. Thank you so much Ardenia and all my fellow ladies.