Tis the Season’ for advocacy, belonging, and culturally responsive teaching.

I recently had an interesting experience while doing professional development with a group of educators. As I entered the zoom platform, the group was talking about their holiday traditions and many of them had on different holiday attire. As always, in my opening remarks to a group, I like to connect with the (virtual) crowd. I jumped into the conversation and acknowledged some of the Christmas traditions mentioned as well as the decorations and attire that people were wearing, largely those who had on green and red.

This equity session just happened to be about identity. In leading sessions about race and culture, I often introduce an identity wheel as a tool for working with new audiences. I use examples of some dominant mainstream understandings that exist in America (Liberty, freedom, individualism, capitalism also more arguably dominant, inequality) to serve as a starting point for how our society operates. I also talked about how certain identities have greater privilege and alignment with those dominant mainstream understandings. I highlighted examples of heterosexuality and LGBTQ+, able-bodied and disabled, male and female, and I concluded with race and what is normalized in America. Lastly, I elevated the idea that when something is not perceived as “normal” it is therefore subconsciously abnormal, different, and ofttimes deemed subordinate.

As I’m leading the session, I hear my name and I see a woman waving her hand feverishly to get my attention. It almost felt as though she was on a stranded road and I was the first car that she saw for hours. I was pretty shocked because I’ve never had a session where someone wanted to ask a question directly in the middle of it, at least not in Zoom spaces with 70 or 80 people. I asked if she (don’t remember her name, we’ll call her Ms. G.) could hold for a while until I finished my discussion about identity. In my mind, I’m thinking what might she have to ask me that was so pressing.

As I wrapped up my talk, I came back to Ms. G. and asked did she have a comment or question that she wanted to share with the group. She mentioned that she noticed that at the beginning of the session many people were talking about Christmas and when I came on I referenced the holidays being mentioned, but didn’t…