Summary notes created by Deciphr AI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiKtZgImdlYDrawing from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s reflection on silence's impact, a teacher shares personal experiences and classroom practices aimed at combating silence in the face of injustice. The teacher promotes critical reading, conscious writing, clear speaking, and truthful expression among students, emphasizing the importance of using one's voice to challenge discrimination and violence. By confessing past failures to speak up against acts of bigotry and by encouraging students to share their own stories, the teacher fosters a safe space for dialogue and self-expression, underlining the power and responsibility that comes with breaking the silence.
"Every day, all around us, we see the consequences of silence manifest themselves in the form of discrimination, violence, genocide, and war."
"In the classroom, I challenge my students to explore the silences in their own lives through poetry."
"We work together to fill those spaces, to recognize them, to name them, to understand that they don't have to be sources of shame."
"I have four core principles posted on the board that sits in the front of my class, which every student signs at the beginning of the year: read critically, write consciously, speak clearly, tell your truth."
"I find myself thinking a lot about that last point, tell your truth."
"I realized that if I was going to ask my students to speak up, I was going to have to tell my truth and be honest with them about the times where I failed to do so."
"I will not let silence wrap itself around my indecision."
"I will tell Christian that he is a lion, a sanctuary of bravery and brilliance."
"I will ask that homeless man what his name is and how his day was, because sometimes all people want to be is human."
"I will tell that woman that my students can talk about transcendentalism like their last name was Thoreau, and just because you watched one episode of 'The Wire' doesn't mean you know anything about my kids."
"So this year, instead of giving something up, I will live every day as if there were a microphone tucked under my tongue, a stage on the underside of my inhibition."
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."
"Silence is the residue of fear."
"It is feeling your flaws gut-wrench guillotine your tongue."
"It is the air retreating from your chest because it doesn't feel safe in your lungs."
"I spent so much of my life telling people the things they wanted to hear instead of the things they needed to, told myself I wasn't meant to be anyone's conscience because I still had to figure out being my own, so sometimes I just wouldn't say anything, appeasing ignorance with my silence, unaware that validation doesn't need words to endorse its existence."
"When Christian was beat up for being gay, I put my hands in my pocket and walked with my head down as if I didn't even notice."
"I couldn't use my locker for weeks because the bolt on the lock reminded me of the one I had put on my lips."
"I will tell Christian that he is a lion, a sanctuary of bravery and brilliance."
"I will ask that homeless man what his name is and how his day was, because sometimes all people want to be is human."
"I will tell that woman that my students can talk about transcendentalism like their last name was Thoreau, and just because you watched one episode of 'The Wire' doesn't mean you know anything about my kids."
"I will not let silence wrap itself around my indecision."
"So this year, instead of giving something up, I will live every day as if there were a microphone tucked under my tongue, a stage on the underside of my inhibition."
"Because who has to have a soapbox when all you've ever needed is your voice?"
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."
"Every day, all around us, we see the consequences of silence manifest themselves in the form of discrimination, violence, genocide and war."
"In the classroom, I challenge my students to explore the silences in their own lives through poetry."
"We work together to fill those spaces, to recognize them, to name them, to understand that they don't have to be sources of shame."
"Read critically, write consciously, speak clearly, tell your truth."
"I will live every day as if there were a microphone tucked under my tongue, a stage on the underside of my inhibition."
"Who has to have a soapbox when all you've ever needed is your voice?"
"Silence is the residue of fear."
"There is no time to pick your battles when your battles have already picked you."
"I will not let silence wrap itself around my indecision."
"I tell them that growing up, as a kid in a Catholic family in New Orleans, during Lent I was always taught that the most meaningful thing one could do was to give something up, sacrifice something you typically indulge in to prove to God you understand his sanctity."
"I spent so much of my life telling people the things they wanted to hear instead of the things they needed to, told myself I wasn't meant to be anyone's conscience because I still had to figure out being my own, so sometimes I just wouldn't say anything, appeasing ignorance with my silence."