On The Vine: On never giving in
The joy thing’s getting difficult, y’all. We’ve been parrying attacks on education, teachers, sexuality, identity and common sense, all while war comes to us from a world away through damn near every screen we turn to.
So how do we hold on to the joy in life? Is it selfish to want or expect to?
These are honestly just questions for you all. I have no idea.
I’m pretty sure it was bell hooks who said: “There is light in the darkness, you just have to find it.” Truth be told, there are more than a handful of such quotes — a similar line shines in “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
But the bevy of musings on how we smile, how we contend with wanting to maintain our humanity in some of the darkest of times, tells me that you’re not alone if you look at the world and see a bunch of things that upset you, frustrate you, and hollow you out.
As long as you don’t give up, I guess.
Around the block
‘The Lowrider Teacher’: How a mechanic became a top Johnson County school leader
All I can say is this is so freakin’ cool. The world needs more Erik Erazos.
He’s sacrificed so much, worked so hard to give kids an outlet through which to be heard, and show them another way — to give them hope and connection.
Star reporter Sarah Ritter reports:
Erik Erazo, hair slicked back, tattoos peeking out from his rolled-up shirtsleeves, surveys the Olathe garage, filled with teens clinking wrenches and adjusting tall handlebars.
To the side is their finished work: lowrider bikes embellished with velvet banana seats, metallic paint and intricately twisted metal, each worth as much as $5,000.
At one time, Erazo, a California-bred mechanic, was very much like these high schoolers. The child of Guatemalan immigrants, he struggled to embrace his identity while straddling two cultures. A teen dad, he was labeled a troubled kid at risk of dropping out of school, and was rarely encouraged to aspire for more than that.
But today, Erazo has worked his way up from serving as a school security officer to becoming one of the top administrators in the Olathe school district. Through his perspective, Erazo has created programs — like his lowrider bike club — that have transformed the lives of dozens of students, while helping to reshape the community they live in.
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‘Black joy means everything’: Kansas Citians highlight moments that uplift them
For Black History Month, The Star asked Kansas Citians to tell us what Black joy means to them, and share a recent memory that embodies that idea.
We put out a metro-wide call and reached out to hundreds of individuals, including friends and sources of The Star, asking for photos and videos of Black joy and how it plays a role in their lives.
Also see:
On Black joy: Rooted in the struggle, it is rebellion and the pursuit of life, love
You shared moments of Black joy. Now tell us, what stories should The Star tell?
Muenfua Lewis, a co-founder of By Design magazine, a Kansas City-based magazine for Black creatives, said Black joy is a preview of what the world could be. A glimpse into the world he’s trying to create. A world void of “societal implications” — freedom.
“Black Joy is part of Black resistance. It’s a peek into Black self-actualization. It’s hope that we can be our authentic selves at all times,” he said. “Black joy means everything. This world is brutal for Black people, moments of joy keep me going.”
Lewis’s thoughts are shared by so many others who took the time to offer their thoughts: You all spoke of the freedom to live life beautifully, to dream, to live out loud, to know and love yourself.
This project (read it here) is a result of everyday people from across Kansas City thoughtfully sharing personal introspections on life, love and Black joy.
Beyond the block
Texas governor directs state agencies to investigate gender-affirming care for trans youths as ‘child abuse’
Honestly, what reality are we even living in anymore?
There’s no argument I can hear anymore that even begins to paint a picture of how the “other side” thinks. I don’t understand lawmakers apparent obsession with the gender identity of young Americans. If these are the lengths we’re going to, I don’t see how we’re not beyond saving.
Julian Mark at The Washington Post reports:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed state agencies this week to conduct “prompt and thorough” investigations into the use of gender-affirming care for transgender children, a move that follows an opinion from the state attorney general that such treatments are a form of “child abuse.”
In a letter Tuesday to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services, Abbott cited an opinion issued Friday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) stating that certain gender-affirming treatments for transgender children — including gender reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking medications — “can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions” of state law.
Abbott wrote that the protective services agency “is responsible for protecting children from abuse,” adding in a tweet Tuesday that the agency will “refer for prosecution any such abuse.”...
Major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have supported the use of gender-affirming care for transgender children, although doctors generally recommend waiting until a child reaches puberty to begin medications such as puberty blockers or hormone treatments, The Post has reported.
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For the culture
Sha’Carri Richardson On Black Womanhood, Radical Self-Love, and Running Her Own Race
Sha’Carri Richardson is still “THAT girl.”
Sade Green writes for Teen Vogue:
She introduced herself on the world stage as exactly who she is: An unapologetically proud young Black woman who will wear lashes, Flo-Jo nails, and vibrant hair colors while she’s competing; will not hesitate to correct people when they mispronounce her name (it’s SHUH-KERRI); and is never afraid to sing her own praises (she’s done this even since high school). Sha’Carri knows who she is, and for confident Black women, watching Sha’Carri own her power like this was thrilling and affirming.
Still, Sha’Carri has come to know that being an outspoken Black woman in America is perceived as a threat and is often diminished in an attempt to quell agency and success. In essence: There’s going to be a long line of people trying to humble her, to tell her that she’s “doing too much.”
“If you take away the ‘Black’ in front of the ‘woman’ and another woman reacts the same way, it’s not considered as ‘sassy,’...[or] ‘aggressive,’” Sha’Carri says. “One of the most powerful Black men said it, but the most disrespected person in the United States is [the] Black woman.”
Good day; good luck
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