Same Storm. Different Boats.

From yachts to makeshift rafts, everyone is in this thing together, in one way or another. 

Speaking of boats, I can't help but think of the massive ship that is our public school system, long having kept kids (and families alike) in strong routine and progressive forward movement, or trying to. I keep picturing Minneapolis Public Schools system in its current state of being as the Titanic; that moment after its catastrophic breakdown. 

Having coasted for longer than it could/should have on what's left of the grace and nurturing flow of its educators and the support professionals who've kept the ship afloat through storm after storm… our public schools are not functional for good reason. 
The combined cold and neglectful treatment coming  down on those who’ve held the ship together, kept it afloat year after year, especially over the past decade… while MPS administration has reduced funding for resources “crisis” style thanks to shifts and mismanagement, reduced federal and state funding… thanks to "fiscally conservative" legislation priorities… the nurturing flow of educators and support professionals can not sustain itself in this system by bleeding out any longer. It's all come to a halt in the form of a collective iceberg "holding the line." By my estimation, the *only* reason our unions *must* remain this solid in its icy form (if that is how you perceive them)  …to show us all and the *system* itself, the exact nature of what our teachers and support professionals have been up against all along, quietly and in conference rooms as well as their professional email inboxes outside of the public eye. Being told they must do more AND with less, relentlessly.

For anyone who has not walked in the shoes of our educators and support professionals, it is incredibly difficult to perceive what all we haven't been made party to. These narratives have long been actively distorted by those in power, especially those who hold the purse strings and write the budgets. Yes there are several "layers" to this, as with any system of oppression. It can't easily be summed up in a hot take. But some people are doing a far better job of this than I can ever hope to, I've collected a couple favorites below.

Here is what I know. It takes a special kind of nurturing to keep such a massive ship such as the Titanic that is Minneapolis Public Schools afloat and working well for all families; I have good reason to believe it never did (work well for all families.) It has crashed and been destroyed for a reason. Yes, the debris scattered about the icy waters with families who have no emergency resources leaves too many without floatation. One family in this position is too many... and frankly, we are here because there were never enough resources to have liferafts for those who inhabited the Titanic that is Minneapolis Public Schools to begin with. It has always been like this, we just couldn't hope to see it all so clearly before now, two weeks into a strike shutting us down.

So. If you are a person who a) doesn't have a child enrolled in MPS and 2) choose to using the language "there is no money" when discussing the massive *labor of love* that is the strike effort by MPS educators and support professionals... I implore you to shift your language and thinking in two ways. 

1) I beg you to begin asking "why is there no money?" 

2) if you can’t bring yourself to ask that question, I implore you to get right with why this is so difficult, get curious with yourSELF. If this is the case for you, PLEASE for the love of God, take your body outside and engage a conversation with any picketer in blue out on the line. Stay open. Ask to hear their personal story. In my experience, they are more than happy to EDUCATE YOU on why they hold the line, if you will listen. 

We stand to learn quite a lot, by LISTENING to them. Perhaps you will then choose to use your powrful voice that chooses to condemn their cause to shift and support them with your resources, with your VOICE... and help to lobby our lawmakers toward funding the places that have been neglected in an effort to keep our future moving in the right direction... afloat and forward. 

Thank you for reading. I hope you those who need this message are reading. I've learned loads by listening to those who actually show up for *every child* who attends Minneapolis Public Schools. As I learn to speak with grace and better clarity, I'm using what I still have for now. ANGER and disappointment (rooted in GRIEF.) For the record, I Am You and have long been frustated with MPS and everyone who works there in one way or form through my 10 years as a parent navigating this system. Forgive me, I am learning right along with everyone else.

Here are a couple of messages that helped me along my discovery path. I keep remembering something else I've learned as I manage and stabilize through my dread, anxiety and depression... "Discovery isn't recovery." Putting together the *pieces* is the recovery. And, this no an individual puzzle one person or subset is gonna solve, but a collective one. It is my hope and wish to see more of us doing this recovery work in community. 

Shared with all my love, Lacey

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Posted two years ago at the start of pandemic shut down by Love Them First documentary subject and Minneapolis North High Principal, Mauri Friestleben.

Hot Take and important perspective regarding "Human Debt" full thread here.