When Kristen extended the invitation to contribute to this month’s Black SEL newsletter, a wave of gratitude and humility washed over me. Her suggestion to pen a call to action for Black SEL leaders and practitioners resonated deeply, immediately transporting me back to the powerful experience of the Black SEL Summit. I vividly recall the dedication and impactful work emanating from countless Black SEL leaders across the nation, tirelessly advocating for our children. The summit illuminated the transformative initiatives of programs like Jamila Sams’s We Do It 4 The Culture and Kristen Hopkins-Vincent’s Dangers of the Mind, each weaving culturally relevant curricula and practices to fortify and affirm the social and emotional learning skills of our young people.
Thus, a call to action urging these leaders to simply continue their already impactful work felt misaligned. Instead, a different imperative emerged: a call for Black SEL leaders to intentionally harness their adult SEL skills for their own well-being and mutual support. The faces and names of countless Black women and men, lives tragically cut short by illness and suicide, flashed through my mind. Images of Black leaders, their integrity and worth unjustly scrutinized and diminished in the public eye, flooded my consciousness like an unending social media reel.
The relentless impact of systemic racism is undeniably taking a toll on our very lives. My heartfelt plea to my brothers and sisters in this crucial work is to model the profound importance of self-compassion and self-care as an essential component of community care. Let us cultivate networks where we gather not only to strategize and collaborate on advancing Black SEL, but also to create sacred spaces for vulnerability – for venting frustrations, shedding tears, offering affirmations, and building each other up. Let us intentionally convene and reach out to one another to center Black joy and resilience, Black health and holistic wellbeing. Social and emotional learning, while not a panacea for all societal ills, provides us, as leaders and practitioners, with powerful tools to navigate the often treacherous landscapes we encounter. Transformative SEL challenges us to deeply connect with our identities and actively engage our agency to co-create spaces of liberation and meaningful change, leveraging our collective problem-solving skills to reimagine innovative solutions to persistent challenges.
Let us intentionally direct these invaluable skill sets towards nurturing the wellbeing and upliftment of ourselves as adults. In an era saturated with reality television, where our children are constantly bombarded with narratives of conflict and betrayal presented as entertainment, it is more critical than ever to provide them with robust examples of communities built on care, where collaboration and partnership take precedence over competition. Demonstrating what it truly means to foster a collective of individuals who unapologetically prioritize joy and mutual support is as vital as the programmatic work we undertake for our children. Because, ultimately, isn’t this very act of caring for ourselves and each other an integral and essential part of the work itself?
Last modified: February 12, 2024
