Blog
Opinion
September 20, 2024
Finding one another again... on October 6th, 7th, and 8th
How your institution plans to commemorate these days is likely being determined right now. There is no universally correct approach to this moment, no precedent or procedure to follow. But I do have some ideas that might help.
by
Ali Michael, PhD
Coaching Series
September 20, 2024
Meeting the Moment in 2024-25: A Seminar for School Leaders
A Year of Hope in Fractured Times
by
Ali Michael, PhD
Coaching Series
April 1, 2024
Spring 2024 Workshops
Two workshops: A Facilitation Intensive and an Antiracist Jewish Educator Space
by
Ali Michael, PhD
Opinion
January 23, 2024
I fell for it
I fell for the takedown of a Black woman academic. I missed that she was fighting for me.
by
Ali Michael, PhD
News Coverage
June 20, 2023
How White People Can Contribute to a Healthy Multiracial Society
Corwin
by
Ali Michael, PhD
Opinion
January 29, 2023
White women aren't supposed to cry about racism...
...but sometimes that's exactly what I need to do
by
Ali Michael, PhD
Events
November 7, 2022
White Fragility (Adapted for Young Adults) Book Launch
Wednesday, December 7, 7 p.m.
by
Ali Michael
Events
October 30, 2022
Our Problem, Our Path - Virtual launch
Join us for a virtual launch of Ali and Eleonora's new book!
by
Ali Michael
Announcements
January 13, 2023
Design Lab for Teachers: Supporting Positive Racial ID in Students
Come join us to think broadly and feel deeply as we consider racial identity--ours and our students'. Leave with tangible tools.
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
December 9, 2022
Interview on "The Chat"
The Chat
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
November 20, 2022
Giving Thanks and Telling Truth
Talking to kids this holiday season...
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
August 22, 2022
Collective anti-racism
NPR
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
August 10, 2022
Interview with John Fugelsang/Sirius XM
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
August 9, 2022
Interview on KGNC News Now
KGNC News Now / The Eagle
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
March 22, 2022
"Do you teach Critical Race Theory in K-12?"
This question is as ridiculous as asking whether we teach Torts in K-12. No one has classes on Torts until they get to law school. Most of us who never went to law school have no idea what Torts are…not unlike Critical Race Theory. But the fundamentals of Tort law, which are about respecting other people’s property, fixing it when you break it, and not taking what isn’t yours… those are absolutely taught in K-12.
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
February 24, 2021
Meeting Gertrude
People often want to know "What would make a White woman be so invested in anti-racism?" I don't usually share the story of what I learned in South Africa because, while it's one of many things that motivates me, it may be the least relatable or replicable. I want other White people to see a way forward on an anti-racist path for themselves. I want them to connect to my story. But when I retrace my whole journey, I have to include my friend Gertrude, who I met when I was studying abroad at the University of Cape Town.
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 21, 2021
Happy First Second Gentleman's Day!
Today I want to acknowledge another historic first. It’s our first Second Gentleman. This is the first time that either our president or vice president has a man for a spouse or partner. And the reason I want to acknowledge this is because I have a seven-year-old — a white cisgender boy — who will most likely grow up to be a white man. As a parent who seeks to help her child grow into an anti-racist white adult, I want his world filled with role models who can help him see what it looks like to be a white man who acts as an ally — a co-conspirator in the drive for a more inclusive, just nation and world.
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 19, 2021
Numbness as White Supremacy
“If you could design the ideal White ally, what characteristics would they have?” This question was asked recently of scholar Ibram X. Kendi. He answered, “The ideal White ally would understand that it’s in their self-interest to build an anti-racist society.”
by
Ali Michael
Resources
October 16, 2020
Podcast Black @America: How White People Can Hear Feedback and Take Action
Taking feedback can be hard in the best of times. During Covid, most of us are already raw and stretched. This summer, the Black @School movement that took place on Instagram delivered feedback to schools across the country that education is delivered in a way that causes trauma to Black students. How can educators take in this feedback in a way that leads to healing and change in our classrooms? In this podcast (see link below), I interviewed trauma specialist Eleonora Bartoli, PhD, about how to move beyond the fight, flight, freeze reactions that are common for White people when hearing feedback about the ways that we perpetuate racism.
by
Ali Michael
Coaching Series
July 15, 2020
Resources for Creating and Sustaining White Anti-Racist Learning Spaces
Next year--just like this year--I will offer a four part coaching series for White people who lead White anti-racist learning spaces. These sessions will be specifically geared towards people who are leading White “affinity groups” and will be structured so as to share strategies for organizing such groups and sharing potential activities. Resources are included here.
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
June 5, 2020
How to Talk to Your Children About the Protests
This post was originally published on The Wall Street Journal. They asked pediatricians, educators, community leaders and authors for their advice on how to talk to children, how to recognize when they are struggling and resources parents can use in this difficult and confusing time.
by
The Wall Street Journal
News Coverage
June 2, 2020
Here are 8 books on race and privilege to learn how to be a white ally
"By and large, racial literacy for white people requires really knowing the true history of the U.S. which many of us do not learn in school. There is no blame or shame there, but we can't really recognize the current racial dynamics in the U.S. without understanding the history," said Ali Michael, the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators and author of "Raising RaceQuestions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education." "The thing about books is you have to look at your own lens and figure out where you need to grow."
by
Good Morning America
Opinion
May 30, 2020
I am White. What can I do to help?
Ava DuVernay, in this recent interview with CBS news, shared a common sentiment that it’s not the job of People of Color to help White people figure out what to do. They are using all of their emotional energy to survive. So White people have some work to do. As a White woman who is asking the same question myself, here are the answers I’m coming to:
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
May 30, 2020
What can White people do?
Ava DuVernay, in this recent interview with CBS news, shared a common sentiment that it’s not the job of People of Color to help White people figure out what to do. They are using all of their emotional energy to survive. So White people have some work to do. As a White woman who is asking the same question myself, here are the answers I’m coming to:
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
November 20, 2019
New Orleans
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
August 15, 2017
#ThisIsNotUs and #ThisIsAlsoWhoWeAre
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 27, 2017
Practicing gratitude for that one student who likes Trump among us
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 25, 2017
Is Anti-Racism Partisan?
Two teachers have written to me to say, “I used your words. I said that I would support my students whether they are Muslim, gay, Black, White, Asian American, Hindu, Sikh, lesbian, disabled, straight, transgender, Latino, Christian, Native American, female, male, undocumented, Republican, Democrat, Independent or Green. And I got in trouble.” Teachers and principals are asking, “Can we still promote anti-racism without being partisan?”
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 23, 2017
Missed connections: What wasn’t said in Washington this weekend
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
January 15, 2017
What kind of White person would I have been?
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
November 7, 2016
What should we tell the children?
Tell them, first, that we will protect them.
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
September 2, 2015
Pale Fear
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
June 12, 2015
Rachel Dolezal Syndrome
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
April 23, 2015
I failed the implicit bias test
A few weeks ago I took the implicit bias test on race and failed. I didn’t fail exactly—it’s not a test you can actually fail—but I wasn’t proud of my results.
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
August 18, 2014
Mourning the losses of Black men killed by police
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
August 7, 2012
Anti-racism to do list
On the last day of the White Privilege Conference last spring (Albuquerque, 2012), a participant in one of my workshops approached me to ask what three things she should be doing as a white person to be anti-racist. She said, “I know it’s life-long and that you can’t just narrow it down to a bulleted list. But… if you could… what would you say are the top three things I should be doing to try to be anti-racist?”
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
September 21, 2011
Why does the bad kid have to be black?
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
December 8, 2010
Is homework in kindergarten bad for kids?
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
October 30, 2010
The Culture of Privilege
by
Ali Michael
Opinion
September 18, 2010
Pirate Party
by
Ali Michael
News Coverage
Interview with Mindy Todd of The Point
WCAI-FM: Local NPR for Cape, Coast and Islands
by
Ali Michael
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