Dozens of parents have asked me about homeschooling. I am honestly back on the fence. Not about homeschooling itself, but about how to homeschool. There are different models of homeschooling and each model can be beneficial depending on the child's and parents' needs. No school system or homeschool curriculum is perfect!

​Here are my biggest observations and takeaways (I speak as a mother of 2, Professor, a clinician, and someone who has taught outside of the U.S. in African schools):

1. Many homeschool models are reflective of traditional schooling such as 8am starts and 3pm end times, and math, science, and reading. Other programs are simply "supports" for parents. For me, I loved the shutdown of schools or social distancing from whiteness. I didn't like how school made my child a zombie. I love that she is sleeping in and waking up vibrant, energetic, and is a social being again (she works out with her dad at 4:30am/5am); and she is no longer expected to be a miniature adult attempting to avoid fights with adults or other students.
I'm not in support of homeschool programs that go from 8-3pm. I do not believe a child's brain needs to be guided by adults via technology for 6 hours out of the day. Go read! Sit in the sun! Talk to other people! Color! Draw! Or, just be! (But, no t.v. or too much social media lol). I did find one program whose motto was no more than 4 hours a day of online learning.

2. Some homeschool sites' online presence is "clunky" and/or doesn't provide enough information for parents to make an informed decision. Second, most parents are not experts on homeschooling. An organization's or businesses' online resources should be streamlined and transparent. What are you asking of us? Our children? What are your prices? What is the curriculum?
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3. Some homeschool programs center culture (e.g. everything from cooking to travel to Africa courses!), but may lack what I might think is an essential skill such as a foreign language (e.g. Spanish or Swahili). Finally, culture should be at the center of all education. Period. But, we have to be careful of throwing everything in the "pot", because it looks and feels good to adults. For example, the number one language spoken by Africans is Swahili (outside of Africa is Spanish!). Shouldn't Black children be learning one or both of these languages? With that said, how do parents choose a curriculum that infuses culture and practicality?
Okay, this post is now too long!

In the struggle for our humanity,

Dr. V
​"Not your mother's therapist, or your brother's life coach."

On its official release date, February 22nd, 2019, my new book, Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry: A Mosaic for Writing Our Daughter's Body, came in at #1 in 4 categories on Amazon. ​What an amazing week!

​The first week success of ​"Black feminism in qualitative inquiry" demonstrates that the world yearns for more scholarship on Black women's theorizing.
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What can readers expect from this book:
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• Conversations on the histories and futures of Black feminism(s)
• Calls for the decolonization of methodologies
• Centering Black girls' and women's ways of knowing and engagement of the social world
• Stories and narrations grounded in a Black onto-epistemology
• Theoretical leanings positioned in Afro-centrism and Pan Africanism​​

​If I might say so myself, in this book, I definitely showed up as a courageous cultural worker!!! The ancestors are proud.

​You may find the text, "Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry: A Mosaic for Writing Our Daughter's Body" on Amazon in paperback and Kindle Edition or here. 

Every Black girl, Black woman, Black child, Black family, and Black community that I ever came in contact with were my inspiration for engaging in truth-telling as a methodological imprint. 

Are you enjoying reading the book? Leave your comments below or on Amazon​.

In the struggle for our humanity,

Dr. Venus E. Evans-Winters
"Not your mother's therapist, or your brother's life coach."
​

​Sometimes we forget to SAY THE NAME of our Black women artists whom have been muses to our souls as their lyrics played in the background whilst we crafted our own life stories. One such artist is the almighty Queen Lauryn Hill. 

As Black girls were navigating the unforgiving terrain of adolescence, Lauryn Hill was reaching out to save our lives. Beyond adolescence, she helped so many Black young women survive a world that bastardizes Black femininity and exploits Black girlhood. In the 300 plus page book, "Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood: The Lauryn Hill Reader", authors showcase Lauryn Hill not only as lyrical genius, but they also demonstrate how Hill raised our racial and gender consciousness. ​Every lyric, outfit, and sound was a freedom cry.

​At at time, when much attention is given to our pain, and necessarily so in order to heal, "The Lauryn Hill Reader" (edited by Drs. Billye Sankofa Waters, Bettina Love, and yours truly, Dr. V) reminds us to unapologetically celebrate vulnerability alongside agency and resistance (as art) as an intellectual stance. This book is right on time for more media attention has recently been given to the exploitation of Black adolescent girls by adult men. 

Nonetheless, alongside Black girl pain we have artists like the almighty Queen Lauryn Hill and the authors' narratives and articulations in "Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood: The Lauryn Hill Reader" reminding us of Black girl joy as a site of resistance. Let's lift up our women hip hop and R&B artists' names who help us persist and resist in the face of patriarchy, racial oppression, and class exploitation. A hip hop feminist consciousness brings the balance needed in using art and story to heal trauma. 

In the struggle for our humanity,
​
Dr. Venus Evans-Winters
"Not your mother's therapist, or your brother's life coach."

Dear Sister,

I write this letter to you as a daughter, sister, mother, and friend whom has been wounded in the past by personal acquaintances, strangers, and enemies alike. Reading about the horrific death and possibly alleged* assault of Kenneka Jenkins was like handing my psyche over to a public firing squad.

Sister, over the next few days or weeks people are going to blame another young sister for Kenneka's death and alleged assault; others will attempt to blame her Black mother for not supervising her whereabouts; and people will blame Kenneka herself for being at a hotel and being overly trusting of her friends. 

People will even blame the police and media for not covering the story and seeking out answers. In turn, the media will turn the lens back on Kenneka herself, her mother, friends, or Black people in general. Inevitably, somehow Black women will become simultaneously the overlooked victims and targets of this tragedy.

Compassion and empathy will be lost to blame. Sister, how do we begin to move the conversation from self-blame to healing?

For me, I was overwhelmed by the nonchalant attitude of possible witnesses of violence* occurring in various renditions of circulating videos, but I was more disheartened by the amount of young women who openly admitted that they needed to stop watching or could not watch any longer the videos and tweets titled, #KennekaJenkins, because it brought back too many memories of their own rape or experience with physical violence and betrayal. 

Last night, I went to sleep feeling emotionally exhausted and saddened. I even had a nightmare that involved guns and the threat of rape. The hypothesis of Kenneka's final moments before her death coupled with the realization that dozens of Black women were admitting online in social media that they were once violated and survivors of rape caused me to be emotionally depleted.

Women spoke of the words and images describing the brutal assault as a trigger.

These public disclosures made me wonder: 

1)Exactly how many young Black women are survivors of rape and never report the rape?
2) How many young Black women are required to cope in silence with their memories of a rape and/or assault with no one to talk to?
3) How many Black girls and women have to live out over and over again their assault via music, television, or social media?
4) Worse yet, how many mothers are burdened with the helpless feeling that no matter how much she loves her daughter, tries to protect her daughter, and teaches her daughter to stand up and fight for herself that she still will not be able to protect her daughter from being physically harmed, maimed, or death?  

At some point, we even have to consider the pain of the so-called friend depicted* in the video. How much pain must a young woman must have experienced in her lifetime that she could sit back, record, and numb herself to another nearby sister in pain or in harm's way? It is easy to point fingers and to place blame, but I also wonder how have we failed this young sister.

Sister, we will do more to heal you and to protect your future daughters from rape, sexual assault, and other forms of physical abuse.  

• WE can begin this healing process by admitting to you our own past history with trauma (and our strategies with coping).
• We will also teach our boys and men about the effects of violence on Black women's bodies, spirits, psyches, and relationships.
• We can use education to prevent boys and girls from doing harm to a Black young woman.
• We must also work to bring about economic and mental health policies that unabashedly places Black girls and women first. 

In closing, sister, we promise to continue to lift with you as you carry forward our burden, proudly stand with you in your strength, and without shame we walk with you in your healing journey.

Peace,

Dr. Venus Evans-Winters (a.k.a. DrV)

Further Readings:

Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Why We Must Focus on Black Girls: http://www.theroot.com/sexual-assault-awareness-month-why-we-must-focus-on-bl-1794400667

Women of Color and Sexual Assault: https://endsexualviolencect.org/resources/get-the-facts/women-of-color-and-sexual-assault/
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​*Indicates language change related to updates of the Kenneka Jenkins case: http://trib.in/2xo4DMz