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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Anti-racist Vision Statement

CityCCL, residing on the traditional lands of the Tohono O'Odham, and the Yoeme, will be an exemplary anti-racist learning community that transforms the racial paradigms of multi-intersectional oppression for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within our organization, our communities, and the world in which we live. 

 

Recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives/Partnerships

  • TASH Inclusive Practices
  • City High School's Gender-Sexuality Alliance Club
  • CCCL Board's Equity Work 
  • Restorative Practices at all 3 Schools
  • SRI National Equity workshop held at Cityccl
  • "I'm Not Racist, Am I" Workshops
  • Kore Press equity workshops (Feminism & Social Justice; Difficult Discussions; Trans Competencies)
  • National Association of Multicultural Education
  • XITO Summer Institutes
  • Tucson Jewish History Museum
  • Southern AZ AIDs Foundation (Youth Empowerment and LGBTQ Leadership)

  • AdaptiveX (Leadership Training & Landscape Analysis)

Book Studies and Recommended Resources:

  • Culturally Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond
  • For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education (Race, Education, and Democracy) by Christopher Emdin
  • How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi  

Some Quotes From a CCCL Staff DEI Professional Development.

"Like most new teachers, I wanted to be a hero, changing kids’ lives and so on. While I still hope to be a positive influence on my students, stats like these helped me realize that there are systemic barriers in place, keeping kids from succeeding. In the high school where I taught during my first year, the students suspended most often were students of color. . . .

"I braid my hair, I'm called Pocahontas. I wear bright colors, I'm called Mija, even by the old men in South Tucson. ( I am not your daughter...not your little girl.) I open my mouth, and I am no longer a woman of color, but too white to be considered. Too white to give my opinion about my own experiences. This land is mine, but I am told to go back. We have been here for thousands of years. We came here 200 years ago. I am all of that and none."

 

"Being Black in the diaspora means never being left in peace, not even in your own skin."

"I think a lot of white people feel like whiteness doesn't play a role in their lives at all, like it's some kind of default experience. Here are some tangible ways that I know whiteness operates in my life: I don't think twice about what jobs I can apply to and whether I will be paid fairly for them. I am generally given the benefit of the doubt and my personality/ behaviors are not attributed to my race. I am never the only white person in a room. Whiteness allows me to see racial equity work as optional, even though it isn't."

 

"I have always wanted to be a person who dismantles these systems of oppression, even the ones I benefit from. Not because I want to be a “good” white person, but because I genuinely believe it’s the right thing to do. I have struggled, recently, with what is the right way to do that. How do I, as a white person, join this movement and use my privilege to dismantle oppression, to bring rights to people that have been disenfranchised for centuries without taking up unnecessary space and centering myself?"

If teachers think they are the lone heroes, riding into town to save the day, as a society we aren’t going to be able to break down these systems of oppression. We have to educate our students about these disparities and work with them to dismantle the forces which are causing them." 

 

CITY Center Schools and Programs

Braver Norms:

  1. We hold the liberation of our marginalized/oppressed students and families at the center of our pedagogy and practice.

  2. We act on solutions towards anti-racism: we are responsive to change and let go of excuses, blame, shame, and centering whiteness.

  3. We are curious about our emotional discomfort: we ask ourselves why we may feel uncomfortable before we react; we first listen and acknowledge our impact.

  4. We step up & step back to both amplify/make space for marginalized identity voices and also shoulder the burden of holding self and others accountable for racism.

  5. We are vigilant to ways we must disrupt/interrupt racism and act in allyship.

  6. We address our personal conflicts with the person in question and do not broadcast our concerns or disagreements behind the person’s back.

  7. We call out the behavior but call in the person while interrupting racism.

  8. We acknowledge that this work requires rest: we remember to honor self-care in times of overwhelm and create room for joy and celebration of community.

  9. We commit wholly (heart, mind, resources, time, energy) to the ongoing process of our personal and collective anti-racism journey.