Each year, November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). TDOR was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. “Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and… Read More »
Today, Thanksgiving is largely observed as a secular holiday. The text of Lincoln’s original proclamation was, however, explicit in declaring it “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” We are by now familiar with how holidays grounded in a particular faith can be divisive. (And by the… Read More »
Is the Confederate battle flag a symbol for people who tried to hold on to slavery and seceded from the Union? Or is it merely a show of Southern heritage and pride? After decades of debate, it may no longer matter: Mississippi will fly a new flag, after voters signed off on a new design.… Read More »
Join us Monday, November 23, at 7:30 pm to learn how to use privilege to fight racism at the holiday table. Click here to RSVP: https://forms.gle/Y52UMX3VDhRzX5Pg7 Register early! Pre-work will be assigned to facilitate and frame the training conversation. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants the day before the event. The Leveraging Privilege… Read More »
The HES Equity Committee is actively looking for students interested in taking a leadership role in equity, diversity and inclusion in our school! Our Student Advisory Board will guide the Equity Committee’s work by: providing insight into the school community working with the Equity Committee’s student club working with Catonsville High School student mentors to… Read More »
We all know that this has been a challenging year. From a global pandemic to sweeping social unrest, we’ve had to really examine how we define our community, and what our place in it is. Now Halloween is almost upon us, and it’s time to look at the holiday from every angle and ponder its… Read More »
October is LGBTQ+ History Month! If you’d like some guidance talking to children about the diverse history of the continuing fight for LGBTQ equality, Teaching Tolerance has an extensive collection of lesson plans geared toward K-2 or Grade 3-5 students. Though the lessons are created specifically for classroom use, parents and caregivers may find many… Read More »
The HES PTA is pleased to facilitate a discussion about An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, the latest selection of the HES Equity Committee. Please join us on Wednesday, November 18, immediately following the PTA General Meeting, to discuss this “meticulously documented…thought-provoking treatise” and 2015 American Book Award-winner. If you… Read More »
If you missed Equity forum held Monday, August 3, you’re in luck! This amazing session was recorded and is here for you watch. Visit https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4PUqBLOty3hOQInqw0zYY_Q7Gd3hT6a81HUerqVYmBoXFf8gNl373E5uMyZa9HHb with the password: 3n$=U9w= for full access to everything covered.
Discrimination isn’t always blatant. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize how what you’re reading may be building bias in your subconscious. Take Tikki Tikki Tembo, for example, a decades-old children’s book billed as an adaptation of a Chinese folktale. It is not. And there is danger in treating it as an example of Chinese culture. For one… Read More »
