Assimilation has been the modus operandi in the American classroom. Educators often don’t recognize the corrosive effect this has on the identity formation of young people. In this interactive lesson, educators will use three critical lenses described by Ibram X. Kendi in his book How To Be an Antiracist–assimilationist, segregationist, and antiracist to read, recognize, and gain insight into the tensions between and among these social assumptions in sample poems. A reading list of K-12 AAPI literature will be provided.

Presenter: Sima Kumar, NJ Educator and Board Member of Make Us Visible New Jersey