Week 7 - Wade in the Water
Raging River
I am using the title of Amey’s article because it spoke to me and my continued struggle to understand/deal with my own intersecting identities and my chosen career path which I hope leads to formal leadership. I am intentional about using the word formal because part of my struggle with “everyone is a leader” is that I feel this sentiment has been used to keep certain folks out of formal leadership positions. Why would we need to push to have equality in promotion policies when everyone can do what they need to do at any level?
Identity Conflict
A line in Amey’s article that I honestly read over and over was the connection between marginalized people, cultural suicide, and success. On page 60, Amey states that women and administrators of color “may be forced to adopt dominant values to work and succeed in the organization, and in the process, lose touch with the unique qualities they bring as women or as women of color”. I read it and I sighed. I wrote it just now and I sighed again. My heart is heavy because I know that it is true. I look at the work I am doing with MSU Race Dialogues and I see that I could be a mentor for these young women of color, but I also wonder if I have become “the man”. I was reminded of “respectability politics” from one of the facilitators as we started talking about dress codes. I defended the dress code requests because that is just the way things are. But is it? The fact that I am VERY cognizant of what I wear, its level of femininity (not to masculine but not overly girly), color choices (some color is ok, but it should be muted), and even what I do with my hair (which isn’t much right now because I’m actually a little afraid that it will be seen as “too Black” if I were to get braids or twists). This is real. It takes time and hard work to be able to finally feel that you can draw strength from your own cultural heritage (Amey, p. 66).
Geeks & Geezers
My age is an identity that I don’t often think about… and when I do, it’s generally because I have gotten my age wrong (again). I know that most people take off years. I tend to add them. Not because I am rushing anything (truly, I don’t think that is my goal), but I just feel older than what my chronological age is. That said, last summer, I was chosen to be one of the “next-generation leaders” in service/community-engaged learning and civic engagement. I went to a summit and spent 3 days with pioneers of the movement (most of whom were at least 75), representatives from community organizations, and other next-generation leaders (mid-30s-early 50s). It wasn’t necessarily comfortable to not see those who were in the middle of the pack or to see those who were younger than us. Where has their value gone? Why are we not asking folks from each generation to talk about how they see the changes happening? The same goes for the Bennis and Thomas chapter. My question is this: When we leave out those in the middle, what knowledge are we omitting?