Humanity at its best.

So,remind me to tell my daughter that we all can meet another's needs if we bother to identify it. This weekend, I went to a great conference for independent school educators of color called the People of Color Conference.  There were some great moments and some less than exciting ones like when the workshop on "teaching kids through revolution" was done by a smart Egyptian-American woman who was bent on making her audience cringe at their stupidity. We were ignorant about specific members of the Egyptian community who had played a part in starting or forwarding the revolution.  She was like: "Do you know who Khaled so and so was?" Silence, silence, looking around.  "Anyone? anyone!?!?!"  (you stupid Americans who call yourselves teachers) And there we sat in sunken shame knowing we weren't worthy of the budget allocated to send us to be professionally developed.  But there were also amazing moments like when three highly enlightened while educators from New York City talked about teaching and encouraging their white colleagues to embrace white as an identity rather than as "no-race" or worse "normal in comparison to colored".  That was mind-blowing and I sat in awe of all the white faculty members in the room who were willing to go on that journey.  But the highlight of the conference for me had nothing to do with workshops and everything to do with a simple, personal decision.  After leaving the final workshops and traveling to the airport (scared to death that I wouldn't get there two hours early).  I sat with my Latino teaching colleague.  He talked to me about his concern for students whose  Latino parents cannot begin to understand the tough college race their children are in.  He described the loss they were at because of their inability to understand or speak English.  I thought I understood and could appreciate the socio-economic difference and maybe even the cultural differences, but he brought me to see the depth of investigation needed to serve the English as second language population of students as fairly as all other students.  He discussed the complete "foreign-ness" of the journey to college acceptance for some families.  Traveling to visit schools the summer of Junior year is unheard of considering expense, time and accessibility.  What school can explain and describe the importance of the college process and its steps for any population of immigrant families for whom English is a second language or not  a functional language?  Is it okay to have them as part of our school's population and leave them out even if they cannot articulate or are unaware of their specific needs? Well, my colleague then told me that he identified the need for one of his Latino students and made a decision.  He, with parent's approval, took the student on college tours to help prepare for this daunting journey.  No pay, no requirement, just meeting a need that spoke to his heart.  That hit me.  That brought me to appreciation and almost tears.  What if, what if we all did what we could to meet the needs of the needy that spoke directly to our own hearts?  Not everyone's needs, but the few, specific ones we knew we were able to help with.  My God. So, remind me to tell my daughter that we all can do that.  That these are the small acts that define humanity at is best and are worthy of admiration, awe and respect.