although the path tracks my footsteps,
i don’t travel it for the path travels me
and although the path travels me,
it takes its own path, but leaves my footprints in its tracks
Amir-Hossein Afrasiabi (Talebi, 2008, p. 11)
Introduction
Protest movements have been part and parcel of American history from the very beginning. Many vital reforms in American life have originated as demonstrations against cruel established practices. To bear witness to such movements is to gather in solidarity and push for transformation as a collective and to attempt societal change. We must support the waves of nationwide protest today and appeals for stronger protections for black and brown communities against police brutality and hold officers accountable who shot and killed unarmed victims. As an educator, a mother, and a citizen of this world, I believe that social change can emerge through narrative change. Our rallying cries have now reverberated near and far; this is a movement that will see liberation from prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination that seems to swirl around the American historical narrative—black lives matter.
A Way Forward
The social and cultural funds are a module I developed to offer inclusive, anti-racial teaching for students, educators, and the community. The model is predicated on the foundational platform that the United States and the world stand at the precipice of one of the most
continuous and significant evolutions of humanity- migrations. Seeking to highlight the positive and continued movement of humans into the United States and the broader world as a byproduct of the global world's natural outcomes. By sharing the stories from the highly heterogeneous population of humans a new narrative to inform, teach, and engage learners to absorb and appreciate the bounty of the accumulation of beliefs, ideas, skills, and abilities anchored in the experiences of human beings on Earth. Using the socio-cultural-historical theory that acknowledges that social experiences and cultural tools shape the way in which humans look at the world and contour their perceptions of how the different worlds operate and, consequently, their experience within those distinct worlds.
In This Together
Vocalizing the experiences of humans through funds of knowledge and identity is the essence at the Center COTA. Establishing a practice of pedagogy in which the narratives of all humanity is guiding our youth, our communities, and our world leaders to acknowledge the naturally rich accumulation of behaviors, languages, and bountiful cultural, social belief systems that are the soul of the world. The funds of knowledge and identity (Gonzalez et al., 2005; Saubich &Esteban, 2011) have helped drive the pedagogy at COTA to serve as a platform that seeks to enhance understanding of human perceptions, perspectives, and gathering the story of all lives as it pertains to cultural preservation and transformation. The socio-cultural dynamics of funds of knowledge and identity serve as a means to share history, cultural identities, ancestry, and shared historical experiences, ultimately creating cultural codes for meaning-making. Empirically, however, even within the framework, the socio-cultural phenomena change incessantly, the fluctuation of these dynamics is at the heart of the Center
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