LYNN — While the Black Lives Matter movement continues across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, approximately 40 Lynn Public Schools teachers have found a creative way to show support for their Black students.
The teachers, the majority of whom work at Classical High School, have purchased shirts with a simple, but poignant message: “My Black Students Matter #theyarenotathreat.”
Betsy Ramos-Pachucki, who teaches at Classical, said when she saw the video of Floyd being killed by ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, she was overcome with strong emotions and a sense that she had a responsibility to respond.
After seeing a friend wearing a shirt that read “My Black Sons Matter,” Ramos-Pachucki said she was inspired to create a similar message acknowledging the impact the police brutality has on her Black students.
“It was just about beginning to put out the message saying, ‘we need to do better,’ and that we’re here for our kids and we need to build them up, not tear them down,” Ramos-Pachucki said.
Since she was restricted to her home during the COVID-19 shutdown, Ramos-Pachucki said her spirit was particularly afflicted because she could not discuss Floyd’s murder, the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests or the overall social justice movement with her students and coworkers.
So she had to think outside the box in terms of showing her support for BLM and her Black students in particular. She purchased a shirt, which was created by a Black, female-owned business, hismasterpiecedesigns.com, and things took off from there, she said.
The shirts, Ramos-Pachucki said, also gave her the confidence to speak up about what was happening across the country, explaining that, as one of the few teachers of color at Classical, she sometimes felt as if she had to shy away from expressing her thoughts so as to avoid being judged as a so-called “angry Latina.”
While she continued to wear the shirt and use her voice to support her Black students, Ramos-Pachucki said she did not want the gesture to be just for show, but rather be one that would serve as an inspiration to encourage others to reflect on racism and microaggressions and inspire others to bring about change.
“It’s not like ‘OK, I wore the shirt and I’ve done enough for social justice,'” Ramos-Pachucki said. “No. It shows that you’re one of those people that are working towards becoming anti-racist and working towards reversing policies that perpetuate racism.”
To that end, Ramos-Pachucki created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) growth circle last summer with her coworkers Amanda Curtis, Alyssa Smiley, Ellen Moriarty, Greg MacPhee and Travis Harris.
“(The) DEI-growth circle came from wanting to emphasize this message in a way that we can get people on board so that it’s not just performative, but actually shows what this means,” Ramos-Pachucki said. “The shirts start the conversation and the growth circle puts out there that this is ongoing work. Perhaps the shirt is a conversation starter, but it doesn’t end there.”
The DEI-growth circle consisted of about 20 teachers who discussed books about social justice including “White Fragility,” “How to be an Antiracist” and “So You Want to Talk About Race.”
The group met virtually once a week — which will continue into next year — an exercise that coincided with the school district’s equity modules and training for teachers, which was instituted in September 2020.
The district has been implementing equity into school curricula by providing more books about diversity and inclusion and creating equity panels — consisting of two advisors and students — at each middle and high school. Ramos-Pachucki, an advisor at Classical along with Samira Ghili, said the panels are aimed at allowing students to use their voices.
“The response from students about all of the equity and diversity changes happening at Classical has been way more favorable than not,” she said.
As the district continues to establish a program of equity, Ramos-Pachucki said Classical will continue to “build the students up, not tear them down.”
“If the students feel like they’re not being supported, whether it’s the color of their skin or not, that’s on us,” Ramos-Pachucki said. “Understanding how far words can go and the effect of them is going to make you want to change. But, if you don’t delve into that work and understand your biases and how small things can have a negative impact, you’re not going to want to push yourself to do things differently.”
Shirts are available at hismasterpiecedesigns.com for $30.
