Empowerment Starts Here

In this episode, Dr. Marachi offers a critique on standardized testing as part of a larger phenomenon of big data and predictive analytics. She talks about testing as relating to resource distribution and data mining; about power holders as test makers and the design and coding of tests to keep them secure as power holders; and about social justice and 21st century learning promises as marketing tools and distractions to the real agenda for social maintenance—not social change.

To access more notes and resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://empowermentstartshere.net/2018/10/16/the-case-of-standardized-tests-ep41/

In this episode, the informant talks about individualism versus collectivism (in terms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness); about traditionalism versus innovation (in terms of critical pedagogy and rejecting the middle as the naming of the case); and about the English language as a power tool of culture and privilege (in terms of intrapersonal power as culpable in creating a dominant mindset and universal standard in education).

To access more notes and resources mentioned in this episode, please visit: https://empowermentstartshere.net/2018/10/09/the-case-of-rejecting-the-middle-ep40/

This case explores three themes extracted from Senate hearings around the Supreme Court vacancy and the allegations levied against Judge Kavanaugh: body and space; power-over; and the contested nature of the invisible. In this episode, the conversation is more academic (ish) than newsworthy. Whereas other programs have discussed Judge Kavanaugh in terms of upper-case P Politics (rule of law, advice and consent, and FBI investigations), this episode explores lower-case p (interpersonal politics relating to gender, race, emotions, structural power, latent power and psychological trauma).

In this episode, we spend a good chunk of time talking politically about giftedness, about the federal definition provided for gifted and talented programming, and about the ways in which capitalism and commercialism make space for some gifts while ignoring/invalidating others.

To access show notes and resources discussed in the episode, please visit the show's webpage.

In this episode, the informant talks about medicine and the health profession in terms of how prepared it is (or not) in dealing with communities of color.

To access show notes and resources mentioned in the episode, visit the webpage.

In this episode, the informant talks about socioeconomic conditions of fathering and challenges faced by black, low-income dads (unemployment, housing and mental health). In the closeout, the host talks about the physiological impact of children (even adult children) when neglected by a parent during childhood.

To access show notes and resources mentioned in the episode, please click here.

When you have multiple access points to powerlessness, the work of social change can seem impossible—even secondary to the work of survival. But nonetheless, there are those of us fighting for our wholeness, fighting for our humanness, all while trying to pursue a vision for a better tomorrow for us all. This episode talks intimately about the work social change from the margins. Please visit our webpage to access more information about this case as well as the resources mentioned in the episode.

In this eisode, the host focuses on the social world as relating to the power and privilege afforded to specific cognitive functions (within Meyers Briggs personality theory). She also brings attention to the challenges that exist when certain functions are embodied by women of color.

This is the second part where Part I (Episode 33) focused on details of personality theory and argues why such a theory is an important tool in disrupting social margins.

To access the resources mentioned in this episode, please visit our web page.

The final case is being presented over two episodes allowing for an adequate representation of two related yet distinct discussions. In the first episode (Ep33), the host provides an argument for why knowing the landscape of one's internal world is essential to disrupting margins. The case was inspired by six informants (in Ep20, Ep22, Ep25, Ep27, Ep30, and Ep32) from Season 2 in their willingness to share their struggles with intrapersonal power. While people in the social justice community might be aware of the structural and cultural powers that serve as a barrier to social change, very few are willing to talk openly about oppressive powers that are psychologically wedged on the inside (latent power).

To learn more about this episode and access the resources mentioned, please visit our website.

In this episode, the informant talks about self-love and self-care as liberatory practices. She provides a five-part construct on critical race feminism. She also talks about the bleeding nature of the subthemes within critical race theory: critical feminism, feminism, jurisprudence, and critical legal studies.

For a complete list of the key points discussed along with resources mentioned in the episode, please visit our webpage.