#5SmartReads- June 29, 2022

Kate Slater (also known as Dr. Kate) is a white woman, a Critical Race scholar, an activist, and a parent of two very high-strung gingers. She talks about, researches, and writes about white identity development, white supremacy culture, and racial justice.

Ten Years On, Citizens United Ruling Has Changed U.S. Politics — But Not In The Way Many Feared (LA Times)

Many people are unaware of how deeply the 2010 Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United has shaped U.S. election policies. In this ruling, corporations were essentially granted the same rights as humans in regards to the First Amendment, and therefore there are no limits placed on their elections spending. This has resulted in a decade of elections that have been profoundly shaped and influenced by corporate donors and super PACs. As I watch the January 6th hearings this past week, I'm reminded again and again of how critical Citizens United was in building an infrastructure for the "stop the steal" narrative that influenced the January 6th insurrection.

The Commodification of Juneteenth Needs to Stop (HipLatina)

One of my favorite public scholars on the planet, Angel Jones, Ph.D., wrote a critical piece about the commodification of Juneteenth. Up until June 19th, 2020, most white people in this country had never heard of Juneteenth, let alone knew about its history. After Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday in 2021, the predictable 'woke-washing' of the holiday from major corporations started up (Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out Wal-Mart's cringe-worthy "Juneteenth Commemorative Ice Cream").

How Stereotypes Shape the Language That People Use (TIME Magazine)

Dr. Hurston Dupree conducted a large scale study that explores how stereotyping permeates our brains and influence our day-to-day interactions... and further, how they perpetuate inequality.

362 School Counselors on the Pandemic's Effect on Children: 'Anxiety is Filling Our Kids' (New York Times)

"Kids have the highest level of anxiety I've ever seen: anxiety about basic safety and fear of what could happen."

A survey of 362 school counselors recently revealed that the learning loss many K-12 students are experiencing as a result of the pandemic is as much about socio-emotional learning as it is about reading and mathematics. As someone who now works in the K-12 space and recently left higher education, I've spent the past two years counseling students who are surviving, not thriving. This article is a sobering read that gives shape to the impact of the pandemic (which we are still in!) on our youngest and most vulnerable population.

What's Wrong With The Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum and Preserve? (High Country News)

This is an absolutely fascinating account of how the Manitou Cliff Dwellings tourist attraction came to be. In 1907, a renowned 'archaeologist' paid workers $2.50 a day to dig up a thousand-year-old pueblo and transport it to Manitou Springs, Colorado - her family then charged tourists to come tour the 'authentic' pueblo. The controversy around Manitou Cliff Dwellings' tourist attraction status (and the exploitation and misrepresentation of the native Pueblo people) is a critical read as we think about how our country 'preserves and presents' history.