You see this tree trunk…

It’s got this on the bottom…

And this on the top…

The reason this fungus is now so important to me is because when my kids noticed it at the last trip to the park, I was able to summon 7th grade natural science lessons to explain what it was doing there. Not only was I able to tell them in detail (I’m sure my three year-old caught all of it) why it was growing out of the tree, I even told them what happens when fungus and algae come together – they make lichen (Alice Algae and Freddy Fungi took a lichen to each other)! So the lesson went like this: I came off really excited about this information, my daughter was grossed out and my son kept trying to poke at it. Considering that I’m a product of under-appreciated US public schools, I think I owe many thanks to the teacher who got drilled that information into a very unscientific student.

Here’s to you, Mr. Allen!

That’s what a friend of mine said about the recent burqa ban passed in France. As a social liberal, my immediate reaction to this mandate is that it’s not right. But fine, if the French government wants to eliminate religious paraphernalia in public places, then the Star of David and religious crosses should be banned, as well. However, the rationale behind the law is that the French government considers the burqa to be a display of gender inequality as opposed to religious and looks at this as a way of helping to promote gender equality amongst Muslim immigrants. I can agree with the gender inequality aspect, but what religion doesn’t have oppressive practices for females?

The way I see it is that these types of laws are audacious. If government is now intervening to ensure that immigrant women have more of even playing field, it should first make sure that French citizens are leading by example, right? Well, the 2010 Gender Gap study published by the World Economic Forum shows that France has gone from 18th to 46th place, mostly because of the lack of women in high-ranking government positions. So, I think the Sarkozy administration should start promoting gender equality in-house before trying to fix other communities. What’s also tricky about this type of legislation is it can be a slippery slope. Will it stop at the burqa, or will it continue into other aspects of the Muslim religion? Moreover, will the government also look to expand into non-Muslim religions?

What I also find interesting is that while this law has overwhelming support by the French public, a Pew poll found that 2 out of 3 Americans are against it. I think that’s a reflection of Americans’ aversion to letting government dictate too much of their personal lives. Even with all the anti-Muslim rhetoric that’s getting a lot of media time these days, Americans have their limits when it comes to government involvement.

While I can understand where my friend is coming from, until there is more consistency and clarity in France’s decisions regarding religious freedoms, I can’t get behind this. What are your thoughts on the burqa ban?

Daughter: Can you spread the cheese on the cracker for me, please?

Me: Why can’t you do it?

Daughter: Because I don’t do it very well.

That is simply music to my ears! Don’t know if my writing conveys this, but I’m a stickler for good grammar. I subscribe to the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and I correct people when they misplace prepositions. Yes, I’m that annoying person.

I try to cut the kids some slack because they’re constantly switching between at least three languages to communicate. I speak uniquely English to them and when they get stuck, I let them explain something that happened whatever language is the easiest. This works well, but promoting good grammar is tough. Not necessarily with the two year-old who is just now beginning to form sentences with more than 3 words, but I have different expectations for my daughter.

Every time someone asks her how she’s doing, she says “good” and I cringe. She asks me what is written in small print because she can’t see very good and I involuntarily twitch. After my physical reactions, I repeat her sentence correctly and ask her to do the same. This happens over and over again…it’s just become part of daily interaction. So, imagine my delight the other day when she says it correctly on the first try! I mean, my heart skipped a beat I was so happy.

It goes to show that consistency really does pay off. She may be annoyed with me correcting her now, but one day when she’s one of the few people who speak what will probably be called “old school English”, she’ll be in high demand and thank me.

Maybe I’m getting old, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in my life – if that even makes sense.

So, here I am about to move for the 4th time since becoming an adult and I’m trying to figure out if I consider myself to be successful. I know that this judgment is relative to a person’s culture and experiences and only I can really know the answer, but I can’t help but to think of what my family (and friends) may have expected from me. I wrote a while ago about cultural expectations for career choices and I think that’s where this all starts.

My mom always pushed us to go far in school. Very early on she made it clear that she expected my sister and I to at least finish college. Check, so +1

Then, I made the choice to get married and start a family soon after graduating college. –1

But, then I went back to school and obtained my masters’. +1

However, I am still trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. –1

Even without my very expensive education ;) , I would know that this complex equation adds up to 0. Let me also add that I know that my friends and family are extremely proud of me – it’s the successful part that makes me wonder…

One thing I know for sure is that I am happy and I wouldn’t have things any other way. I just don’t want my type A personality to look back one day and wonder if I really made use of all my talents… [-O<

How do you (or your culture) measure success?

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I am an avid reader of a website called Anti-Racist Parent and a while ago there was an article published providing tips for a student of color while attending a university that is not ethnically diverse. There a many great tips and I’ll let you read the article for yourself, but I wanted to talk about two of them which I wish I was given as far back as high school.

You can speak any language you damn well please, any time you please.

Wow! This statement is powerful in many ways. Simple and straightforward. Growing up, I was actually ashamed that I spoke another language. For the longest time, I would only answer my family members in English, just in case a friend heard. At that time, it was very uncool to be bilingual. I think many immigrants still hesitate to speak their native tongue when they think someone who cannot understand is in earshot. I have come across many Haitians who simply refuse to speak Haitian Creole; even when they know the Haitian they are speaking to cannot understand English.

You are not the spokesperson for your ethnicity.

This one I am ambivalent about. I agree that no one person can fully represent an entire culture and this is simply leads to stereotypes. But, I have heard (more times than I care to count) that I don’t look, talk, or seem like a Haitian. This leads me to believe that there is a misconception that Haitians look, talk or seem a certain way – all of them. So, I don’t know if it’s good that I sometimes felt that I could help eliminate those stereotypes by representing all Haitians, or if those people were going to stay ignorant regardless. In any case, I think it pushed me to set my goals and standards a little higher, which can’t hurt, right?

So, please share your thoughts on this article. Do they make you wish there was a handbook for minority students or do you think these issues are non-existent?

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