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Welcome and thanks for joining Parenting Children of Color | P-CoC family of participants. We are looking forward to discussions that will generate ideas to foster productivity in support of the work of P-CoC.
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Before doing an icebreaker Google Meet this week to loosen things up, I'd sent kick-starter to Damaris and the others. She asked me to repost to the forum, so here it is,
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One of the challenges with any new team is getting to know each other, and this goes double when working remotely. Ultimately I'd like to know what motivates you and how you work. You all can choose how you'd like to intro back- any method that's comfortable for you is fine. As an icebreaker, what follows are thoughts about how P-CoC relates to me and my household, personality, and work habits.
First, moving to this community was a choice we made in large part for the schools, and there were some trade-offs we couldn't anticipate. The situation feels kind of familiar to me, but some in the family find it tougher being out of sync with the neighbors in various ways, or not having a common background with the dominant culture. I perceive in the founders and mission of P-CoC an idea that's about empathizing with and offering fellowship to parents who might have stumbled similarly.
Second, having grown up in a suburb that was in some ways similar to Hastings and seeing our daughter get called the same racialized names used on me 50+ years ago, makes me think 'all this has happened before and will happen again'. I decided to join P-CoC because communities sometimes need a push from outside to align their compass.
To those who are comfortably embraced by the power and culture of the community, lone figures outside it can look like a stray, an outcast, or even an invader. But they could also be scouts, seekers, or ambassadors. If I had to choose one that represents me best, I'd say I'm more of a scout. I'm not one for running with the herd, but I don't like risky bets either. I tend to observe and look for a path that has value or interest to me. I like having a plan.
Third, as an IT project manager it's normal to have a moving goal line, and important to be guided toward it using meaningful measures of success. Determining commitment level among team members is key to setting realistic goals and timelines. With any new team I try to facilitate setting actionable items and track what happens.
Being a private person with a highly distinctive name, I'm careful with public exposure. So I smile ironically about being on the PR team! I'm on Linkedin and occasionally post to email groups about cross-country skiing and that's about it. But from the outset I accepted a public association with P-CoC and the mission, so I'll figure out what I need to skill up at. And fortunately there is a 'PR for Dummies' book.