Did you know that the 30th of July was designated as the International Day of Friendship by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011? The idea behind this observance is to encourage “friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals” to inspire “peace efforts and build bridges between communities.” Friendship has been a powerful force in … More The fierce power of friendship in our lives
I began thinking about this question seriously after I came across a booklet titled A Guide for Integrating Issues of Social and Economic Justice into Mathematics Curriculum (2007) written by Jonathan Osler. It is a free resource for educators, and can be downloaded from http://www.radicalmath.org If you prefer to read a review before you plunge … More What does mathematics have to do with social justice?
Over the years, citizenship as a way of living, as a value and as an idea have become central to my writing and my talks. It has seemed to me more and more that we need to own our citizenship—of where we live, our countries and our world—as a first step to improving what we … More Citizenship and agency in times of despair: Reflections
I understand if you abhor public displays of affection, especially the ones spawned by capitalism in the name of love. However, I am going to wish you Happy Valentine’s Day because every spot on the calendar that is dedicated to love is worth celebrating. May you be inundated with so much love in all its … More On love, safety and consent
I wrote about the ‘Write to Reconcile’ project in Sri Lanka for the November 2019 edition of Teacher Plus. My objective was to explore and show how creative writing has been used as a tool to build bridges between people from communities with a history of conflict. Here is an excerpt from the article: The three-year project … More Write to Heal
I love meeting teachers who know that making their classroom a safe and affirming place for LGBTQIA+ (queer) students is part of their job. However, this awareness may not translate into a priority because most teachers in the world are overworked and underpaid. Priya Dali and Pooja Krishnakumar have created a fun and friendly zine … More A teacher who openly advocates for queer students makes a big difference.
What do LGBTQIA+ people mean when they speak about allies? “An ally is a person who is a member of the dominant group who works to end oppression in his or her own personal and professional life by supporting and advocating with the oppressed population,” writes Shruti Venkatesh in the beautiful new e-book, How To … More What does it take to be an ally? Hear it from this LGBTQIA+ rights activist
(Here is an excerpt from the article ‘To preach or not to preach?’ published in the March 2019 issue of Teacher Plus.) Let me narrate to you an episode from a conference I attended recently. I was speaking with a sexuality educator, who gave me a detailed picture of the curriculum he is expected to … More To preach or not to preach?
(Here is an excerpt from an article titled ‘Body Politics in the PE Class’, which was published in the May-June 2019 issue of Teacher Plus.) Is the body some kind of neutral thing that is objectively understood, bereft of history, and readily available for training? What happens when a student’s body is not able to … More Body Politics in the Physical Education Class
Nemat Sadat is an author of Afghan heritage who lives in the United States of America. He identifies as gay and ex-Muslim. His incredible openness in talking about love, racism and geopolitics moved me as much as the characters in his novel The Carpet Weaver. The book was published earlier this year by Penguin Random House … More Crushing the taboo on homosexuality: An interview with author Nemat Sadat
