What a way to whet one's appetite!
Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer kept over 100 listeners at Wheelock College fascinated with her story of her own development from hospital pharmacist and would be pediatrician to a professor of human development at the University of Pennsylvania, and a researcher on resiliency in children.

She emphasized that the elephant of race is still in the room and is not acknowledged. She said Black kids face this unacknowledged barrier 24/7, and have to cope with it along with everything else kids have to manage, mainly learning in school.

Dr. Spencer emphasized that "context matters" i.e. environment matters and if you see yourself devalued by your surroundings you have an added burden. Adults who live with, work with, and teach kids need to understand this, and provide support and encouragement.

One aspect of Dr. Spencer's research is a round skin color and how perception impacts cognition. If you see others as feeling negative towards you, again it makes learning more difficult. Dr. Spencer stated that kids do perceive this.
She also asserted that Black males are the most vulnerable to this negativism, and often choose maladaptive coping strategies, particularly a bravado which says," I'm tough, I take risks, I dis women."

It is important for us to acknowledge the elephant in the room and provide coping strategies that are positive and effective.

Dr. Spencer closed the session by briefly discussing her work at the University of Pennsylvania with the Philadelphia Schools. The university worked kids, their parents, teachers, social workers, and health care providers, giving them strategies to help the kids cope with school. The graduation rate for the kids doubled.
In response to a question, Dr. Spencer recommended that schools of education make cultural competency part of their curriculum so that graduates would be better able to see what their students are experiencing, and then help them.

I'm not hungry but I anticipate a great meal at the full day's session.