News & Insights

Whew, where has the time gone? Summer break is over, and schools have opened across the country. Amidst the excitement and some trepidation, we all have returned to classrooms with mixed feelings. Usually, The Institute would have sent newsletters, posted on social media, or sent resources at the beginning of this month, especially during, yet again, another school shooting. This school year begins a bit slower for us here at The Institute because I am trying to figure out how we can return.

I took an unapologetic summer sabbatical for the first time since The Institute was founded, meaning I did nothing from June through August. It was beautiful. There was simply silence, stillness. The summer came and wrapped me in rest.

On July 2nd, the Institute celebrated four years of community work and education transformation. As the one who simply helps to guide the vision of the Institute, it has been an honor to do this work for four years, but it has not been easy. There have been so...

Forgiveness Without Accountability Keeps Us Trapped

 Jul 14, 2023

Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory & The Apartheid Museum 

I knew visiting South Africa would present many opportunities to learn about the activists, dissenters, and disrupters that worked tirelessly to end apartheid. Even more so, I knew Nelson Mandela would be essential to that legacy. At the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the Apartheid Museum are replicas of the prison cell he was incarcerated for 18 years on Robben Island. Having not yet visited the sight, I walked in these replicas with a feeling of, dare I say, anger. Because directly across from the replica at the Centre of Memory are photographs and stories of the ways his fight for justice sacrificed his relationship with his family. Several panels detailing his life highlighted the ways the “liberation struggle had become Mandela’s life and the ANC his family,” and throughout his quest for freedom, he sacrificed...