PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/category/first-person/)
I have been teaching in the Pittsburgh area for the past decade. I chose a career in public education because I couldn’t imagine a better way to change the world. Teachers educate and inspire the young people who will be the leaders of tomorrow. When I walk into my classroom, I’m witnessing the future take shape.
But it’s tough being a teacher, and it’s even tougher living on a teacher’s salary.
I’m juggling a lot: My own business. My three boys and what seems like all-day potty talk. Economic adversity. And recovery from cervical cancer. I consider myself a momtrepreneur. I’m a woman who is raising children while building a healthy vending machine company from scratch.
Those who don’t know me may see me merely as an intersection of many identities — a deaf, black woman. Each one of those identities on their own would commonly put me into the marginalized category. But as a mom to 10-year-old Aaron and 5-year-old Manny, I can’t rest on these statistics.
You know me. If you’re over the age of say, 40, chances are you went to school with a girl like me. I was more or less on even footing with you academically, but I struggled with everything else. My physical movements were often spastic and jerky. I blurted rather than talked. I couldn’t hold a pencil properly. I got upset when rules weren’t followed. I was eager to please; yet I sometimes said the dumbest, rudest thing possible.
"Racial achievement gap? The only chasm is between our poor vision of what counts as achievement and the real-world excellence these children demonstrate every day," writes Steven Singer, a teacher at Steel Valley Middle School.
Vanessa German, a visual and performance artist based in Pittsburgh, has written three poems addressed to Antwon Rose II this week during the trial of former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld who fatally shot the teenager on June 19.
The lessons we can learn from each other can help us shape a stronger, more connected city, rather than a city of disconnected neighborhoods. We can begin to build bridges that allow us to look around and really see what others are experiencing. We can be better neighbors by learning where our fellow Pittsburghers are going, why and how they are getting there.
Having spinal muscular atrophy means that I’ve never been able to walk. I’ve used a wheelchair since I was about 3 years old. I rely on help from others for many parts of my day — bathing, getting dressed, making my meals and just generally getting around.
I still try to be independent however I can. Growing up, I went to public school and took classes with my peers. I lived in the dorms with the rest of the students in college. I work as a research coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh and am pursuing my master’s degree in public health.
Given that our streets are one of our largest public assets, can we do more to use them? The city has already embraced some aspects of the open streets concept. There are models for increasing temporary recreational spaces on streets and open lots in cities like New York and Minneapolis. What would it take for residents to take greater advantage of streets on a regular basis, especially in areas with fewer play options, where streets could be connectors instead of barriers?
My arms were constantly in motion, as if I were conducting a never-ending orchestra. Sometimes the movements were fluid, smooth even, but other times my right arm looked as though it were climbing an invisible jungle gym, my muscles contracting and tensing in uncomfortable positions. It was the tangible evidence of years of internalized ableism and shame.
