Ask the Author: Susan DuFresne
Answered Questions (6)
Susan DuFresne
When I was painting the banner that inspired the book I experienced a couple of days of painter's block. My brain was flooded with information. The limits of time and materials to be able to express what was truly important and the process of analyzing exactly what that might be for the next section of this work was challenging. My banner and the book are based on a loose timeline of history and of course, the closer we got to the present, the more incidents of racism were accessible to write and paint about. Narrowing it down and synthesizing the information takes time. This can be true in the case of writer's block as well. How I dealt with it was to continue to analyze my research, allow myself the time to synthesize knowing that process is equally important to writing and painting - and to get a good night's sleep. I also spent time walking and viewing nature during these blocks. Time pressure and deadlines are challenging. Sometimes we work these problems out in our sleep and wake up with the answers we need.
Susan DuFresne
I'm a new author and thus, I am still learning about what the best thing is about being a writer. Right now, I would say that my book is a vehicle that allows the wide-spread sharing of ideas that can build on re-imagining our public schools as places of racial justice that welcome every child.
I recently shared some of my images in my book with my kindergarten students. I noticed the images immediately inspired students to experience empathy, develop questions of their own, then formulate opinions and engage in discussions. Observing a young mixed-race kindergarten student in my classroom who is a very deep thinker thoroughly engaged in studying these images brought tears to my eyes. For now, witnessing these reactions to my book and the hope these children give us is the best thing about being a writer.
I recently shared some of my images in my book with my kindergarten students. I noticed the images immediately inspired students to experience empathy, develop questions of their own, then formulate opinions and engage in discussions. Observing a young mixed-race kindergarten student in my classroom who is a very deep thinker thoroughly engaged in studying these images brought tears to my eyes. For now, witnessing these reactions to my book and the hope these children give us is the best thing about being a writer.
Susan DuFresne
Read, read, read, view, create, discuss, take risks, share your ideas, and write. Find what you have a passion about and dive into it! Write about what inspires you and what you know.
Susan DuFresne
Currently, I have more ideas for banners and books percolating in my imagination. I hope to begin painting again this summer. I am also working on developing curriculum for K-12 and higher education around the use of my book, The History of Institutional Racism in U.S. Public Schools in classrooms across the nation.
Susan DuFresne
As a teacher, I am first inspired by the impacts of institutional racism on the children and families in my classroom and across our nation - by the haunting impacts on children I have not known personally through history - and by their continuous struggle to resist.
In the summer of 2017, I spend 6 weeks researching the history of institutional racism in our public schools and viewing hundreds of images from primary sources. Reading and viewing these resources definitely inspired me to paint and write!
My book is a call for the re-Imagining of public schools as places of racial justice that welcome every child – in a society that recognizes the nation has an ethical responsibility to honor the civil rights of every child and to ensure that each child has the very finest education U.S. public schools can provide.
As an artist and illustrator, I am inspired to create visual images in the hope they will have an impact on viewers. My hope is that my images will incite viewers to not only empathize with the people I have painted, but then to utilize that empathy to engage and act upon it in ways that lead to the re-imagining our public schools - and ultimately on our society.
In the summer of 2017, I spend 6 weeks researching the history of institutional racism in our public schools and viewing hundreds of images from primary sources. Reading and viewing these resources definitely inspired me to paint and write!
My book is a call for the re-Imagining of public schools as places of racial justice that welcome every child – in a society that recognizes the nation has an ethical responsibility to honor the civil rights of every child and to ensure that each child has the very finest education U.S. public schools can provide.
As an artist and illustrator, I am inspired to create visual images in the hope they will have an impact on viewers. My hope is that my images will incite viewers to not only empathize with the people I have painted, but then to utilize that empathy to engage and act upon it in ways that lead to the re-imagining our public schools - and ultimately on our society.
Susan DuFresne
The most powerful graphic image I have seen in recent years was when many Veterans apologized to the 13 Tribes at Standing Rock [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoUKC...]. I realized that white educators were complicit in ethnic cleansing of our Indigenous peoples through our participation as educators in U.S. Boarding Schools, and that we too owe an apology to our Indigenous peoples.
Earlier, I had participated in the Backbone Campaign's LocalizeThis Action Camp with Bill Moyer and activists from across the country on Vashon Island. Jimmy Betts, Seth Tobocman, and Kim Fraczek of Beyond Extreme Engergy had created an amazing Fracking banner in graphic novel style. I immediately realized this could be an art medium that could tell the story of institutional racism in U.S. public schools.
Becca Ritchie, friend, unionist, and NEA BAT Caucus Chair along with the Executive Directors of the Badass Teachers Association supported my banner making efforts and my banner became the backdrop of a Restorative Justice Circle in Seattle on July 23, 2017. Viewers of the banner at the event suggested that it should be transformed into a book in order to share this important history across the country.
Author and educator, Anthony Cody helped connect me to the folks at Garn Press and we published The History of Institutional Racism in U.S. Public Schools in May 2018. The children I teach in my classroom - the children across the country - and the impacts of institutional racism on our schools and our society, along with these three events became my inspiration.
Earlier, I had participated in the Backbone Campaign's LocalizeThis Action Camp with Bill Moyer and activists from across the country on Vashon Island. Jimmy Betts, Seth Tobocman, and Kim Fraczek of Beyond Extreme Engergy had created an amazing Fracking banner in graphic novel style. I immediately realized this could be an art medium that could tell the story of institutional racism in U.S. public schools.
Becca Ritchie, friend, unionist, and NEA BAT Caucus Chair along with the Executive Directors of the Badass Teachers Association supported my banner making efforts and my banner became the backdrop of a Restorative Justice Circle in Seattle on July 23, 2017. Viewers of the banner at the event suggested that it should be transformed into a book in order to share this important history across the country.
Author and educator, Anthony Cody helped connect me to the folks at Garn Press and we published The History of Institutional Racism in U.S. Public Schools in May 2018. The children I teach in my classroom - the children across the country - and the impacts of institutional racism on our schools and our society, along with these three events became my inspiration.
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