Charlotte Teachers Institute

“Tilting the Looking Glass”, putting the world on tilt, bending perspectives as if you were Alice going through the looking glass and entering into a parallel world. Many do not see this parallel world, while others clearly see it everyday. What is this parallel world that’s not parallel? Why is this world’s perspectives so different and strange to one another? Where can we find the disconnect? Let’s take an adventure together and begin the tilting of the looking glass through the world of Black Girl Magic! Not the kind of magic you see magicians doing or cheap parlor tricks, but real magic. Magic that runs deep from its roots. How do we discover these roots; using critical self-reflections, Museum Educators, and restorative circles to create safe uncomfortable conversations that will lead to higher academic achievement, critical investigations, and a stronger sense of relating to our Black women and how they got to their “magic” and how it relates to current events happening all over the country. Students will tilt their perspectives and the perspectives of those around them; like a wildfire starting small, but the wind picks up and spreads the fire across more land. Tilting perspectives until the mirror is shattered; Black girls are humanized in all perspectives and realities. The power of starting the tilt through critical thinking and critical investigations into text, art, music, and restorative circles- group discussions where students learn from one another’s experiences, their feelings be it pain, heartache, distrust, or magic, strength, determination, and resilience. These students are from many different demographics of Independence High School, which will be the tilt our education system needs.