09/15/2025
“People who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.”
But what happens when telling the full truth of that history becomes politically controversial, or discouraged in schools?
Across the U.S., efforts to restrict how topics like racism, colonialism, feminist theory, and diversity are taught are becoming more common. In some cases, the government has warned schools that certain DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs could risk violating civil rights laws, potentially impacting funding. State-level restrictions are growing around how educators talk about systemic injustice and the legacy of civil rights.
How can we learn from the past if we’re making it harder to teach?
62 years ago today, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed by a white supremacist group. Four young girls were killed. Over 20 others were injured.
One of the survivors, Dale Long, was 11 years old. He was in the basement when the bomb went off. Dale is a long-time yoga student and a 721 Yoga teacher training graduation presenter. His story is not just part of history; he is living history.
I’ve heard Dale speak over the years about his experience that day and what it was like growing up in segregated America. But nothing compares to walking those historic sites myself; standing inside the church, visiting the Greyhound bus station where the Freedom Riders arrived, exploring the Civil Rights Institute, and walking the original brick road to the peanut factory with Dale’s childhood friend. This is where the civil rights movement lived and breathed. These stories matter. And they must be told.
A well-educated, critically thinking population is a threat to unchecked power. That’s why civic engagement, real, everyday action, matters.
Read your contracts. Know your rights. Pay attention to local and global politics. Real change doesn’t start on a stage, it starts in your community.
To my yoga students, you’ve heard me say: You can’t think logically and emotionally at the same time… but you can harness your emotion- your anger, your grief, your love- for change.
Allow it to move you toward action. Allow it to create ripples.
