The Continued Education of Miss Iris

By Iris Jones

The Continued Education of Miss Iris is an informative memoir and sequel that emerged from the author's debut book, Growing Up Iris: My Shared Experiences Growing Up a Biracial Female in a Multicultural Household. In this book, the author explains how a history of racial inequality and America's failure to rectify said shameful history continues to impact young African American students today. This is shown through relatable yet never before documented personal stories of how the author navigated through an educational system that of which is not tailored to the needs of Black and brown students. This can be seen through stories told by the author, such as how teachers in rural communities fail to understand their Black students due to a lack of resources. The author claims that racially motivated conflicts like those described can be avoided with proper education on specific topics that of which cannot be found in a high school textbook.

This book permits young students to explore themselves and their aspirations without fear of disappointment, as well as offers caregivers a sense of relief as they will be able to better understand their child's psychology. Specifically, this book gives parents background and history as to why their child is being treated the way they are in the classroom, something they may not have known prior to purchasing The Continued Education of Miss Iris.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Iris Jones
• Release date: Sep 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215232606

Book preview

Learn from

the

Pros and Cons

of my

Personal

Educational Experiences

THE

CONTINUED EDUCATION OF

MISS IRIS

IRIS F. JONES

IriSmart

iris-mart.com

For all young people who aspire to achieve more, raise themselves out of their circumstances, and advance past the limitations life and the forefathers have left us in. The world is ours to mold to perfection; we can change it by sharing our knowledge and experiences.

CONTENTS

1  Introduction 

2   ‘Lower’ Education 

3   Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science 

4   Summer Research 

5   Ancestry 

6   Racial Literacy Project 

7   Beyoncé 

8   Privilege 

9  Applying Myself 

10  Education Overall 

11  Hustlin’ 

About the Author

Motivations

References

THE CONTINUED EDUCATION OF MISS IRIS

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

I

f you did not already know, I have written a couple of books previous to the one you are reading now. I have gotten a lot of feedback, mostly positive but some negative. Some say my book should be read by people of all ages, while others believe the opposite. Now I will admit, in my first book, there were a couple of curse words, and I did say the n-word a little too much, but that is who I am and, at the time, was the purest expression of me I could ever create. I wrote some things in Growing Up Iris that I prefer not to include in this book because my opinions on a specific matter have changed since two years ago, but I do not regret including a single word I wrote. I would never in a millennium go back to my original manuscript and erase the paragraphs that were 'too much.' Why? Because that was how I was feeling at the time. I was so excited to get my story out there and release my first book that in those three months of writing Growing Up Iris, every thought that raced through my mind was included in that book. I put my words to paper and, in my opinion, created a masterpiece. I find that the ones who believe otherwise were uncomfortable reading it and thought that, for me to be successful as a writer, I'd have to boil my modes of expression down to only a couple of n-words. Noticing this made me realize that some people—primarily white—are uncomfortable reading my book. They've never seen this perspective from a young Black woman, and they never really have to due to their privilege. These people I am referring to choose to stay in their own bubble, so when they buy my book to support me because they are friends of my parents, they often feel uncomfortable and eventually put my book down. They do not want to read about how terrible President Regan was or hear that most groundbreaking creations, like the alphabet or even Jack Daniel's Whiskey, were indeed invented by a negro. 

That reminds me of a specific moment in my first year of high school. Every day, at the beginning of English class, students had thirty minutes to read quietly to themselves. Of course, independent reading was taken as a daily grade due to the fact that children of this century find reading boring and only do it if they are forced (I was not exempt from this feeling.) I brought one of my favorite books at the time, They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima, to school when my English teacher walked up to me, confused by the strange Black-looking figure on the book's cover. What are you reading there, Iris? she asks. I then gave her a quick summary of the book and what I've learned so far from reading it. Now intrigued, my English teacher asks if she can take a quick look at the book, and without giving me time to respond, takes the book out of my hand and sits down at her desk to begin reading from page one.

Now, in my mind, I'm thinking, Here we go, expecting the worst. Of course, being the person I am, I have encountered these situations many times. I bring something educational to school that challenges the 'original' ideals of history and end up getting in trouble or even having my privacy invaded. As my English teacher was sitting at her desk reading this dope book, with every page flip, she glanced across the room at me with a disgusted look painted on her face like I shat on the floor. Keep in mind that this was my independent reading time, and she took the only book I had; therefore, I sat in silence for a cool couple of minutes. Then, when she finally had enough, my teacher walked up to me, book in her hand, and said, I can't read this. It's too difficult, proceeding to turn and walk away. 

I now sit at my empty desk with this book, warm in temperature because it was fondled by someone else, lowkey offended, thinking, What? Too difficult? You're a reading teacher! I'll admit, at first, I thought she meant the words were too difficult for her to read, as in there were big words she didn't know the meaning of. But as I thought more and more, we had just been reading Shakespeare the week before. If any language were too difficult for her to interpret, it would be wherefore art thou Romeo, not a book from the 70s. I soon realized that my English teacher, somebody who supposedly has a degree in the art of literature, could not mentally interpret a book that challenged her everyday beliefs. If she found out there were colored people that stood on the same ground before Christopher Columbus 'found' it, she would have to question everything else in her life. So instead of taking in this new profound knowledge, she decided to shut her eyes and continue with her life, privileged and unconscious, never acknowledging the pain I and every other Black and native person in the world carry on our shoulders.

Now I’m sitting at my desk upset because this lady had the caucacity to not only feel the need to interrupt my learning but offend me by saying that reading about my ancestors—that of which our education system refuses to teach—is too difficult for her, as if I’m not dealing with the generational trauma passed down while living in a society created by her people to keep mine oppressed. So, just as a prologue, when I say some can navigate through life without ever having to experience or even hear what others are going through, this is the perfect example. My teacher had the option of choosing the red or blue pill, ultimately picking what made her the most comfortable. Life is so much easier for people if they choose to ignore these types of issues, yet for others, we don’t get a choice. Society decides what our lives are going to look like before we can even walk. This is exactly why it is so important to realize that we must move each other forward and not let others dictate our future—because our voices will never be heard if we continue to let them silence us.

THE POWER OF READING

In contrast, I would like to applaud those who acknowledge our societal imbalance by realizing that very few resources are available to everyone. Recently, my mother, Laura Jones, began reading The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. Now, my mother does not read often, but this book was one of her exceptions (in addition to her daughter’s books, of course.) Every couple of days, my mother would tell me how fascinated and disgusted she was by all the new information she was attaining through this book. She mentioned how she could barely stomach reading about the things white people specifically have done to Black people in history. This includes but is not limited to the lynching of Elizabeth Lawrence, as