Final Dispatch: Epiphanies That Gradually Mold and Shape Us

Abstract

Rocky Block’s paper discusses race and his place in POA—often the only white person in the group. This was an important experience in his life and he returned many times because he loved the camaraderie and the trust that allowed him to be a part of conversations about race that people of color rarely have in the presence of white people. In this paper you get a front seat into the life of a POA participant—their daily conversations about their teaching successes and failures, their challenges in managing their privilege, and their Americanness outside of the United States. He frames the experience as a series of epiphanies which in the end will reveal one way to change the world.