Marie-Amalie Farris Biography & Presentation

Tawny Anderson and Marie-Amalie Farris teach history through the lenses identity, memory and legacy to promote social justice and individual advocacy. Ms. Anderson, who teaches African Studies and African American History, Holocaust Studies, and US History, is a Palm Beach County High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year as well as a State of Florida High School Social Studies Teacher of the year and was awarded the Theron Trimble award in October 2017. Ms. Farris, who teaches both A and AS levels of AICE US History, is also a Palm Beach County High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. This mother/daughter team sponsors the first Black Student Union at Wellington Community High School. Both are repeat attendees of the Racial Equity Institute and each earned degrees from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville).

White Fragility and the Responsibility of White People in Dismantling White Supremacy
White Fragility is one of the inherent characteristics of white people that keeps us from doing the work of anti-racism. White fragility keeps white people from having honest, hard conversations about racism and it keeps white people from listening deeply to people of color on how to be true allies and agents of change. Naming our own white fragility helps us to start our life-long journey from being non-racist to anti-racist. It helps us move from passive silence to conscious activism.