Today is National Mix It Up Day! So Mix It Up! In School. At Lunch. In What You Read...

So there's this cool project of the Teaching Tolerance organization called "Mix It Up," happening Today.

This video is from last year, but it's awesome:




The idea is that kids tend to sit with the same friends, in the same cliques, day after day. And that schools, and by extension, kid's lives, are "hotbeds of exclusion."

But Today, "Mix It Up at Lunch Day," kids are challenged to go outside of their usual patterns. To sit with different kids. To eat lunch at a different table. To go beyond their normal "group" of friends. Over 2,800 schools are participating with Mix-It-Up events and activities.

I think it's a great idea, and I'd like to suggest we take the challenge one step further. Let's mix up what we READ, too.

So many of the stories of our culture are majority stories - so I challenge you to choose a story about someone of a background you don't really know much about. Read a book you wouldn't normally choose.

If you're straight, read a great Gay book (there are lots to choose from, check out the lists in the left hand side-bar of this blog!)

If you're Caucasian, how about reading "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian?")

If you're thin, how about reading "Fat Kid Rules The World?"

If you're a girl, read a "boy" book.

If you're a boy, read a "girl" book.

Get the idea?

Let's all Mix It Up.

Because the more we know people we think of as "other," the more we can see our shared humanity. And the more we see how much we share, the better world we can all create.

It's National Mix It Up Day. How are YOU going to mix it up?

Namaste,
Lee