Two months ago, May 17, 2024, marked the seventieth anniversary of the Brown decision, which declared that the doctrine of separate but equal, established in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case was unconstitutional. While the opinion of the High Court failed to properly account for how racist structures would adjust accordingly, the decision paved the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act and even the Voting Rights Act.

What is it about Black people gathering (or loitering) that unsettles white folks, or makes them nervous? It unsettled white folks when enslaved Africans gathered for secret meetings at night. Because those meetings were with the purpose of resistance. Black folk taught each other to read, and planned actions of escape or actions of revolt. When recently emancipated Black folk gathered together, it unsettled white folks. It unsettled them because those meetings were with the purpose of libera...

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the state of Virginia abolished the observance of Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (Lee-Jackson Day), which was the same day as MLK Day in January annually. That was done intentionally to, of course, detract from the celebration of Dr. King’s life and work as a civil rights activist—and a true reflection of the gospel of Jesus Christ, unlike the many white evangelicals who don’t align their views with the politically and economically oppressed, b...

The most revolutionary thing any Black person can do is read. Not obtaining a gun license and purchasing firearms. Not voting. Not becoming financially secure. Not having a family… and to be clear, I think we should do those things and I believe all of those are revolutionary acts in an anti-Black society. And, while Malcolm X said, the most revolutionary thing a Black man can do is build a strong, cohesive family unit, I think he would agree that literacy comes first and helps all other revolut...

Juneteenth memorializes the day when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to announce all enslaved peoples were free upon the surrender of the last Confederate stronghold. More than 150 years later, in 2021, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday. Holidays and memorials remind us of who we are as a country—our past and who we hope to become in the future. Juneteenth celebrations provide the opportunity to remember the real national Independence Day.

It must be a practice of every educator to improve for the next school year. Each year should serve as game tape for the next year. We must reflect on the highs and lows of our praxis. We should continue with what worked and meet the challenges of what we must improve upon. Teachers and administrators must reflect on their praxis to improve as they plan for the next school year. To give an example, I turn to basketball. A great example is a fan favorite of the Delaware Valley, Tyrese Maxey.

A few weeks ago, a Black man teacher posted a video on his social media account, TikTok to be specific. The video was of his primarily female students taking out his braids as he sat at his desk. He offered context to the video; speaking over the video recording saying that he needed help taking out his braids before his hair appointment after school. He cited his relationship with students to explain why those ladies unbraiding his hair was okay. He also shared that he had parents sign release

Every single month is an opportunity for students to, in the spirit of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, review, reflect on, and recite all the Black history they learned the year prior. This was the original intention of Black History Month, originating as Negro History Week. However, due to the war on Black studies in the form of anti-woke and anti-CRT (Critical Race Theory) legislation around the country, it’s no guarantee that students are receiving an authentic version of Black history in the classroom

Years ago before I began teaching, I became friendly with a maintenance crew member on the job. He was a brotha, but what connected us was our shared religious beliefs. We would engage in water cooler talk about faith, sports, the weather, and current events. But after about a year of this, the conversations stopped. Soon after, I no longer saw him. Before his departure, we had a conversation in early 2010 lamenting the situation in Haiti. The nation had just experienced a devastating earthquake

Thankfully, we have the data that backs up that truth. Not that the words of students and parents aren’t enough. But for some, data is the most meaningful; subjective at best but I digress. Education Week highlighted the data that exposes the positive impact of Black teachers, specifically in the academic success of Black students: “Black students are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college when they have just one Black teacher in elementary school. Black students are also

I find it somewhat fascinating, as I find it infuriating, that there’s a lack of sensitivity concerning anti-Black racism in education spaces. Certainly, our society should be very sensitive to the way anti-Black racism shows up directly and indirectly in the experiences of Black people, considering the history of this country. But in 2024, that isn’t the case. The constant attempt to prevent the teaching of Black history in schools is a common example. What’s worse, however, is when educators

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The ruling in the 1954 case was one of the most consequential court decisions in American history, overturning the doctrine of separate but equal—or separate and unequal, depending on who you ask—established by Plessy v. Ferguson. The case also set the stage for Civil Rights Movement activists to dismantle the racial caste system that was Jim Crow.

"Brown v. Board of Education" desegregated our schools. It also made it harder for Black teachers to succeed, argues Rann Miller. Read more In April, Philadelphia hosted the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. While the planners of the convening may have glowing remarks about its host city, researchers took Pennsylvania to task. At the meeting, Travis Bristol of the University of California, Berkeley, and Sharif El-Mekki, CEO of the Center for Black Educator Develo

As a K-8 student, I wasn’t fully aware of the racism I encountered. That’s likely because those instances—and I believed they happened—were during interactions with the adults in the school building, most (if not all) were white. However, because I held the adults in the building with such high regard, and because of my inability to diagnose instances of racism during my interactions with them, many things flew over my head. High school however was different. The difference the vast majority o

Lately, that assault has taken the form of attacking Black history. The latest iteration comes from Republican governors preventing hungry children from getting fed. Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children nationwide. Their excuses run the gambit: from the idiotic to the pathologically bigoted. Some argue that they haven’t seen the full plans. Others

When the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) released its newest data since the Biden administration has been in office, it represented the newest information about inequities and disparities since the dawn of the coronavirus pandemic. While the information is good to have, it isn’t telling us anything any different than what we already know. That is, Black children are disproportionately underrepresented in areas of academic achievement and are disproportionately overrepresented in areas of st

Mayor Cherelle Parker was the first woman elected mayor in the history of Philadelphia. She vowed to voters that she will vigorously fight crime and believes she’s doing just that. She has a mandate to do so. Historically, Philadelphia has regularly contended with poverty and gun violence. While gun violence is down compared to last year, 2023 follows three of the most violent years in recent memory and the trauma remains something residents continue to navigate. According to a Pew Charitable Trust 2023 poll, Philadelphians from all backgrounds want their elected leaders to prioritize reducing the city’s crime rate in the coming years. According to the poll, those most affected are Black and Latino/a/x residents, who make up a majority of city residents.

DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives, have become a bad word (or properly speaking a bad acronym) amongst white people — specifically conservative Republicans. These various initiatives, e.g., training, hiring programs, and department creation, took place in government, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors. What precipitated these were the murders of Black people in 2020, most notably Ahmaud Arbury, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Following those deaths came a collective rush of an

I’ve spoken and written at length about the need for educators to speak out against racism in all facets… especially concerning the educating of Black children. I’ll continue to do so because the totality of Black lives—academic, personal, and professional interactions and experiences—of Black children depend upon it. Whether it is speaking out against disproportionate disciplining i.e. suspensions, expulsions, and arrest, of Black children in schools, the lack of Black teachers in schools, the

A few months ago, a teacher shared in an Education Week column that they were told by their eighth-grade student that they (the teacher) worked for them (the students). This came about as the teacher was cleaning up after students and reminding them (and I am paraphrasing) that they were too old not to clean up after themselves. The student responded with the comment without venom, but with a matter-of-fact-ness that embodies the current climate as to how education is perceived: as an industry