No matter the circumstance, it always pains me to hear of another Black man that was the victim of murder, particularly a young Black man like Takeoff. I’m a bit removed from the culture of hip-hop to the extent that I’m unfamiliar with the entirety of the Migos catalog. However, any young man, a rapper no less, who loses his life to violence is simply jarring. But the question always becomes, who is at fault? Of course, there are those who use this as an opportunity to say that Black lives do

It is one thing to hire teachers of color. It is another thing to retain teachers of color. As a Black educator, I know this truth all too well. I’ve worked places where my expertise and skill set were not valued by my peers or superiors. I was viewed as the Black teacher in the building for disciplinary support and community buy-in. I met conflict in those spaces and was often forced out. This is one example to explain the inability of schools and/or districts to retain teachers of color. But

Schools are institutions of socialization as well as learning. Socialization is a part of learning; the norms and folkways of community and society. Such learning doesn’t only happen for students, but it also happens for the adults who enter schools. Because all schools are different—even those within the same district—teachers must be onboarded and onboarded to ensure their proper transition into their school building as well as district culture. This is all to ensure that they service the stu

I’ve had the distinct privilege to be part of teacher hiring teams in school districts where I have worked. I call such service on hiring teams significant, but it is not always a guarantee that hiring teams are reflective of the diversity of its communities. As an African American educator, I brought a unique perspective to the group—as did my Asian and Latino colleagues who worked with us. My perspective was displayed in the qualities I looked for in a teacher and how my criteria showed up in

Many school building and school district leaders are engaged in the work of recruiting current and prospective teachers of color to their classrooms. How successful those leaders are is up for debate, but based on the current teacher demographics, the argument can be made that over the last 30 years, the success is minimal. The racial demographics of recruiters, as well as those in hiring positions, mirror that of the teachers: mostly white people. For whatever reason, finding teachers and teac

The first time I was introduced to Nia Long was watching “Boyz N The Hood.” I remember during intimate scenes between her and Cuba Gooding Jr., my uncle saying, “[Cuba] don’t know what he doing with that.” Come to think of it, my uncle said that about Will Smith. Based on that embrace he and Ms. Long had a little bit ago, he wishes he had married “Lisa.” But I digress. But it was “Friday” for me… I completely felt where Cube was coming from… Debbie was fine… I mean I would’a fought Deebo for h

Jay-Z says that “capitalist” is a new slur to bring the Black community down. Of course, some folks are upset about it. But it makes sense that he said what he said. Jay-Z is a billionaire capitalist. On an Aug. 31 Twitter Spaces conversation with DJ Khaled, Lenny S. and Rob Markman, Jay-Z said: “Before it was the American Dream. ‘Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You can make it in America’ – all these lies that America told us our whole life. And then when we start getting it, they try to

I am not a fan of social structure award shows or mainstream ceremonies. By social structure award shows, I mean the Emmys, Oscars and Grammys specifically. It’s because these shows are orchestrated and sponsored by white people who are either completely unaware of Black culture on display in TV, film and music, or who are aware of our culture on display yet devalue our culture when compared to white TV, film and music performances. Personally, I grew up watching the Black awards shows like So

In 1976 while running for president, Ronald Reagan told the story of Linda Taylor, “a woman from Chicago,” who wore fur coats while driving a Cadillac. She had 80 names, 30 addresses and 15 phone numbers while making $150,000 a year from government checks, the candidate said, alleging welfare fraud. Linda Taylor was a biracial woman whose race was labeled “white” to protect her white mother from prosecution due to engaging in an interracial relationship that produced Taylor. She did engage in

Depending on who you ask, there may or may not be a national teaching shortage crisis. What is true however is the exodus of teachers of color from classrooms around the country. What good is it to recruit teachers of color to your schools if they cannot be retained? The answer is that it’s no good to do one if you are unable to do the other. Does that mean to give up on recruiting teachers of color because you cannot retain them as fast as you can recruit them? No. It simply means that you mus

The teaching profession can be very exciting. The opportunity to help shape young people to be fruitful and empowered members of society is a fulfilling task. But it is also daunting for that very reason, in addition to the fear of not having the respect and cooperation of students, colleagues and parents. Many teachers wrestle with these emotions, particularly teachers new to the profession or new to a district and/or school. Therefore, it is imperative that when onboarding new teachers to a s

Many people agree the districts across the country need to hire more teachers of color. But without a deep dive into what goes into the hiring process, district leaders cannot make the hiring process a just and equitable one. That starts with living as a district of equity. Prospective teachers of color can gauge the equity of a district and/or school (at least at a surface level) by they communicate on their website. What a district communicates on their website or social media can encourage (

Research shows that all students benefit from having teachers of color. Those benefits range from academic to relational. Therefore, it is no wonder that district leaders are choosing to recruit more teachers of color to work in their schools. When you consider that teachers of color are less than 20% of teachers (male teachers of color are less than 5% of all teachers), there is a need to recruit more people of color to the teaching profession. Knowing that your school district needs teachers

We Need More Black Teachers. Here’s How to Make That Happen When I was a kid, I didn’t plan on becoming a teacher. In fact, teaching wasn’t considered an option. My plan was to become an attorney. But a funny thing happened during my first year of law school: I realized I didn’t love it enough to commit to it. I left law school and pivoted to graduate school, where I earned my master’s. During my studies there, one of my professors — Gail Brooks, who remains a mentor of mine — said to me, “You’d be great as a teacher. We need more Black men in classrooms.” To quote Charlie Wilson of the famous G.A.P. Band, she “dropped a bomb on me.”

I was initially satisfied to know that the families received some form of justice when a federal jury awarded $31 million in damages to Kobe Bryant’s widow and her co-plaintiff. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire departments are liable for infringing on their constitutional rights by taking and sharing gruesome photos at the site of the January 2020 helicopter crash that left nine people dead. After some time to reflect on it, I am frustrated that $31 million was awarded to the plaintiff

President Joe Biden has finally agreed to student loan forgiveness, canceling up to $20,000 for individuals who received Pell grants and $10,000 for all other loan recipients. Since the announcement, the responses are mixed. Some are excited about the move, some are not, and others are pleased but want more in loan forgiveness. One opinion I heard and found interesting was that rather than relief coming from the chief executive, it should come from college presidents by lowering college costs.

Making it a goal of your district to hire more teachers of color is a great thing. But sometimes more important than hiring teachers of color is retaining them. However, teacher of color have a higher rate of teacher turnover than white teachers. According to a Teach Plus and Education Trust report, teachers of color leave the classroom for a number of reasons, including the emotional and psychological toll of being an educator of color in a white institutional space, the lack of autonomy to ta

Every school district is different. Certainly, all school districts share similar challenges, however school districts are unique. It’s due to the various factors that shape their character, strategic mission and vision, as well as their culture. Once teachers are hired into a district, they must be brought to speed on the norms and values of a district. What is equally true is that when hired, teachers must be inducted into the school and district community in ways where they are introduced to

The hiring process is always tough because while looking for the “perfect” teacher candidate, you’ll never find them. You just hope to find an individual who is a good fit for students and the school culture. Too often, when hiring teachers of color, the hiring team may get too pre-occupied with fit, content knowledge and qualifications of those candidates because quite frankly, they’re not white. This is not to say that white people in the position to hire are inherently racist. But it is to s

Professionally speaking, teaching has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. But my degree isn’t in teaching. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do when I entered college but teaching wasn’t one of the things that came to mind. When I graduated from undergrad I entered grad school, still not thinking about teaching. Until one day one of my professors who remains a mentor suggested that I entered the classroom. Once I graduated, rather than entering field the public administration and