Hello everyone! Today I have on Matthew Kay, the author of the AMAZING book, Not Light, But Fire, and we are discussing how we can all step up and lead meaningful race conversations in our classrooms. Teach Me, Teacher has never shied away from controversial or hard topics. This is a fact I'm extremely proud of in the work of the show. We took on Betsy DeVos all the way back in season 1. We discussed the lack of diversity in our curriculum. We examined the role of social justice in our classrooms. And now, we are discussing how we can have powerful and meaningful race conversations in our schools. I'm in love with Matthew's book. He writes with clarity, passion, and backs up everything he says with experiences or history that hits you right in the chest. As an educator in the world today, we owe it to our students to listen to what Matthew Kay has to say. About Matthew Kay: Matthew R. Kay is a proud product of Philadelphia's public schools and a founding teacher at Science Leadership Academy (SLA). He is a graduate of West Chester University and holds a Masters in Educational Leadership with a Principals' Certificate from California University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of Philly Slam League (PSL), a non-profit organization that shows young people the power of their voices through weekly spoken word competitions. The PSL is the only season-long, school-based slam poetry league in the United States. Special thank you to Stenhouse Publishers for sponsoring this episode of Teach Me, Teacher, and supporting the constant professional development of educators around the world.