May 17th, 1954 the Supreme Court handed down its famous decision in the Brown v Board of Education of Topekacase. So much of the work of Integrated Schools is about trying to live into the promises made through that unanimous decision. On May 17th, 1973, a girl was born in Woodbridge, Virginia. That girl, Courtney Everts Mykytyn, would go on to found Integrated Schools in 2015, calling in parents and caregivers with privilege to work towards fulfilling the vision extolled by the court nineteen years to the day before she was born.

Tragically, Courtney was struck by a car and killed on Dec 29th, 2019, cutting short a life full of promise. Not before, however, she had started a movement. All of us at Integrated Schools, from the podcast team, to chapter and networkleaders, to book club facilitators, to social media managers, are here because of her vision, her heart, and her commitment to always working to know better and do better.

To mark this special day we are re-releasing one of Courtney's last episodes of the podcast, originally called "All I Want for Christmas is 3.5%". It beautifully captures her clear-eyed realism, and her unfaltering optimism. She believed that if we can call enough people in, real change is possible, and a better world can await our children, and their children. So, on this special day, we call you in to our work. How can you be part of the 3.5% of people needed to create change? What can you do to join this work? We await you with open arms.

LINKS:

Courtney's Blog post, 3.5%, Gratitude, and Shape-Shifting Reptiles

Dr. Erica Chenoweth's Ted Talk

Matt Gonzales – “White Lips to White Ears”

Dr. Elizabeth McRae on the Mother’s of Massive Resistance

Professor Michelle Adams on Milliken v Bradley and the hope for a multi-racial democracy

Our Brown v Board at 65 Series called "The Stories We Tell Ourselves"

S6E8 – BvB@67 – Rucker Johnson Revisited

S6E9 – BvB@67 – Noliwe Rooks Revisited

S6E10 – BvB@67 – Amanda Lewis Revisited

S6E11 – BvB@67 – David Hinojosa Revisited

S6E12 – BvB@67- Greg and Carol Revisited

The Hechinger Report's Series - Revisiting Brown 70 Years Later

The Civil Rights Project - The Unfinished Battle for Integration in a Multiracial America

Colorlines - Attacks on Public Education Threaten the Legacy of Brown

Check out our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

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