In this episode of The Resistance: An Underground Educators Podcast, I’m breaking down the three steps to becoming the educator you’ve always dreamed of being, without burning out or selling out. We’ll talk about how to get quiet and connect to your joy, how to build unshakable confidence, and how to get in community so your fire for this work never goes out.

Grab and pen and start defining the educator of your dreams:

• When was the last time you felt alive in your classroom?
• What were you doing?
• What were your students doing?

Write it down. Those are the moments that define the educator of your dreams, keep them close, because we’ll use them next week to build your pedagogy statement (make sure you sign up for the newsletter for a breakdown of how PS help you become the educator of your dreams & the step-by-step of how to write one).

Keep Learning with Me:

• Sign up for the Liberation Leaflet Bi-Weekly Newsletter
• Join the Liberation Library THE Online Community for Educators Fighting the System From the Inside, Without Burning Out

In this episode, I had the absolute honor of sitting down with Dr. Daphne Chamberlain and Benjamin Saulsberry, two freedom fighters whose work is rooted in truth, history, and justice. We went deep on the role young people have always played in liberation movements and what it means for us as educators today. Spoiler alert: Our students aren’t waiting to be empowered, they’ve always had power. It’s on us to stop underestimating them and start making space for them to lead.

We talked about the story of Emmett Till, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, the 1946 student-led bus boycott in Jackson, Mississippi, the activism of high schoolers long before the names we usually uplift, and the mindset shift educators must make to truly center student voice. If you’ve ever felt the urge to do school differently, this one is for you.

Resources I Mentioned

• The Emmett Till Interpretive Center Events (August 2025): https://www.emmett-till.org
  

• Book Shoutouts: Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by John Dittmer & Mississippi, Conflict and Change: A New Edition by James W. Loewen

• Join the Liberation Library: This is where we go beyond inspiration and actually build revolutionary classrooms together. Weekly trainings, monthly live group coaching, and a community to walk in the work with you.

Reflection Prompt: Where in my current practice am I dimming student voice instead of amplifying it?

This episode of The Resistance: An Underground Educators Podcast is your permission slip to use some time this summer to reconnect with the revolutionary that lives inside of you. I’m breaking down what a Radical Retreat really looks like and no, it's not a luxury vacation, but a radical act of reclaiming your joy, creativity, and purpose as an educator. Whether I’m in the park with a book or finally returning to the practices that bring me alive, I’m inviting you to join me in resisting burnout by committing to what truly nourishes your spirit. If you’re tired of just getting by and ready to get free, this episode is your next step.

Links + Resources Mentioned:

• Join the Liberation Library

• Sign up for the Ten Toes Down Summer Mastermind

• Support the show

• Book: Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks

• Book: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

• Book: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

• Follow @blackonblacked on Instagram and TikTok

• Subscribe to the Liberation Leaflet bi-weekly newsletter: Subscribe here

This year wasn’t just better than the last one, it was the best one I've had yet. In this episode, I break down exactly how I turned the trauma of getting fired for being “too much” into the most joy-filled, value-aligned, and student-centered school year of my career.

If you’re teaching in a toxic or apathetic system, wondering if joy is even possible in this work, this episode is the reminder that you can create a classroom that feeds your spirit AND your students' minds. And you don’t have to do it alone.

Want to make next year your best one yet?Podcast Episodes mentioned in the episode:→ How I Got Fired for Being an Underground Educator→ How I Planned to Have the Best Year of My Life

Ready to build your plan with me? Join the Ten Toes Down Summer Mastermind before July 1st for $104. Or get it included in your $44/month Liberation Library membership—your revolutionary educator toolkit.

Got questions? Want to connect?Email me at [email protected]

In this episode of The Resistance: An Underground Educators Podcast, I sit down with Eugene Banks, a K-5 math instructional coach, content creator, and author of Young Black Boy and Young Black Girl, to talk about the work behind showing up for kids with excellence and conviction. Eugene drops gem after gem about the discipline, mindset, and intentionality it takes to build student-centered classrooms rooted in joy, identity, and rigor.

Connect with Eugene Banks:IG: @youngblackscholarbookWebsite: www.EugeneBanks.comThis podcast is a tool of resistance for educators fighting the system from the inside, using rigor, joy, and student voice as the tools of resistance.

Join the Liberation Library for weekly tools, trainings, and the support you actually need to do this work without losing yourself.

What we call “bad behavior” in schools isn’t the issue, control is. In this episode of The Resistance, I peels back the layers on why students resist, refuse, and retreat in classrooms and why that resistance is sacred. From pit schools to secret marriages, enslaved Africans modeled resistance in big and small ways. Today, our students are doing the same.

If you’re an educator constantly asking “Why won’t they just listen?” this episode is for you. “Our students are the descendants of people who resisted with their entire being. Why are we surprised when they do the same?”
Resources + Links:

• Join the Ten Toes Down Summer Mastermind

• Become a Liberation Library Member

• Follow Me on Instagram

• Watch the slavery classroom lesson mentioned in this episode

This episode is a straight-up masterclass on what it means to lead, coach, and transform schools from the inside. I sat down with Erinn Cottman, a powerhouse instructional coach and former AP who is making sure leaders actually lead in ways that serve Black and Brown students well. We got into the admin-teacher tension, the mindset shifts educators need to thrive, and how coaching (when done well) changes everything for teachers and ultimately students. If you're the type of teacher that believes in rigor, joy, and student voice in our schools and classrooms then you're gonna be to need to press play.

Links + Resources Mentioned

• Erinn’s Podcast: Next Level Coaching with Erinn Cottman
• Coaching Resource Bundle
• Monthly Free Webinars
• Join Erinn’s Email List for tools + tips
  📲 Follow Erinn on Instagram: @ErinnCottman

And if you’re ready to go deeper with your practice, don’t forget: this podcast is your invitation to join the Liberation Library. THEE online community for educators fighting the system from the inside. Join now

Rate, review, and share this episode with an educator who’s ready to resist burnout, reclaim their joy, and remember they are powerful enough to change their classroom and beyond.

You are not crazy. You're just out here trying to be a revolutionary in a system that wasn’t built for you to win. In this episode of The Resistance, I get real about the silent struggle so many educators are carrying, feeling like the only one in your building who gives a damn about joy, student voice, and justice. If you’ve ever sat in a PD wondering if you’re the problem because you actually care about your kids more than their test scores... this one’s for you.

🔗 Items Mentioned in This Episode:

• Ratchademic by Dr. Chris Emdin

• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

• Teaser Episode: How I Got Fired Over This Sh*t

Welcome to the first episode of The Resistance, a podcast for underground educators fighting the system from the inside. This first episode is my truth about why I do this work and who I do it for. It's an unpolished walk through my life, growing up as the oldest daughter of a mother battling addiction and mental health challenges, navigating seven schools in seven years, being thrust into adult responsibilities before I could even spell them, and still showing up every day ready to learn, lead, and love hard.

The way we’ve been trained to teach, manage, and “raise scores” is doing real harm. The Resistance is where we unlearn that mess. We stop saying “that’s just the way it is” and start building classrooms that center humanity, healing, and high expectations.

Whether you’re a day-one revolutionary or just starting to question the system, this episode is your call to get in formation.

Ways to Take Action:

• Join the Liberation Library for ongoing support + weekly tools to resist in your classroom.

• Enroll in the Ten Toes Down Summer Mastermind to build your revolutionary educator playbook.

• Drop a review, share the episode, or tag me @blackonblacked to help spread the word.

This is The Resistance. And we're standing ten toes down.

Keep Learning & Stay Connected:

• Check out the Black on Black Education Documentary
• You Know What Pisses Me Off About Education
• Parent/Teacher/ Student: The Perfect Trifecta to Create Revolutionary Change

Welcome to the final episode of the Black on Black Education Podcast! I started this podcast in 2020 and after over 130 episodes this is the last one (but don't worry as long as you are subscribed you'll be around for what's next!). For our final episode, I sit down with longtime friend and revolutionary educator Tee Freeman, PhD candidate, founder of Takeover Academy, and unapologetic advocate for Black youth development. What starts as a reunion turns into a sermon on everything that’s not working in our schools, and what we must do if we’re serious about change.

This one is just two educators calling out the nonsense and calling us all into deeper commitment.

This may be the last episode under this name, but it’s only the beginning of a powerful movement.
Step into the next chapter with us: join the Liberation Library, an online community for teachers fighting the system from within without burning out.

Connect with Tee Freeman

• IG: @conscious_t

• LinkedIn: Tee Freeman

Join the Movement

• Join the Liberation Library

• Buy the I’m Just a Kid/Teacher Journal Set

• Bring the Student Action Board to your school learn more here

Subscribe & share this episode with the real ones in your life who are ready to DO the work.