Exiled from Ms. Agawa's class, I visit on-campus suspension. And get punched by a teacher.

I was a high school junior, getting sent out of English class because I had a "cavalier attitude" towards my education.

One of the most profound critical moments I had at the University of Minnesota was Alexs Pate leading us through an exercise around stereotype, threat, and Blackness. He breaks it down in this excerpt. This is an outtake from episode 2.

What's it like being a Black educator whose responsible for helping everyone else's kids learn while you're also trying to make sure your kids get the education they deserve. Ganae talks about the lessons she's learned helping her son navigate racism in school.

Does mindfulness make you anxious? Do you struggle with perfectionism, correction-ism? Boy do I have a story for you. I also talk to Dr. Sunni Ali, one of my OG educators and author of Lessons Learned: Critical Conversation in Hip Hop. 

A child should know the literary context of their people.  Alan Miller talks about recruiting Black students for advanced placement courses and the soul-nourishment he wants to cultivate in these spaces. This is an outtake from Episode 1.

What do White students need from Black teachers? Crystal Wilkinson talks about the importance of Black teachers on the lives and outlooks of White students. This is an outtake from Episode 3.

My uncle talks about lessons he learned from teaching art at a school for the blind. Outtake from Episode 4 (https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/2Kjvr719ywb)

Alan Miller on the class where the grief-stricken guest artist meets the ill-timed dismissal bell.

How do you cut through roast culture to help students see the good in themselves and each other? Here's a story about trying to answer that question with a room full of 6th grade boys on a hot summer day.  I also talk Matthew R. Kay, author of Not Light But Fire: Having Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom.