Building the Black Educator Pipeline

Building the Black Educator Pipeline is joined by Devin Morris, Co-Founder of "The Teachers' Lounge," an education-based nonprofit organization "seeking to drive unprecedented student outcomes by greatly diversifying the people, thoughts, and actions of the educational workforce in the Greater Boston Area and beyond.
"

Devin is also a member of the Commission on Black Men and Boys with the Boston Mayor’s Office and joins the show to discuss the importance of teacher diversity and educational equity.   

In this episode, host Shayna Terrell and Devin discuss strategies that districts can implement to increase teacher diversity, as well as how to support teachers of color who enter the workforce. They discuss major reasons educators of color don't feel supported and what drives them to leave the profession. 

The conversations also touches on policy and how we can hold legislators accountable when it comes to increasing the number of teachers of color. 

Brandon Nicholson, CEO of The Hidden Genius Project, joins host Shayna Terrell to talk about reaching Black boys through mentorship, entrepreneurship, and technology. 

The Hidden Genius Project, a national nonprofit organization, was founded in Oakland in 2012 by five Black male entrepreneurs/technologists who were unnerved by the dramatic juxtaposition between the high unemployment of Black male youth and the plethora of career opportunities within the local technology sector. To address this challenge, the founders established a program to connect young Black males with the skills, mentors, and experiences that they need to become high-performing entrepreneurs and technologists in a 21st-century, global economy.

In this episode, Brandon breaks down his own journey, the importance of introducing black kids to the mostly white-dominated technology space, and shares success stories from the Hidden Genius Project. 

Our resident guest, Dr. Greg Carr, Associate Professor at Howard University and host of "In Class with Carr" and "The Black Table," joins us to honor the life, legacy, and lessons of activist and author Randall Robison.

A leader and activist, Robison wrote "The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks," where he called for America to teach the history of Africa and its people, and outlines what he said white Americans owe Black folks.

In this episode, host Shayna Terrell and Dr. Carr discuss the life and legacy of Randall Robison, the movement for reparations, the teaching of accurate history, and what it means to be an American citizen.

As Women's History Month comes to a close, we return to a powerful throwback episode of Building the Black Educator Pipeline with activist Ericka Huggins and Sharif El-Mekki, CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development.

Ericka Huggins educates us on the role women played in the Black Panther movement and shares about her leadership role in the party. Sharif El-Mekki talks about his earliest memories recognizing that he was a "cub" in the movement and talks about life as the son of a Panther.

The rest of the powerful conversation talks about the importance of education to the Black Panther party, and the parallels between community education of the time, black liberation schools, and more recent examples of Black independent schools. 

We are joined today by Dr. Elizabeth Todd-Breland, author of A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago Since the 1960s, and Associate Professor of History in Black Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago! We talk about the politics of education and building the Black educator pipeline.

Dr. Todd-Breland tells us all about her educational journey and helps break down the ties between politics and the education field. The conversation touches on educational inequities and how a child's zip code is tied to their quality of education.

Host Shayna Terrell of the Center for Black Educator Development and Dr. Todd-Breland discuss the role of Black leadership in education reform and whether Black liberation can be a priority in a reform movement. 

Finally, the discussion focuses on Women's History Month and the role of higher ed in developing K-12 schools.

Dr. Ifetayo Flannery, Assistant Professor and Chair of Undergrad Chair of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University helps us better understand the difference between Africology and African American Studies.

Dr. Flannery talks about how Africana Studies changed her perspective of herself and the world and how it can be applied to K-12 education. Host Shayna Terrell of the Center for Black Educator Development asks Dr. Flannery to share the impact African American studies can have on young students, especially Black children. 

The conversation touches on how to best incorporate Black studies into curriculum and resistance to teaching Black studies. The episode also covers Black psychology, the term "Black" when referring to the African diaspora, and more. 

Our resident expert, Dr. Greg Carr, Associate Professor at Howard University, and host of "In Class with Carr" joins host Shayna Terrell to discuss what it means to be a citizen of the United States. Dr. Carr helps us answer the question: "Is there a cultural component to being American?"

Is there a unified culture in the United States? How do culture and history intersect in the country? Does being an American citizen make you anti-black by default? These questions and more are answered in this powerful episode.