David and Isabelle continue their conversation with poet, speaker, and activist for people with disabilities, LeDerick Horne—and get to hear him recite some of his incredible spoken word poems. They talk about how songs taught them to spell, the power of oral traditions, and an incredible school in Kenya that expanding education and access for those with disabilities. Seriously, his poetry will give you life. (Part IV of IV)

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LeDerick continues sharing some of his poetry, describing his father’s record collection and his mother’s love of music—he recites his poem, “Alice Street Soundtrack,” Alice Street being the street where he grew up. The website understood.org (see below) shot an interview with them and how in one of his last lines, he spells out the word “FRESH,” which is one of the first words he learned how to spell, and it’s also how David learned how to spell it first time. LeDerick and David share how they learned to spell Common from his songs, too. David feels so seen, having symbol recognition disorder, he has a 4th or 5th grade spelling level and learning how to spell words was always hard, the power of songs to be able to help us learn to spell (like Gwen Stefani with “Bananas” and Fergie with “Glamorous”). LeDerick describes how the written word (thanks, Gutenberg!) Has become such a big force in the world, which he respects, but he has a deep love of the spoken word and the necessity of the spoken word, with rhyme, with rhythm. He describes the Griots (for more info, see below) being the first MC’s in Africa. LeDerick shares one more poem he wrote in 2020, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA and also the national uprisings related to social justice and policing—and he wanted to write something about the beauty of those with disabilities. He recites “Until Every Barrier Falls.” David hearing LeDerick talking about the things he does in his poetry changed his understanding of LeDerick. Isabelle sees all the images as LeDerick is speaking, as does David. LeDerick describes the African word, “nomo,” which refers to the magic of the spoken word. We need to speak it into being, and like his Aunt Kay said, as long as we say someone’s name, a person who has passed, they live. He comes from strong oral traditions, his dad was a cross-country coach, and his grandfather was President of his chapter of the NAACP, and LeDerick aspires to continue those traditions, and continue their work. If he’s doing his job well, you can see it, poetry doesn’t say, it shows. Isabelle and David are so honored that LeDerick has been Something Shiny’s first guest (upon David’s insistence, and LeDerick’s generous sharing of time and energy), and we are here to promote whatever LeDerick wants to promote. He mentions the Rare Gem Talent School in Kenya that supports students with disabilities, and right now they’re renting an old hotel and providing education for about 120, and were able to raise funds to get through the pandemic. Now they’re trying to raise money for the land they’re on and to eventually create a complex that will support 500 students with dyslexia, ADHD, etc. and have a huge waitlist. Nancy was just at the International Dyslexia Conference—you can’t do it on your own (for more information and how to support this amazing school, see below!)

Songs we mention that help us spell words

“Fresh” -  Fresh 3 M.C.’s “Fresh” 

“Common” - De La Soul’s “The Bizness” 

Bananas - “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani 

Glamorous - “Glamorous” by Fergi 

More info on the amazing school in Kenya:

Rare Gem Talent School

Video from understood.org featuring LeDerick

Video for “Until Every Barrier Falls” (WATCH THIS RIGHT NOW) 

More on LeDerick Horne

(here's a brief bio)

(here's his amazing link tree)

LeDerick and Dr. Margo Izzo’s book, Empowering Students with Hidden Disabilities: A Path to Pride and Success 

Black and Dyslexic Podcast (hosted by Winifred Winston and LeDerick Horne)

Celebrating Black History and People with Disabilities - Youtube series 

A glimpse of LeDerick's live events - from the Nevada Student Leadership Transition Summit (NSLTS)

The vision boards LeDerick talks about appear in this video at 18:45 - December 14, 2021, Humboldt County School District School Board Meeting - The Lowry High School NSLTS Team presents on their efforts, including self-directed IEPs

New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education

All in for Inclusive Education
 

DAVID'S DEFINITIONS

Disproportionality: the racial or ethnic differences that exist in how students with learning differences are identified, placed, and disciplined—for example, how black and brown students with ADHD might be labeled as having Oppositional Defiant Disorder or “behavioral issues” while white students are identified as having ADHD and thus treated very differently.

Griot: a West African ethnic group dating back to the 14th century that act as storytellers, mediators, royal advisors, and bards, the keepers of oral histories and stories for families and tribes. For more, check out this wikipedia entry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griot

Learning Difference (LD): Because learning disability is a crummy, inaccurate term. For example, David does not have a learning disability, he has a sitting still disability.

Inclusion/Inclusive Education: This refers to the idea that all students should have an equal opportunity to learn, and relates to parts of the law and education system that attempt to achieve this by acknowledging it is more effective and socially beneficial for all students (as research and endless evidence shows) to be in classrooms and experiences together, rather than segregated into different tracks or programs.  For a much more thorough description of all of the nuances around this, check out: