Daily Border Crossings

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Daily Border Crossings (DBC) hosted by me, Samantha Fletcher. DBC is a show that takes a look at what it’s like to feel like you’re crossing a border each day when you show up at a place. It could be work, school, college, a place you volunteer, maybe even your neighborhood. Each day when you arrive, you feel like you have to leave so much of yourself outside the door. That you can’t bring all of you with you, and it feels like you’re crossing a border. It feels like you don't fully belong and that those around you don't accept the full you.

It’s something we in education refer to as “othering”. You’ll hear a lot about that on here.

With each episode, we’ll talk to people who feel this way, to people who work with people who feel this way, to those who work with people who feel that way, even those who CAUSE others to feel that way. The goal is to shed light on all of these folks and share their stories.

This episode features an interview with Marty Swaim. A public school teacher for years, she retired with disappointment on her heart about the achievement gap and awareness of its connection to race. After leaving the classroom, she  co-founded Challenging Racism,  an organization that aims to "educate people about the prevalence and inequities of institutional and systemic racism, giving them knowledge and tools they need to challenge racism where they encounter it."