Identity Talk 4 Educators LIVE

In this episode, I had the special honor of welcoming Tema Okun to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, her evolution as an antiracist scholar under the mentorship of the late Dr. Kenneth Jones, the publishing of her widely used article, "White Supremacy Culture", the need for white educators to transition from performative ally to active co-conspirator, and much more!  To learn more about Tema's work, you can visit the White Supremacy Culture website at whitesupremacyculture.info or you can follow her on Instagram (@okuntema) and Twitter (@TemaOkun). 

BIO: Tema Okun has spent over 30 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as a trainer, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. Dr. Okun currently co-leads the Teaching for Equity Fellows Program at Duke University, which works with faculty seeking to develop stronger skills both teaching about race and racism and across lines of race, class, and gender. She was a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at National Louis University in Chicago and has taught undergraduate, master's, and doctoral level students in educational leadership and education.   She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don't Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. She publishes regularly on the pedagogy of racial and social justice. Tema is a participant in the Living School for Action and Contemplation and a member of the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Durham, NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both.

In this episode, I had the special honor of interviewing anti-bias anti-racist educator and consultant Liz Kleinrock to learn about her personal journey into education, growing up as a transracial adoptee, the release of her debut book, "Start Here, Start Now", what it means to be an ABAR educator, and so much more!  To learn more about Liz's work, you can visit her personal website at teachandtransform.org or you can follow her on Instagram (@teachandtransform) and Twitter (@teachntransform).  

BIO: Liz Kleinrock is an anti-bias anti-racist educator and consultant based in Washington, DC. A transracial adoptee, Liz was born in South Korea and grew up in DC before attending Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After graduating, Liz moved to Oakland, California, where she served as an AmeriCorps teacher with Girls Inc. and Super Stars Literacy for two years. Following her service, Liz moved to Los Angeles, where she attended UCLA's Teacher Education Program, where she earned her M.Ed. After spending a year student teaching a 5th grade class in Watts, Liz joined the founding faculty of a startup school in East Hollywood where she spent seven years teaching 1st through 4th grades.   In addition to classroom teaching, Liz also works as an anti-bias anti-racist facilitator for schools, organizations, and companies across the country. Her work has gained national recognition through a documentary short produced by Fluid Film, and media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, NPR, and BBC. In 2018, Liz received Teaching Tolerance's 2018 Award for Excellence in Teaching, and currently serves on the Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board. Liz is proud to share her 2019 TED Talk from "Education Everywhere" on building foundations of equity with young learners, and is the author of “Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community”.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Siriana Abboud on the podcast.  In our conversation, Siriana shares about her personal journey in education, the founding of Allusio Academy, the public perception of early childhood programs pre and post-COVID-19, her thoughts to the colonial situation in Palestine, and so much more!  To learn more about Siriana's work, you can visit the Allusio Academy website at allusioacademy.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@allusio.academy) and Twitter (@siriana_).   

BIO: Siriana Abboud, founder of Allusio Academy, is devoted to a life in early childhood education. Her career began at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her B.S. in Psychology, with concentrations in developmental and social/personality psychology. Her additional major in French and Francophone Studies introduced her to bilingual acquisition and multilingual learning.   At Columbia University, Teachers College, Siriana gained her Masters in Early Childhood Education, in both general and special education. There, she became the youngest student selected as a QUIERE scholar, studying education through social justice. She received an additional certification in French teaching.   She has taught in twelve classrooms across New York City and Pittsburgh, ranging from infant to second grade. Her extensive experiences have equipped her with the knowledge and skills to serve students of all diverse backgrounds and abilities. 

Through her latest role as a head teacher in an NYC Universal Pre-K, Siriana developed an elementary mastery of Spanish, adding to her linguistic skills in English, Arabic, and French.  Siriana values progressive pedagogies that are child-centered and informed by developmental research. As a teacher, she honors families as leaders of their child’s education. Her approach is inspired by those of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and other play-based philosophies. She invites children to explore their communities while bringing their world into the class. She has been featured on NPR’s On Point Radio, Vogue Living Arabic, The Telegraph Food UK, and Pittsburgh Today Live.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Buffalo's finest Dr. Tiffany M. Nyachae on the podcast to learn about her personal journey to education, her transition from the classroom to academia, how she manages racial battle fatigue as a Black woman in academia, the importance of incorporating 'race space' critical professional development in our school communities, and so much more!  To learn more about Tiffany's work, you can visit The Evolving Education Project at evolvingeducationproject.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@tiffany.m.nyachae or @evolvingeducationproject) or Twitter (@tiffany_nyachae or @EvolvingEduProj)

BIO: Tiffany M. Nyachae is Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University, College of Education. She is also podcaster, educational consultant, and founder of the Evolving Education Project; a fellow in the STAR (Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions) Mentoring Program through the Literacy Research Association (LRA); and 2018-2020 Cultivating New Voices (CNV) Among Scholars of Color Fellow through the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Dr. Nyachae earned her Ph.D. in Literacy Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). 

As a native and longtime resident of the city of Buffalo, NY, at the heart of her research agenda is, has been, and will be improving the educational experiences of students of Color. This agenda is evident in her research on supporting the racial literacy, social justice ideological becoming, and classroom practice of urban teachers committed to social justice through “race space” critical professional development. Additionally, she provides educational consulting and professional development to college/university faculty, school districts, administrators, and teachers through the Evolving Education Project. 

As a former middle school teacher of urban Black youth, Dr. Nyachae is interested in the continuous transparent and reflective work that is required from those who claim to center social justice in their leadership, instruction, and research. Thus, she also facilitates social justice literacy workshops and programming for youth of Color broadly—and for Black girls specifically at times—interrogating the degree to which these spaces are liberatory in actuality. Dr. Nyachae finds her greatest joy in learning with (and from) young people. Her publications have appeared in journals such as Urban Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Multicultural Learning and Teaching, Gender and Education, and Qualitative Inquiry. Finally, she also volunteers her service to various community and professional organizations.

In this special episode, we switch things up a little bit!  My wife Natalie makes her podcast debut as my co-host and we're excited to chat with our good friend Zenda Walker about her natural hair journey, creating the Know Your Hairitage book series, redefining hair education, her thoughts on the CROWN Act, and so much more!  To learn more about Zenda's work, you can visit the Know Your Hairitage website at knowyourhairitage.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@zzenlife or @know_your_hairitage) and Twitter (@knowurhairitage).  

BIO: Zenda Walker is recognized as a dynamic and accomplished Marketing and Sales Executive with a proven track record in developing and executing strategic business plans that achieve sales goals for global beauty brands. She also has a strong background in managing marketing campaigns to increase profits and brand awareness, and she makes informed, data-driven decisions to support growth initiatives and transform key brands.  

Zenda is respected as a motivational, influential leader and collaborator who guides teams in realizing aggressive sales goals. She leverages a passion for the beauty industry to deliver exceptional customer service, and educate team members in best practices, service techniques, and product knowledge. Zenda drives new business by establishing strategic partnerships, and she is a natural networker and communicator, who fosters and maintains lasting relationships with strategic partners, C-Level executives, and key stakeholders. She also thrives in fast-paced, challenging environments that champion diversity and innovation.  Zenda holds a Masters of Business Management from Cambridge College to support her exemplary educational and service background. She is also the author of the No. 1 Amazon New Release, "Know Your Hairitage: Zara's Wash Day", a children's book that celebrates diversity.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing early childhood educator Jerilee Melo on the podcast!  In our conversation, she share about her early upbringing in Southern California, her family's influence in directing her to a career in teaching, the founding of Classroom to Go, the overall impact of COVID-19 on early childhood programs and students, and so much more!  To learn more about Jerilee's work, you can visit the Classroom to Go website at missjerireads.wpcomstaging.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@classroomtogo).  

BIO: Jerilee Melo is the founder and creator of Classroom to Go, a mobile classroom that provides preschoolers with the social interaction they were missing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Born and raised in Southern California, she knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a teacher, just like her mother and two of her grandparents. Jerilee loved watching The Elephant Show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, and Reading Rainbow as a child and still looks to those shows for inspiration. She has had the privilege of working with children for more than 16 years and was able to learn and teach in a variety of schools with various approaches to education including Montessori, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and Reggio Emilia.  Prior to teaching, I was a co-director at My Gym Children’s Fitness Center and even developed their Preschool Prep (Jump Start) program which is now offered at locations domestic and worldwide.

This week's episode was necessary and special!  If you are a Black woman in  education, this episode is for you!  For this conversation, I welcomed my good friend and thriving edupreneur Deidra Fogarty to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the founding of Black Girls Teach, the need for school districts to create safe community spaces for Black women educators, and much more!  To learn more about Deidra's work, you can visit the Black Girls Teach website at blackgirlsteach.com or follow @blackgirlsteach on all social media platforms.  

BIO: Deidra Fogarty is a native of Bridgeport, Connecticut and is currently an Educator, Literacy Consultant and Entrepreneur.  Deidra has worked in education for over a decade in various capacities. Her natural leadership ability allowed her to venture into leadership positions in Washington Metropolitan area. After a decade working in education and frustration with the current state of it, Deidra decided to make a pivot in her career entering back into the classroom as a teacher.  Deidra used this as an opportunity to develop her teacher craft by working with students who needed the most academic support. With her new setting and role, came a happier mindset, thus allowing her to use her time to focus on her other passions such as diverse children’s literature, supporting teachers, providing resources literacy to parents and bringing awareness to current issues in Urban Education. She, along with her sister, launched a successful subscription service called WAM! Book Bundle where she provides a selection of diverse children’s books to parents and educators each month.  Through all of her ventures, Deidra realized that there was a void in Urban Education. Along her journey, there was never a support system, community or outlet for Black women in Education, besides her own educator friends.  She knew that women like herself often felt isolated and frustrated with not being able to share their thoughts about Education and their role in it, unapologetically. She wanted to create a community where other Black women working in Education could discuss topics, get advice, share best practices and connect with one another. She wanted to create a way for more people to see and hear the perspective of Black women working in Education.  Black Girls Teach was the solution.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting it up with my good friend Bobby Morgan.  In our conversation, Bobby shares his personal journey in education, the founding of Liberation Lab,  his thoughts on the state of teacher performance evaluations, the need for antiracist solidarity in the fight for liberation, and much more.   To learn more about Bobby's work, you can follow him on Instagram (@liberation.lab), Twitter (@myliberationlab) or you visit his website at myliberationlab.com.   

BIO: Bobby Morgan is an educator, writer, speaker, and consultant who specializes in working with other educators to promote equity and culturally responsive teaching practices. With over a decade in education, primarily in under resourced populations, Bobby is passionate about cultivating the brilliance in Black and Brown communities. Through coaching, workshops, and meaningful professional development, Bobby desires to change the educational landscape, ensuring pathways of success for students. In addition to his work within educational institutions, Bobby works as an educational advocate partnering with allies in the fight for equitable policies and legislative priorities for all students. He founded Liberation Lab, an educational consulting firm to build pathways for internal and external accountability. Internal accountability for teachers to put liberatory practices to work, immediately benefitting student outcomes. External accountability will come through empowering parents and families with the resources necessary to hold schools accountable for more than aspirations of equity.