In this episode, I welcome Yaribel Mercedes to the podcast to talk about your  personal journey in education, life as a teacher influencer on social media, the need for principal preparation programs to train principal candidates into anti-racist school leaders, and much more!  To learn more about Yaribel's work, you can follow @yari_mercedes on Instagram.  

BIO: Yaribel Mercedes is a graduate of the 2018 Cohort o the Summer Principals Academy, New York City.  Currently, she serves as an Academic Response Team Specialist, situated in Manhattan’s Borough/Citywide Office, for the Department of Education. As an ART Specialist, she works in a collaborative partnership with districts, school leaders, and various stakeholders to build capacity and accelerate student learning. More specifically, she leads through a social justice and anti-racist leadership disposition to advance racial equity, inclusion, access, and opportunity.   As a radicalized being, she understands the impact of race in education, and her passion and purpose is grounded in her commitment to disrupt racist and oppressive systems, structures, and policies that marginalize and minoritize Black, Indigenous, students of color.  She deeply believes in the brilliance of every child and work with community stakeholders to cultivate curiosity, knowledge, intellect, and skills for all students to achieve at the highest level possible. Her greatest superpowers are words, writing them, speaking them, and BEING them.

In this episode, I was honored to have educator, speaker and activist Ernest Crim III on the podcast to talk about his personal journey in education, the inspiration behind the making of his book, "Black History Saved My Life", how his college years served as a pivotal point for his evolution as an activist, and much more!  To learn more about Ernest's work, you can visit his website at ernestcrim.com or follow him on all social media platforms with the handle @mrcrim3.  

BIO: Ernest Crim III is a self-proclaimed Black History Advocate who is a native of the southside of Chicago and a product of the late 80s. He is a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alum who advocates for Black History, equity and justice as a speaker, cultural consultant, sociopolitical commentator, cast member on the PBS documentary ‘Divided We Fall’, author of the Amazon best-seller Black History Saved My Life, former City Council Candidate and high school social science instructor.  As a consultant and speaker, he uses his experience with fighting a hate crime that went viral, to teach the important role Black History plays in becoming cultural compliant and equitable in the workplace, school and broader community. He has spoken at various conferences and institutions nationally, such as the United States Department of Education’s Black History Month panel, the University of Chicago, Illinois State University and Nevada State College. Internationally, he’s been a featured speaker in Canada and the United Kingdom.  

As an educator and activist, Mr. Crim has been awarded “Most Inspiring Teacher” more than five times, the “Joliet Chamber of Commerce’s Great Teacher Award”, the National Hook-up of Black Women’s “Gold Star Award for Education”, the P.E.P.S. “Community Activist of the Year Award”, and the “Dr. Isaac Singleton Award for Extraordinary Service” by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Joliet.  His debut book, Black History Saved My Life: How My Viral Hate Crime led to an Awakening, which chronicles his experiences and triumphs with racism in relation to the hate crime he was the target of, is an Amazon best-seller. He has been featured on WVON radio, the NY Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune, PBS as a cast member on the documentary Divided We Fall, NPR, CBS, Matter of Fact (a television show produced by former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien), the podcast of Red Table Talk co-host Adrienne Banfield-Norris, which is entitled Positively Gam and several other podcasts.  Mr. Crim hopes to use his life experiences to inspire others to fight injustices and educate themselves for the purpose of empowerment, equity and justice. Black History saved Ernest’s life. What’s going to save yours?

In this episode, I had the honor of having Akiea "Ki" Gross on the podcast to talk about their personal journey in education, the founding of Woke Kindergarten, what needs to be done to improve our education system for our early childhood educators and students, the need to create queer-affirming, abolitionist learning spaces in our schools, etc.  To learn more about Ki's work, you can visit the Woke Kindergarten website at wokekindergarten.org and you can follow them on Instagram (@WokeKindergarten, @WhyAbolition, @WomxynAmplify and @SistersUnsigned) and Twitter (@akieag).  

BIO: Akiea “Ki” Gross (they/them) is an abolitionist early educator, coach, consultant and creative entrepreneur currently innovating ways to unlearn, heal, liberate and create with their pedagogy, Woke Kindergarten. In the many years they spent teaching in classrooms, their experiences spanned infancy to 6th grade. Prior to leaving the school system, they served as a Kindergarten Teacher and an Instructional Coach of Inquiry-Based Learning in Harlem.  

Recently, Ki was selected as the Early Childhood Education Assembly’s 2020 Social Justice Award Recipient and has participated as a speaker, panelist and moderator for many organizations and events including Bank Street’s Black Lives Matter at Schools Week Symposiums, SXSW EDU, Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, Teachers for Social Justice, Montclair State, UMBC, NYPL, Abolitionist Teaching Network and more.  It was their experiences with the carceral state of schooling and the trauma enacted upon Black children in these systems, that galvanized them to create #BlackTeachersMatter, Black Teachers Mentor and Equitable Schools years ago. As their ideologies and experiences with abolition evolved, they dissolved Equitable Schools and created @WhyAbolition.  

Their commitment to creating safe, inclusive and liberatory spaces for BIPOC queer & trans artists also led them to create Sisters Unsigned, an intimate concert series that amplifies the voices of independent queer, trans, gender and genre expansive BIPOC artists and creators.  Along with their partner Sonic and creative team, Womxyn Amplify, they’ve directed, curated and hosted many other creative pursuits including Sisters Unsigned presents: Women in Hip Hop, Archway Pride, and SEASONS: A Voyage Through Sound, their team’s 2020 artist residency at National Sawdust. 

Currently, they serve as Coaching Manager for 4.0 Schools, an early stage investor and incubator for education entrepreneurs, and are working on the release of a few entrepreneurial projects of their own.  They hold an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, an M.S. in Childhood Education/Special Education from the Progressive Education Institute/Touro College and two B.A.’s in Child Development and Family Studies and Psychology, respectively.  

You can find them on Twitter @akieag and their work on Instagram @WokeKindergarten, @WhyAbolition, @WomxynAmplify and @SistersUnsigned.

This special episode is dedicated to the librarians and media specialists who are holding it down in their schools!  I had the honor of interviewing K.C. Boyd, Sandra Albini, and Forrest Evans, who took the time to share their personal journeys to librarianship, the significant role that librarians play in supporting students and teachers, the need for racial equity and diversity within the librarian media specialist field, and much more!  To learn more about their work, you can check out their respective websites or follow them on their social media handles:  

K.C. BOYD:  Website: kcboyd.com;  Social Media: (IG & TWITTER  - @boss_librarian)  

SANDRA ALBINI: Social Media: IG - @hoodlibrarian  

FORREST EVANS: Website: favoritelibrarian.com  Social Media: (IG - @favoritelibrarian, TWITTER - @MsForrestnoGump)

BIO: K.C. Boyd is currently a school librarian with the Washington D.C. School System.  She has previously worked as the Lead Librarian for the East St. Louis District #189 in East St. Louis, IL., a Area Library Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools and a District Coordinator for the Mayor Daley Book Club for Middle School Students.  She is a second generation educator and holds Master’s degrees in Library Information Science, Media Communications, and Education Leadership.  Boyd currently serves on the executive boards for the District of Columbia Library Association and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.  She is an active committee member for the American Library Association Chapter Council representing Washington, D.C., American Association of School Librarians Digital Tools, American Library Association’s Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group, Every Library Institute and Advisory Board, and the Washington Teachers’ Union Equity Collaborative.  In addition, Boyd is a National Ambassador representing the Washington D.C. are for the Checkology Virtual Classroom and The News Literacy Project.

Sandra (Maríne) Albini earned a BA in English from Cal Poly Pomona. As an undergrad, she worked as a Foster Child Caregiver in a group home for teenage girls in L.A. County. She earned an MA in English from Cal State University, Los Angeles. Sandra has worked as an English and AVID teacher for almost two decades. She has taught in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and Santa Clara County, all at Title I schools. She occasionally teaches night classes in adult education. Sandra has recently completed an MLIS degree and Teacher Librarian credential from San José State University.  Sandra has worked as a Teacher Librarian for three years. She was also the 2020 recipient of the California State Library Association’s Leadership for Diversity scholarship. Sandra is now an active member of the CSLA Leadership for Diversity committee. 

Forrest Evans is an Atlanta-based, licensed librarian working at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Evans has worked in various libraries from Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the south to special collections and television. The avid DC Comic Book collector combating under education, and fighting for gender equality. Their love for reading fuels my passion to circulate Black and Queer Literature, and resources. The low country native, also known for her published poetry in Pen+Brush, Lavender Review: Lesbian Poetry and Art, TQ Review: A Journal of Trans and Queer Voices, and The Apogee Journal. When the poet is not in the library, they are with their Queer Tribe combating xenophobia or sharing joy. For more information about Evans, visit favoritelibrarian.com or their official social media.

With the national conversation about critical race theory gaining so much momentum in recent weeks, I invited Dr. Angel Jones and Dr. Kate Slater to educate our listeners of what critical race theory is, the true origins of the theory, and the specific actions that K-12 educators can take to integrate the basic tenets of the theory into their curriculum and daily teaching practice.  They also shared about the ups and downs they experienced being women in the Academy.  To learn more about Dr. Jones' work, you can visit her website at angeljonesphd.com and follow her on all social media platforms with the handle @angeljonesphd.  To learn more about Dr. Slater's work, you can visit her website at kateaslater.com and follow her on Instagram (@katerslater).   

BIO:  Dr. Angel Jones is a passionate educator with 15+ years of experience in K-12 and Higher Education. At her core, as both an educator and a researcher, she endeavors to improve the lives of marginalized students while providing opportunities for their stories to be told. Broadly, her research focuses on the experiences of Black and Brown students at historically White institutions. More specifically, she examines how their experiences impact their mental health and overall well-being. Her areas of interest include microaggressions, racial battle fatigue, gendered-racism, and the psychological impact of each on Students of Color. Additionally, her research is informed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, and other theoretical frameworks that acknowledge and highlight the impact of race, gender, and other marginalized identities on the experiences of Students of Color. ​She is a proud first-generation college student who received her Ph.D. in Education from George Washington University with a focus on inequality in Higher Education. She also has an M.Ed. and Ed.S. in School Counseling from Georgia State University, as well as a B.A. in Political Science from Syracuse University. She is also a Brooklyn native and proud Afro Latina.  

Dr. Kate Slater is a White anti-racist scholar and educator.  She is currently the Assistant Dean of Graduate Student Affairs at Brandeis University. Previously, she was the Associate Director & Manager of Programs at the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, a nonprofit that promotes racial equity in the American educational sector. She is also a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire for the course Teaching Race, which explores the history of race and racism in America. Her doctoral research centers the experiences of underrepresented minorities students in higher education, and in particular, at predominantly White institutions. She also investigates White racial identity formation and how racism operates individually, organizationally, and systemically. She leads facilitations, trainings, and affinity groups with K-12 institutions and universities, as well as with numerous private organizations.

In this episode, I welcomed special education professors Dr. Jen Newton and Dr. Mira Cole Williams to the podcast for an important conversation about combating ableism in our K-12 schools.  They also shared how ableism plays into the national conversation about critical race theory, the founding of the Teaching is Intellectual Platform, the actions that educators & school districts must take to integrate anti-ableist practices into their school communities, the future of special education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more!  This episode is dedicated to all the special education teachers and inclusion teachers who are in the trenches!   To learn more about their work, you can visit their website at teachingisintellectual.com or you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter with the handle @teachingisintellectual.   

BIO: Jen Newton, PhD is an assistant professor in special education.  Dr. Newton’s research interests include strengths-based approaches to families, early childhood inclusion, inclusive teacher preparation, and socially just and equitable educational practices.  She presents locally, regionally, and nationally on a range of inclusive educational topics.  She served as an early interventionist and an inclusive prekindergarten teacher prior to pursuing doctoral studies.  Dr. Newton earned her doctorate in special education with a focus on teacher education from the University of Kansas and spent four years as an assistant professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., then three years at Saint Louis University before finding her home at Ohio University.  

Mira Cole Williams, PhD, is an associate professor in the Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities Department at James Madison University. Dr. Williams earned a doctoral degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education from the University of Virginia. She also received her Master’s of Teaching and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Williams taught for six years in inclusive early childhood preschool and elementary classrooms in Virginia. In addition, she served as an educational specialist, consulting with teachers and families of children with disabilities, focusing on differentiating instruction and providing curricular access to all children.  She is a strong advocate of high-quality teacher preparation in the area of Early Childhood Inclusive and Special Education and is focused on social justice and equity for young children and their families. She presents locally and nationally on a range of topics related to improving teacher preparation, inclusive practices in early childhood education, and disrupting microaggressions in P-16 educational settings.

This week, I had the special honor of interviewing Baruti Kafele on the podcast. In our conversation, we touched on a number of topics, including the different expressions of anti-Blackness in K-12 schools, the specific actions that educators and school districts should take to engage in culturally relevant and antiracist pedagogy that centers Black students, and the release of his newest book, The Equity and Social Justice Education 50. To learn more about Principal Kafele’s work, you can visit his official website at principalkafele.com and you can also follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter with the handle @PrincipalKafele.

BIO:  A highly-regarded urban educator in New Jersey for over twenty years, Principal Baruti Kafele distinguished himself as a master teacher and a transformational school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, NJ, he was selected as the East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, he was a New Jersey State Teacher of the Year finalist, and a recipient of the New Jersey Education Association Award of Excellence.

As a middle and high school principal, Principal Kafele led the turnaround of four different New Jersey urban schools, including "The Mighty" Newark Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to national recognition, which included U.S. News and World Report Magazine recognizing it three times as one of America's best high schools.

One of the most sought-after school leadership experts and education speakers in America, Principal Kafele is impacting America’s schools! He has delivered over two thousand conference and program keynotes, professional development workshops, parenting seminars and student assemblies over his 34 years of public speaking. An expert in the area of “attitude transformation,” Principal Kafele is the leading authority for providing effective classroom and school leadership strategies toward closing what he coined, the "Attitude Gap.”

A prolific writer, Principal Kafele has written extensively on professional development strategies for creating a positive school climate and culture, transforming the attitudes of at-risk students, motivating Black males to excel in the classroom, and school leadership practices for inspiring schoolwide excellence. In addition to writing several professional articles for popular education journals, he has authored eleven books, including his six ASCD best sellers - Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School & in Life, Closing the Attitude Gap, The Teacher 50, Is My School a Better School BECAUSE I Lead It?, The Principal 50 and The Assistant Principal 50. He is also the author of the ASCD book, The Aspiring Principal 50. His next book – The Equity and Social Justice Education 50 will be released in May, 2021.

Principal Kafele is married to his wife Kimberley, and is the father of their three children, Baruti, Jabari and Kibriya. He earned his B.S. degree in Management Science/Marketing from Kean University and his M.A. degree in Educational Administration from New Jersey City University. He is the recipient of over 150 educational, professional and community awards which include the prestigious Milken National Educator Award, the National Alliance of Black School Educators Hall of Fame Award, induction into the East Orange, New Jersey Hall of Fame, recognition as one of the World’s Top 30 Education Professionals for 2020 & 2021 by Global Gurus Top 30 and the City of Dickinson, Texas proclaiming February 8, 1998 as Baruti Kafele Day.

In this episode, I had the honor of chatting with school leader and racial equity coach, Joe Truss.  In our conversation, he shared about his personal journey in education, the need for educators and school leaders to engage in culturally responsive leadership, how to dismantle white supremacy culture in our K-12 schools, his upcoming Dismantling White Supremacy Conference, and many other topics.  To learn more about Joe's work, you can visit his website at trussleadership.com or you can follow him on Twitter & Instagram with the handle @trussleadership.   

BIO: Joe Truss currently serves as the Principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco, CA and brings sixteen years of experience working with public K-12 students, combining teaching, coaching, counseling, curriculum development, and school administration. He also has extensive experience working in Title 1 schools, serving low-income, immigrant, students of color.

Originally born and raised in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, Joe grew up in a single-parent home, after losing my father at the age of five. He attended public schools in San Francisco and found solace in his studies. He later studied the Spanish Language at UC Berkeley in the early 2000s.  He continued my education through the Urban Teacher Training Collaborative and received my Master’s in Teaching from Tufts University, in Boston. He then returned to teach High School Spanish in Oakland. After becoming a lead teacher, with Envision Schools, Joe returned to pursue an Administrator’s Credential through the UC Berkeley PLI program. There, he conducted my Leadership Action Research Project on the effects of Culturally Relevant Curricula in a small urban high school.

He later returned to San Francisco, as a high school Assistant Principal, before becoming the Principal of a middle school. There, he introduced a vision focused on Love, Literacy, and Liberation. He has worked to decrease student referrals, increase performance on the SBAC English Language Arts and double 6th-grade enrollment. During my tenure, he worked to bring in a focus on culturally responsive teaching, project-based learning, and trauma-sensitive practices.

Through his consulting company, Truss Leadership, he has led various workshops, and offered professional development to over 10,000 educators. In addition, he has begun working with schools, non-profits, and districts to manifest their racial equity goals. This includes onsite (or virtual) antiracist/antibias training for staff, strategic planning with leadership teams, and 1 on 1 coaching of leaders. Finally, he has started 2 year long virtual courses, Antiracist Leadership and Antiracist Teaching.

In this episode, I welcome Takeru "TK" Nagayoshi to the podcast to share his personal journey in education, the prevalence of anti-Asian racism in our K-12 schools, the need to debunk the "Model Minority" narrative that decenters the intersectional identities within the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and many more topics.  To learn more about Takeru's work, you can follow him on Twitter with the handle @tk_nagayoshi or Facebook.

BIO:  Takeru "TK" Nagayoshi is the 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. He teaches high school AP English, writing, and research in New Bedford, MA. Having joined education through Teach For America (TFA), Takeru advocates for education policy through an equity lens. When not teaching, he coaches developing teachers and writes on education issues for local, state and national publications.