Despite New York City's progressive self-image, our dirty secret is that we have one of the most deeply segregated school systems in the country. But with gentrification forcing the issue, school integration is back on the table for the first time in decades. How do we not totally screw it up? And what does this mean for the long struggle for Black self-determination in Central Brooklyn? 

We’ve spent a lot of time on the past. In this episode, we look to the future.

S1 E8: On the Move

School Colors is a narrative podcast from Brooklyn Deep about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools. Season 2 premieres May 4, 2022: only on NPR's Code Switch.

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Here’s a preview of another podcast, Some of My Best Friends Are, from Pushkin Industries. Harvard professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad and journalist Ben Austen are friends, one Black and one white, who grew up together on the South Side of Chicago. On Some of My Best Friends Are, Khalil and Ben, along with their guests, have critical conversations that are at once personal, political, and playful, about the absurdities and intricacies of race in America.

In this preview, Khalil and Ben talk with author Saladin Ambar about his new book, Stars and Shadows: The Politics of Interracial Friendship from Jefferson to Obama. Through famous bonds ranging from Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe, to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, they explore the dynamics, benefits, and difficulties of cultivating interracial friendships. Hear more from Some of My Best Friends Are at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/sbfs2?sid=colors.

"We Can't Friend Our Way Out of White Supremacy" with Some of My Best Friends Are

This is the second of two bonus episodes recorded live at the Queens Public Library on December 15, 2022. After interviewing New York City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks, Mark and Max reflected on the Chancellor’s remarks and took questions about the making of School Colors, why they chose District 28, and what they learned.

This event was co-produced with The CITY and Chalkbeat New York, and moderated by Chalkbeat’s Reema Amin.

Live from Queens, Part 2: Q&A

This is the first of two bonus episodes recorded live at the Queens Public Library on December 15, 2022. Mark and Max interviewed New York City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. Banks was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams and is just finishing his first year on the job.

The previous leadership of the NYC DOE had supported diversity planning processes in five school districts across the city, including District 28, the subject of School Colors Season 2. Once Covid-19 hit New York, these diversity plans fizzled out, but they were never officially cancelled. So we started by asking Chancellor Banks if he thought diversity planning would ever come back — and if not, why not?

This event was co-produced with The CITY and Chalkbeat New York, and moderated by Chalkbeat’s Reema Amin.

Live from Queens, Part 1: The Chancellor

Over the course of this season, we've explored a rich history and complicated present — but what about the future? 

In this episode, we catch up with parents who became activated on both sides of the debate over the diversity plan. Since the diversity plan never came to fruition, what’s to be done about the inequalities that persist in District 28?

S2 E9: Water Under the Bridge

"I know this work can take you under if you let it, so I try not to let it take me."

Pat Mitchell is the beloved longtime principal of P.S. 48, an elementary school in South Jamaica. She cares deeply about her students, many of whom struggle with poverty and unstable housing. While school was often a place of stability for her students and their families, COVID-19 changed everything.

In this special episode, we follow the first pandemic school year through the eyes of Ms. Mitchell.

S1 E8: On the Move

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