S4E4: Coron Brinson Speaks on The Black Teacher Project, Support for Black Educators Under Non-Black Leadership, High Expectations for Black Scholars, and More

For results to take place in the direction of executing a mission, sometimes uncomfortable conversations need to take place. As a melanated family, we have to hold each other accountable and correct those who are causing harm to our movement, but also show gratitude for those demonstrating positive actions or making progress for the overall benefit of our melanated scholars. 

We vent it out by indulging in a quick S.O.B.E. style rant to crack open the door and welcome in uncomfortable but needed education conversations, then transition into the solution for the State of Black Education.

The podcast serves as a safe space to have those accountability conversations, while bridging the gap of understanding and providing clear action steps in our fight to elevate the educational experience for our blessed and melanated scholars, while maneuvering in an education system populated by uncultured and seasoning deficient individuals.

Excited to have this conversation with you.

Hosted By: Quis Evans

Kamar O’Guinn has dedicated his educational career to uplifting and empowering students and their families. He is the founding manager of Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD) African American Success Project and the architect of Umoja - an affinity-based cultural enrichment program designed to ensure the success of Black students. Additionally, he helped develop BUSD’s African American Success Framework. The AASF is a multi-year intervention created to disrupt longstanding inequities facing Black students.

Before joining BUSD, Mr. O'Guinn was an Assistant Principal of an Education For Change public charter school in Oakland, California. There, O’Guinn played a vital role in establishing an organizational culture and outcome-centered educational orientation that challenged staff to deliver a high-quality school option for students from across the city.

O’Guinn believes shared knowledge and collaboration are critical levers for course corrective educational initiatives. Private and public organizations have commissioned his expertise for professional development and research projects.

As an Oakland, California, native Kamar credits his community for helping him to understand the relationship between education and social mobility. He holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from California

State University East Bay, where he graduated summa cum laude.

@Quis.Evans put it into words through his most recent blog,

https://greatschoolvoices.org/2022/08/sobe-rants-are-allies-in-education-getting-in-the-way-of-black-excellence/

Now you can hear what Michael Ikuesan, has to say.

Michael Ikuesan is an Educational Consultant from Atlanta, Georgia, currently living in Oakland, California. In this episode, we discuss the 3 points listed in Quis' blog, https://greatschoolvoices.org/2022/08/sobe-rants-are-allies-in-education-getting-in-the-way-of-black-excellence/ , as well as discuss solutions for the overall State of Black Education.

Music By: Jalani Will 

@Quis.Evans put it into words through his most recent blog,

https://greatschoolvoices.org/2022/05/sobeo-rants-before-you-curse-that-teacher-out-about-grades-read-this-first/

Now you can hear what Michelle Coleman, Assistant Principal, has to say. 

Michelle Coleman is a former ELA educator, now Administrator, who’s experienced both the positive and negative interactions with parents of the scholars she holds to a high academic and cultural expectation. Though she’s experienced some challenges and pushback, her methods resulted in her having the highest ELA growth scores in her school’s network. In this episode, we discuss the 5 solutions stated in the previous blog, https://greatschoolvoices.org/2022/05/sobeo-rants-before-you-curse-that-teacher-out-about-grades-read-this-first/  ,as well as dig into the grades versus the mastery of the standards and lessons taught.

Music By: Jalani Will

Join host Marquis "Quis" Evans, KIPP Bridge social studies teacher, for a monthly conversation! In this first episode, Marquis is joined by financial coach Nikki’ Clayton to talk about financial literacy and the importance of young people to understand basic finances at a young age.

This was a personal and special episode. Mr. Brown was a major factor in my life, similar to the thousands of kids he's taught over his 40+ career. Just sit back and listen to some of the best wisdom from a life with an endless number of lessons. 

Chris Stewart is a trailblazer making a splash in educational activism. He loves Black kids and he's loud about it. In this episode, he discusses Brightbeam's Report, The Secret Shame which looks at progressive cities that are failing Black children. We discuss how he feels these cities should receive the study as a benchmark to be approved upon. 

We also have a great conversation regarding the state of mentoring and intergenerational leadership. It was quite fascinating. 

To reach Chris:

Twitter: @citizenstewart, email: [email protected], website: brightbeamnetwork.org

Welcome to Season 2! We are so excited to be back for a new cycle of Oakland leaders impacting the city. In this episode we have school board director and SoBEO co-founder, Jumoke Hinton-Hodge on to discuss the recent discoveries in West Oakland and what they mean for our community as a whole. Enjoy. 

You can reach Jumoke for questions at [email protected].

Twitter: @sobeoakland

In this episode, we sit with a good friend and education warrior, David Hardin. David runs a very special middle school in East Oakland called Aurum Prep that has a student population breakdown of 55% Latinx and 45% Black students. Even more impressive is his 75% Black male teaching staff that is seeing amazing academic growth. Listen to his full story and let us know your thoughts on Twitter at @SoBEOakalnd.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Brian Stanley, former ED of the Oakland Public Education Fund. He's an amazing guy and also an Kaiser (OUSD) parent. Recently, he wrote an electric piece detailing the racial issues that have emerged as the school is primed to merge. Well, in the midst of the stir-up, Dr. Stanley sat down to discuss his article and to examine how race is impacting Oakland education. You do not want to miss this.