The Perkins Platform

Join us on Wednesday, June 23rd @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation about the American history curricula in U.S. public schools with special guest, James Grossman, Executive Director of the American Historical Association.  James was previously Vice President for Research and Education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego.  The author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900-1929, Grossman was project director and co-editor of the print and digital Encyclopedia of Chicago and is editor emeritus of the series “Historical Studies of Urban America.” which he abandoned to his colleagues after 50 volumes. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture.  Short pieces have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, New York Daily News, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and elsewhere. Grossman’s consulting experience includes history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. Currently President of the National Humanities Alliance, he has served on the governing boards of the American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries.

Join us on Wednesday, June 16th @ 6pm EST for an informative discussion with special guest, Lindsay Stallones Marshall, on her critique of the 1776 Commission Report and her thoughts on representations in history textbooks. Lindsay is a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow in American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Oklahoma and an M.A. in Liberal Arts from Stanford University and served as a high school history and civics teacher and department chair in San Jose, California for eleven years. She is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the intersection between changing narratives of the wars of westward expansion of the late 19th century, secondary U.S. history textbook narratives, and public memory.

Join us on Wednesday, June 9th @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation discussing humor as a skill with Andrew Tarvin, CEO of Humor That Works, a leadership development company that teaches professionals how to use humor to achieve better business results. Andrew has partnered with top organizations–including IBM, the UN, and the FBI–to solve human challenges with humor solutions. Combining his background as a project manager at Procter & Gamble with his experience as a stand-up comedian, he reverse engineers the skill of humor in a way that is practical, actionable, and gets results in the workplace. A best-selling author, Andrew has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc, and FastCompany, and was named a ‘Visionary Under 40’ by the P&G Alumni Network. His TEDx talk on the skill of humor has been viewed more than nine million times, only half of which were his mother. He loves chocolate and tweeting puns!

On Wednesday, May 26 @ 12pm EST, Professor Thomas Hatch joins us to discuss his latest book,The Education We Need for a Future We Can’t Predict(Corwin, 2021) which focuses on the efforts to create more powerful learning experiences both inside and outside schools in developed and developing contexts. Thomas Hatch is a Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST). His research includes studies of school improvement efforts at the school, district, and national levels. He is also the founder and managing editor of internationalednews.com. He previously served as a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  His other books include Managing to Change: How Schools can Survive (and Sometimes Thrive) in Turbulent Times (Teachers College Press, 2009); Into the Classroom: Developing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (Teachers College Press, 2005); and School Reform Behind the Scenes (Teachers College Press, 1999).

Join us on Wednesday, May 19 @ 6pm EST for an informative talk with Principal, Dr. Dawn Brooks DeCosta, and 5th grade teacher, Ms. Lucile Middleton, of Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School (TMALS) to discuss how their students have engaged in conversations regarding the recent justice issues in our nation. Located in Harlem, TMALS was created in a collaboration between Abyssinian Development Corporation, New Visions for Public Schools and The Department of Education and is the perfect example of how to bring the world into the classroom.  Dawn began her service of teaching 27 years ago and has worked as a teacher for the NYC DOE teaching in Harlem, NYC for 16 years and has served as Principal of TMALS for the past 9 years. Dawn has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work such as Teacher of the Year 1998, Heroes of Education Award 2002 for her work with students involving the 9/11 tragedy (highlighted in CNN’s, Through a Child’s Eyes), Outstanding Educator 2002, along with many others. Lucile, affectionately known as Ms. Lucy, is a committed teacher with over 20 years of experience.  She is currently serving as a teacher at TMALS, teaching Literacy, Writing, Social Studies, and Technology to the Fifth Grade. As a progressive educator, she believes that education is the tool to help students formulate their voice; to develop their own personal philosophy; and to gather the fundamentals and skills so they may change the world around them.

Join us on Wednesday, May 5 (6pm EST) for a conversation with keynote speaker and author Mark Greene.  Mark writes and consults on relational practices, diversity/inclusion and masculinity for organizations world wide. He writes, speaks, coaches and consults on the challenges we face as men raised in man box culture. He is the author of the groundbreaking The Little #MeToo Book for Men.  As a co-founder of ThinkPlay Partners and as a Senior Editor for the Good Men Project, Greene has spent over a decade deconstructing our binary-riddled dialogues around manhood and masculinity. He is uniquely positioned to help men, individually and in organizations, create a healthier more connecting vision of masculine culture and identity. Mark’s newest book, The Little #MeToo Book for Men has been called “a blueprint for men’s liberation.” He is the founder of the Remaking Manhood community, which is dedicated to expanding the conversation about masculinity.  Mark has written and spoken about men’s issues at Salon, Shriver Report, Huffington Post, HLN, BBC, and the New York Times.  Mark is also the author of Remaking Manhood, and co-author, along with Dr. Saliha Bava, of The Relational Book for Parenting.  This promises to be an amazing conversation:  Listen, Dial-In and Be a part of the discourse!

In celebration of the 100th broadcast of the Perkins Platform, special guest and former New Orleans Mayor, Mitch Landrieu, joins us to discuss his New York Times best-selling book and leadership in Louisiana. Mitch Landrieu was the 61st Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018 and elected when the city was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill. Under his leadership, New Orleans is widely recognized as one of the nation’s great comeback stories. Mitch went on to be named “Public Official of the Year” by Governing in 2015 and was voted “America’s top turnaround mayor” in 2016. He gained national prominence for his powerful decision to take down four Confederate monuments in New Orleans and earned him the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. His book, In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History, Landrieu recounts his personal journey confronting racism, and tackles the broader history of slavery, race relations, and institutional inequalities that still plague America. Prior to serving as Mayor, Landrieu served two terms as lieutenant governor and 16 years in the state legislature. He also served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Tune in on Wednesday, April 28 @ 6pm for this special broadcast!

Join us on Wednesday, April 21 @ 11:30pm EST for a two-part informative conversation.  First, my daughter, Arin, will join me to discuss the award-winning book, The Poisoned City, by Anna Clark.  Ms. Clark, a journalist living in Detroit lays out a compelling story layered with politics and history.  We will discuss the details of what Ms. Clark uncovered in her research. Then, the 2nd part of the hour will be spent with CEO of the National Center for African American Health Consciousness, E. Yvonne Lewis, to discuss her leadership in Flint, Michigan, with the public water crisis. Through the National Center, Yvonne facilitates community education and awareness efforts, serving in a leadership role, organizing and facilitating education and information sessions with a focus on improving the health and wellbeing of community residents.  She is the Co-Director of the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center, a Community/Academic Partnership with Community, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Flint Campuses, focused on enhancing research efforts that will improve the health of our community. She is also the Community Co-Principal Investigator for the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions, a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)-funded Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC). Yvonne represents a community perspective on several committees and Boards at the local, state and national level including the National Mass Violence & Victimization Resource Center Advisory Council. Yvonne assisted in the development of and moderated the University of Michigan-Flint, Water Crisis Course. The Water Crisis Course focused on issues of the Flint Water Crisis and provided a platform for the voice of the community to be heard.

The Truancy Intervention Project  (TIP) is an organization that strives to decrease chronic absenteeism by pairing trained volunteers with children and their families to provide them with the advocacy, resources and services necessary to ensure good attendance and success in school. Executive Director, Jessica Pennington, joins us for a conversation to discuss how things have changed since COVID-19, given the increase in dropout numbers. Since 1995, Jessica has overseen education programs, legal services and community relations for the statewide organization at her time with TIP. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnae in Practice Award from the University of Georgia, School of Social Work and a Celebrating Service Pro Bono Award from the Atlanta Bar  Association. She is a past Policy Fellow with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and a current Fellow with the Southern Education Foundation’s Policy & Practice Network. Jessica received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State University and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Georgia. She has worked in private child welfare and juvenile justice organizations for over thirty years, beginning her career working with children at the Council on Battered Women and Easter Seals of North Georgia. Residing in Atlanta, she is happily married to elementary school Principal, Caroline Brown, and has a teenage son. Tune in on Wednesday, April 14 @ 12pm EST!

Once a homeless teenage mother, Fatihah Abdur-Rahma is now living her dream as an Elementary School Principal in Camden. Join us on April 7 @ 12pm to hear her incredible and inspiring journey to principalship. Fatihah is a passionate and dedicated educational servant leader who is committed to academic excellence. She views education as a way to defy societal challenges that impact urban communities.  As a servant leader, she is called to serve those who experience many of the challenges she faced in her youth and overcame. She is an advocate for social justice and on a mission to change the narrative for the underserved. It is her belief that education equality and equity can and will be achieved for all. Her motto is No weapon formed against you will prosper. You are more than a conqueror.