Episode Archives
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S6E11 – BvB@67 – David Hinojosa Revisited
Part 4 of our Brown v Board at 67 series pushes back on the narrative that desegregation is solely about Black and White kids. David Hinojosa helps us better understand Latinx perspectives on integration from before Brown through today.
S6E10 – BvB@67 – Amanda Lewis Revisited
Dr. Amanda Lewis joins us to discuss the legacy of Brown v Board, and how the stories we tell about it, allow even our most desegregated schools to continue to impact kids in very racialized ways.
S6E9 – BvB@67 – Noliwe Rooks Revisited
Today we revisit Part two of Brown v. Board at 65: The Stories We Tell Ourselves, featuring Dr. Noliwe Rooks. She helps us tell the full story of Brown v Board, including the harm it caused, particularly as it relates to Black teachers and Black schools.
S6E8 – BvB@67 – Rucker Johnson Revisited
Brown v Board at Sixty-Seven – The Stories We Tell Ourselves – Revisted. All this week we will be re-running our BvB@65 series with new edits and new commentary. In this first episode, we’re joined by Dr. Rucker Johnson, author of Children of the Dream: Why Integration Works.
S6E7 – Better Schools Through Parent Empowerment
Parents and caregivers have the potential to be key drivers of school improvement. However, who makes up that empowered group is a key question. Aurelio Montemayor has been organizing parents for decades, and he joins us to share his experience and advice.
S6E6 – Where We Begin – An Integrated Schools Webinar
Today’s episode is an edit of our first ever webinar- The Integrated Schools Movement: Where We Begin. In it, we explore how our schools got to where they are now, and what role we play in either maintaining or disrupting this system. Members of our all-volunteer crew share personal stories of enrolling our kids in global-majority schools, and the joys and missteps we experience while showing up as parents and community members.
S6E5 Zero-Sum Politics: Heather McGhee on How Racism Hurts Us All
The conversation around schools can often feel like the goal isn’t “good” schools, but simply “better-than” schools – schools that will give our kids a leg up on the other kids. The idea driving this mindset, a zero-sum version of prosperity that assumes advances for some must come at the cost of others, is based on the lie of racial hierarchy upon which our country was founded. Heather McGhee’s new book, The Sum of Us, illuminates this issue, and calls us to imagine something better.
S6E4 – In Full View of Race: Elise Boddie on Integration
Law professor, Elise Boddie, has said that the biggest stumbling block to advancing school integration is the White progressive liberal. She joins us to talk about a vision of integration that allows for all kids to thrive not because of race, not in spite of race, but in full view of race.
S6E3 – The Power of Privilege: WPLN’s The Promise
We’re joined by WPLN reporter Meribah Knight to dicuss her podcast, The Promise, which looks at the power that those with racial or economic privilege bring to the education system, and what responsibilities should come with that power.
S6E2 – EPIC’s “Nothing About Us”: Youth Theater on Integration
Theater has the power of individual transformation. Students are the ones most impacted by our segergated schools. EPIC Theatre Ensemble seeks to combine those two forces to change hearts and minds. We’re thrilled to share some of their piece, Nothing About Us, as well as a conversation with EPIC’s artistic director, and two students who wrote and performed in the piece.
S6E1-Third Wave School Desegregation: A Call for Real Integration
Kicking off season 6 with a call for Third Wave school desegregation. First wave, “court ordered” desegregation, and second wave, “entice the White folks”, failed to live up to their promises. What would a third wave look like, and how might it work better. We are joined by IntegrateNYC to talk about real integration.
This episode is taken from a webinar from the Black Educator’s Initiative speaker series.
S5E23 – Saying Goodbye to Season 5
Finally, after 22 episodes, it’s time for Season 5 to end. We’ll be taking a short break, but wanted to leaving you with a few thoughts before we go.
S5E22 – Family Engagement and Equity
For decades, the dominant model of parent or caregiver involvement in schools has been one that emphasizes a set of normative, White, middle-class behaviors. What would it look like to transform power through solidarity, in order to improve our schools for ALL kids?
S5E21 – Congressman Bobby Scott on Strength in Diversity
For 30 years congress has ignored the resegregation of our nations schools. On Sept 15th, the House passed the Strength in Diversity Act, which is a step towards addressing segregation. We’re joined by one of the sponsors of the bill, and Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor to discuss.
S5E20 – Equity According to Angela Glover-Blackwell
For many years, the focus of the fight for justice centered on equality. Angela Glover Blackwell was instrumental in shifting our national focus towards equity. She joins us to discuss the need for an equity mindset not just in our schools, but in our country.
S5E19 – ICYMI: School Colors
School Colors is a narrative podcast from Brooklyn Deep about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools. We’re joined by the hosts to discuss the series, and to hear the 7th episode, New Kids on The Block. From gentrification, to school segregation, to colonization, this episode touches on many of the themes we discuss at Integrated Schools.
S5E18 – Checklists and Merit Badges: JPB Gerald on Whiteness
As a Black man who grew up in predominantly White spaces, going to the “best” schools, JPB Gerald brings a unique perspective on Whiteness. We talk about meritocracy, how individual choices make up “THE SYSTEM”, self interest as a justification for racism, and what people can do to push back on all of this now, in the midst of a pandemic, but also after.
S5E17 – Reopening Schools and Equity
As we barrel into the new school year, keeping equity in focus is difficult. From childcare collectives to pandemic pods, the options facing privileged parents can feel overwhelming. Dr. Shayla Reese Griffin helps us center equity as we consider the fall, and asks us to consider what our obligations are to our public institutions and to each other.
S5E16 – Revisiting Not In My Suburbs: Milliken v Bradley @46
We revisit our episode on Milliken v Bradley from a year ago. Joined by Michelle Adams, Constitutional Law Professor at Cardozo School of Law, who is writing a book on Milliken v Bradley, we discuss the case that functionally halted the promise of Brown v Board at the city limits, allowing all-White suburbs (created through policies like redlining) to maintain all-White schools.
S5E15 – IntegrateNYC: Youth Voice for Real Integration
IntegrateNYC is a youth led organization fighting for integration and equity in NYC schools. We’re joined by two high school students to talk about why integration matters, and what real integration looks like.
S5E14 – White Supremacy and Black Educational Excellence
The stories we tell about past efforts at desegregation often overlook the excellence in Black schools prior to Brown v. Board, and the organized, grassroots work from White women to maintain White superiority at the local level despite federal efforts towards desegregation. In an edited version of the NCSD 2020 Conference Keynote, we hear from Dr. Vanessa Siddle- Walker and Dr. Elizabeth McRea, in a conversation facilitated by Dani McClain. In opening remarks from Courtney Martin, and closing remarks from Andrew Lefkowits, we are asked to conjure the late Integrated Schools founder, Courtney Everts Mykytyn, and to reflect on her impact on the integration movement.
S5E13 – Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey
What is a healthy racial identity for a White person, and how do we help our White children develop one? We’re joined by Dr. Jennifer Harvey to discuss her book, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, as well her personal journey towards anti-racist organizing, educating, and child rearing.
Brown v Board at 66 (BONUS)
Today, May 17th, is the 66th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision. Last year, we created a 6 part mini-series to commemorate the 65th anniversary, and we’re going to be revisiting that mini-series over the next 6 weeks.
S5E12 – COVID-19: Matt Gonzales on Equity
We’re joined by Matt Gonzales, the founder and director of the Integration and Innovation Initiative at the NYU Metro Center to discuss what equity looks like in the midst of this crisis, and how we can leverage community, relationships, and vulnerability to improve our educational system on the other side.
S5E11 – COVID-19: Teacher Check-In
We’re joined by two teachers, Zoe Rooney and Kara Cisco, who are grappling with what remote learning means for students already facing educational inequities. As we all have to balance and juggle and re-prioritize due to circumstances outside our control can we learn to have greater empathy for the families who have always had to cope with so many factors outside their control? And can we translate that lesson into a will to make systemic changes when our children return to their classrooms?
S5E10 – COVID-19: Finding Community in Isolation
We find ourselves in the most segregated school environment imaginable – quarantined at home. The inequities are glaring and the needs of our communities are all too real. We discuss making this time at home reflective of our values with Garrett Bucks – an anti-racist organizer, writer, and father of two.
S5E9 – Choosing a School: Values, Privilege, and Responsibility
Choosing a school, as a white and / or privileged person can feel overwhelming. If you are prepared to set aside test scores and school ratings, what should take their place? We’re joined by two moms who are thinking through this decision for their soon-to-be elementary school kids.
S5E8 – The Impacts of Testing Our Kids and Ranking Our Schools (Part 2)
Nearly every public school in the country gets a rating from GreatSchools.org. What goes into these ratings, and what is the impact of having a national school rating system. Matt Barnum (Chalkbeat) joins us to discuss the ways these ratings can nudge families away from schools with higher concentrations of Black and Brown students.
S5E7 – The Impacts of Testing Our Kids and Ranking Our Schools (Part 1)
The first of a two-part series looking at how we assess school quality, and how that impacts our decisions around where to live and where to send our kids to school. How we define “good” and “bad” schools is a huge part of the smog we often talk about at Integrated Schools – and these two episodes get into the problems with the data we’re using, and the implications of that on the larger education system, and society as a whole.
S5E6 – Educational Justice Through Reparations with Justin Hansford
Our history of segregation has left a breach in education that may require a reparations lens to repair. We’re joined by Professor Justin Hansford, from Howard Law School, to discuss.
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