As Season 10 comes to a close, we reflect on what we learned over the past 19 episodes. Digging into our themes of the importance of public schools, the power of story telling, the need for community, and stamina, we shared incredible conversations over the past season. We close the season out with some reflections and some listener voice memos.
The National Coalition for School Diversity, The Century Foundation, and the American Institutes for Research invited us to facilitate their event marking the 70th anniversary of Brown v Board. Hosted at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, on the Oprah Winfrey Stage, we were honored to facilitate three panel discussions grappling with the challenges we face today in fulfilling the true promise of Brown.
Joined by an amazing group of speakers, from the incredible Representative Jim Clyburn, to past podcast guests, Stefan Lallinger and Matt Gonzales, to many others, we are thrilled to share excerpts from the event today.
Seventy years after the Brown v Board decision, the unfulfilled promises of the case drive so much of the work of Integrated Schools. That work was started by Courtney Mykytyn, who was born 19 years to the day after the decision was handed down. After her tragic death in 2019, Integrated Schools found a way to move forward with her vision guiding us. To commemorate this important day, we are sharing one of Courtney’s final episodes, called All I Want for Christmas is 3.5%.
Dr. James Ford grew up in Illinois and was bussed through a desegregation plan premised on the Supreme Court case, Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. He experienced an educational environment that felt unwelcoming, and, at time, outwardly hostile. Eventually landing in Charlotte as a teacher, he wanted to understand the history of the city and choices made by the people in power that led to him teaching in a highly segregated high school named after the superintendent who had overseen the nationally lauded desegregation plans of the 70s.
He joins us to share the history of Charlotte, and his current work at the Center for Racial Equity in Education.
Knowing the power of the Black educational tradition, and the documented impact of Black teachers on students, Sharif El-Mekki founded The Center for Black Educator Development to rebuild the Black educator pipeline that was crushed in the wake of desegregation attempts around the country. He joins us to discuss his work, and explain how it is rooted in a Black educational tradition that stretches back generations.