As our country becomes increasingly racially diverse and socioeconomically unequal, schools are often the first public institutions addressing those changes. Dr. Erica Turner has studied how district level leaders have dealt with this, and wrote about it in her book, Suddenly Diverse, How School Districts Manage Race and Inequality. She joins us to share some of what she found.
Gentrification sucks . . . yet change is inevitable. We’re joined today by Young Adult author, Jade Adia, whose first novel, There Goes The Neighborhood takes place in a fictional neighborhood in South LA being wracked by gentrification. We discuss Jade’s personal story and how it led to her writing this novel, and we discuss ways of getting involved and finding connection in our neighborhoods.
John Blake has been writing about race and religion as a reporter for over 25 years, and over those years he has come to discover that facts don’t change people, relationships do. His relationship with his mother and her sister, his father’s relationships on the decks of a Merchant Marine ship, the multi-racial community he formed through church – these relationships across difference are what led to changes in racial attitudes for his relatives and for himself. He chronicles it all in his memoir, More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew, and he joins us to talk about it.
As we launch season 10, we are focusing on 4 themes: The importance of public schools, the power of storytelling, the importance of being in community, and stamina. We talk about why these themes feel important now, and update listeners on the start of the school year.
As Season 9 comes to a close, we reflect on some of the amazing conversations we had over the past 16 episodes, and hear from you about what you’re grappling with.