That's what a newer student to the class recently said to me. My reply, nearly verbatim...
"Don't be! Have I just started talking up everything Black? That's the lens I teach from and that's not going away. Look around the room. This month was the brain child of a Black man and was originally a week. In the 70s, the month-long observance began. I do Black 24/7/365; February is razzle dazzle month! In fact, write this name down...Carter G. Woodson..."
Five years ago, tonight, I started my journey as an adjunct professor of reading at Delaware County Community College. When I got home that night, I reflected briefly. Here's what I wrote and here's to additional years and loftier goals.👀
For a second school year, I've been podcasting with my students. This year, we've recorded four Black-centric episodes. We didn't intend to focus 80% of this year's episodes, so far, on race, but it is what it is and we're here for it!
Engage. Listen. Like. Rate. Comment. Share. Subscribe on your podcast app. Hit us up @BEOYouth on Twitter and Instagram.
A Conversation with Ms. Lee 🎤Ms. Lee was a student at Barratt Junior High School, here in Philly, when Dr. King spoke there. The class got a chance to speak with her about the experience.
"Black-on-Black" Crime When Talking Police Brutality? 🎤The question was, "Is it fair to bring up "Black-on-Black" crime in a conversation on police brutality [towards Black people]?"
Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street: One-on-One with Nahjae 🎤For her senior project, Nahjae wanted to present on a topic that she hadn't learned in school. She summarizes her learning here.
Who can(not) say n*gga? 🎤3 friends, two of whom are Black and one mixed-race, have a very frank conversation with each other about who can and cannot, or should not, use the n-word.
Some time ago I wrote two little posts about using students' whispers via ear-hustlin to gather qualitative data that can inform our pedagogy as teachers. This TikTok video demonstrates how it could also contribute anecdotally to our advocacy and policy-making.
Sit at a student's desk. See what they see. Take in the scene from their vantage point. If something needs to change and it's within your means and power, change it. It's the "little" things.
My class and I pulled up very quickly to a second intersection this fall. At this 2nd yellow light, I feel the need to insert something fresh into the course. We received a little boost when we relocated to our current space. As a teacher who likes to keep his fingers on the pulse of my GenZers and monitor whether learning experiences are true to their respective names, learning and experiences, my challenge remains to keep up with Generation TikTok. "Trite" happens far more quickly than I remember it happening as a teacher even a few years ago.
Friday afternoon, I sat in my office contemplating a next move for Comm101 while also working on a little writing thingy to present. The heat in my office was on Hawaii, as one school police officer put it, so I relocated. I took my laptop and went to room 305, our classroom. While I needed to be somewhere less equator, I also needed to think.
I needed to be in the classroom.
In the "House" where our room is located, all was quiet, calm, and dare I say, relaxing, a slight contrast to how I was feeling earlier in the day. In the room, I kept the artificial lights off and let only the natural light in. I pulled up something relaxing on the SmartBoard. My colleague had a class of 11th graders next door. My other colleagues were engaged with their classes throughout the U-shaped House of classrooms. Lunches had long been over. This wing was on some learn and chill type stuff this afternoon.
As I sat and worked, one of my auntie-like colleagues passed by. As she passed, I yelled out because I hadn't seen her all day--possible, but atypical. We talked for a bit. She spoke of her experiences coming along in public school. I spoke of how my generation may have been the last to experience some of what she experienced in schools, particularly what teachers were allowed to do.
As we talked and compared notes, the elder with the younger, she mentioned the Black male teachers she had. I asked her what school she went to. She mentioned Barratt Junior High. We kept talking. Later, "By the way, were you there around the time Martin Luther King spoke there?" She lit up! Of course she was there and remembers it all very fondly! She began recalling how she and her classmates felt, where exactly she sat, and how some of the boys had to borrow ties from some closet or something. She remembers it all very vividly.
It was my turn to light up! I work with and am in the company of someone who was an 8th grade student at Barratt Junior High School when one of the most prolific of Black people came to speak with students in a Philly public school. Say less. "Would you mind coming to speak with my class?" Yes! <inserts something fresh for a couple of class sessions>
Short story.
— Stephen R. Flemming, Ed.D. (@kellygrade6) November 5, 2021
Was chatting w older colleague.
Me, "Oh wht school did you go to?" "Barrett"
*chat some more*
"Were you there around the time MLK spoke?"
*beams*
"I was in 8th grade, X-row, 3rd seat."
✔Booked to come to Comm101 to chat with the class"
The end.
I'm glad it was hot in my office
that my classroom was cooler
that she walked by
that I yelled out
that she came in
that we talked
that I asked
that she answered
that I asked another
that she answered another
that I asked yet another, again
that she consented to chatting with them
To be continued...
