The Intersectionality of Pride & Equity

Enid Lee, anti-racist professional development specialist, leadership coach and writer, defines educational equity as “the principal of altering current practices and perspectives to teach for social transformation and to promote equal learning outcomes for students of all racial, cultural, linguistic and socio-economic groups.”For three-time FFT Fellow Danielle Murray, the socio-economic group is LGBTQ students.

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Teaching Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist Themes Requires Saying Something

In her essay “Don’t Say Nothing,” FFT Fellow Jamilah Pitts exhorts educators that teaching as an act of resistance and teaching as an act of healing are not mutually exclusive. That when teachers choose to remain silent about moments of racial tension or violence—violence that may well touch students’ own communities or families—these children are overtly reminded of their inferior place in society. That engaging in dialogue about mass incarceration rates; the militarism of police and the killing of innocent black men and women is but one antidote to systemic racism. That essay was written FOUR YEARS AGO, in the fall of 2016, after the murder of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile and before the killngs of Delrawn Small, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Last week, after the murder of George Floyd, Fund for Teachers reposted Jamilah’s article and reached for her thoughts on what, if anything, has changed on the racial pandemic landscape since she wrote her piece in 2016.

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Being A Black Teacher in American Today

Peggy Brookins, FFT Board Member and President and CEO of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards shares her thoughts in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.

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Amplifying Accomplishments of American Indians in World War II

A report prepared by the US Navy for the Department of Defense documents that “more than 40,000 American Indians left their reservations during World War II to serve in ordnance depots, factories, and battle fields. American Indians also invested more than $50 million in war bonds, and contributed generously to the Red Cross and the Army and Navy Relief societies.” The Institute for American Studies reports that Native Americans had the highest ratio of service men of any ethnic minority or the white majority — with 42% of the eligible adult Indian males serving in the war. Furthermore, 40 percent more Native Americans voluntarily enlisted than had been drafted.Why, then, are there so few resources documenting Native Americans’ role in World War II’s European theatre? That’s what Bret Godfrey wanted to know. The son of a Naval officer and the member of the Potawatomi Tribe in Oklahoma, Bret wanted to teach the sacrifices made by his forefathers and those of many of his students at the American Indian Magnet in Saint Paul, MN. After finding no curriculum and no mention of American Indians’ WWII contributions in Minnesota’s social studies standards – Bret decided to create his own resources using a Fund for Teachers grant.

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Looking to Frederick Douglass for Insight on EdEquity

In one week, many will commemorate Juneteenth, the day the Emancipation Proclamation – issued on January 1, 1863 – was read to enslaved African Americans in Texas. Today’s Fellow Friday highlights Chris Dolgos (Genesee Community Charter School – Rochester, NY): the inspiration for his 2020 fellowship researching Frederick Douglass’s UK speaking tour, and resources you can use in your own classroom.

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Learning Out Loud – The Stonewall Inn Riots

Last week, many in our nation learned about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for the first time. As, Pride month draws to a close, we elevate another lesser-known, yet seminal event in our nation’s quest for social justice — this time for the LGBTQ+ community. He teaches at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, six miles from The Stonewall Inn and the events that, for the Queer community, was tantamount to Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat. Read FFT Fellow Tony Caciopio‘s fellowship that explored how London schools give voice to the LGBTQ community in their curriculum so he could strengthen representation and support of LGBTQ students and their allies. Additionally, download his lesson plans to teach this seminal, often unknown event in our nation’s quest for equality.

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Did You Learn About the Tulsa Race Massacre?

The national spotlight will focus on Tulsa this Saturday when President Trump hosts his first campaign rally since the outbreak of COVID-19. Originally scheduled for Juneteenth, the day celebrated by African Americans commemorating the end of slavery, organizers shifted the event to Saturday, when Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt hopes the President and Vice President Pence will tour with him Tulsa’s Greenwood District, the site of one of America’s worst race massacres. Ninety-one years later, Kyle Peaden designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship in which he explored the culture and history of South Africa to develop a curriculum that compares/contrasts Apartheid with Tulsa’s Race Massacre to cultivate a zero-tolerance view of racism at Tulsa’s Patrick Henry Elementary, six miles away from Greenwood District.

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Building and Designing Futures with At-Risk Students

According to a brief published by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, white college freshmen entering civil, mechanical and electrical engineering programs outnumber Black and Indigenous People of Color 7:1. A panel of experts at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine cited factors such as lack of funding and resources available for minorities who want to focus on STEM, the lack of accessibility to technology by low-income students, and sub-par teaching at lower tier schools. These experts never toured The Howard School’s Future Ready Institute of Architecture, Engineering and Construction in Chattanooga, or met its director, Japho Hardin. Japho designed his fellowship to enroll at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsville, VT. Afterwards, he will experience an off-campus design/build program called The Rural Studio at Auburn University, and document prominent works of American Architecture in New York City. His mission, both at The Howard School and with this fellowship, is to provide Architectural & Engineering Design students with equitable access to quality design education.

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