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Speaker 1: Congratulations you've been accepted into Therapy for Black Girls University

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Speaker 1: or tBu for short. Whether you're packing for a new

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Speaker 1: year on campus, thinking through your gap year, enrolling in

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Speaker 1: a community college, or grabbing your stolls for graduation, Embarking

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Speaker 1: on the next chapter of your life is often exciting

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Speaker 1: but also a little scary. There can be a lot

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Speaker 1: of unknowns that can leave you feeling uncertain, and having

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Speaker 1: the right support can help you to feel confident and grounded.

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Speaker 1: TBGU was designed to help you strengthen your voice, sharpen

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Speaker 1: your knowledge, and affirm who you are and who you'll become.

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Speaker 1: We'll get right into our conversation after word from our sponsors.

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Speaker 1: Starting a year with a number of executive orders targeting diversity, equity,

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Speaker 1: and inclusion, as well as anti affirmative action legislation impacting

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Speaker 1: schools around the country, there are so many questions around

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Speaker 1: how and where to get quality education for black students.

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Speaker 1: To help us get a better understanding of what solutions

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Speaker 1: are out there, Aja Said and Quintessa Williams of Word

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Speaker 1: in Black join us to talk about a number of

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Speaker 1: the issues they've reported on for the Word in Black's

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Speaker 1: Education Beach. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation.

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Speaker 1: Please share with us on social media using the hashtag

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Speaker 1: tvgu Here's our conversation. Thank you so much for joining

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Speaker 1: me today, Aja and Quintessa. I'm very excited to talk

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Speaker 1: about all things education with you. I would love for

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Speaker 1: us to start by hearing you share a little bit

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Speaker 1: more about your backgrounds and what you specifically do at

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Speaker 1: Word in Black. We'll start with you, Aja.

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Speaker 2: My name is Aja said, I am the K through

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Speaker 2: twelve education reporter for Word in Black. Before I have

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Speaker 2: into what I do. Word in Black is a national

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Speaker 2: newsroom founded by ten legendary black publishers from across the nation,

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Speaker 2: and our reporting is focused on confronting racial inequalities and

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Speaker 2: amplifying solutions that Black America needs to know and here

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Speaker 2: to bring about equity and justice. And so that description

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Speaker 2: right there basically sums up what I do within the

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Speaker 2: K through twelve sector of it. We take a look

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Speaker 2: at what educators, teachers, other professionals are doing to help

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Speaker 2: improve learning and just equitable solutions for Black students all

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Speaker 2: across the country.

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Speaker 3: What about you, Quinteta, I am the education data reporter

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Speaker 3: for Word in Black. I currently have been here since

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Speaker 3: last July, and my work involves pretty much the same

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Speaker 3: thing that Aja explained, but it also using data to

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Speaker 3: kind of explain the inequities. So it definitely delves a

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Speaker 3: little bit into more of the numerical disparities and what

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Speaker 3: those mean for black students across the nation.

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Speaker 1: And we know, you know, there's been so much talk

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Speaker 1: about like just the field of journalism and you know,

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Speaker 1: students being interested in going in journalism, but what's the

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Speaker 1: job market looking like? And so I'd love to kind

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Speaker 1: of start also by hearing your thoughts on you know,

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Speaker 1: like your journey in journalism and why journalism education is important,

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Speaker 1: and maybe some of your influences in the field.

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Speaker 2: So I am a proud graduate of Morgan State University,

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Speaker 2: and I had the opportunity to have a really immersive

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Speaker 2: experience while I was there, and similar to other journalism

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Speaker 2: programs that some of my friends have attended at other HBCUs,

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Speaker 2: having the opportunity to learn from the blackest and the

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Speaker 2: brightest in the field and getting in front of the camera,

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Speaker 2: behind the camera, exposed to audio. I never knew how

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Speaker 2: to create a website and so just being able to

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Speaker 2: do that as a student journalist kind of solidify the

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Speaker 2: fact that, yeah, I want to do this for a living,

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Speaker 2: and this is something that I know people my age

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Speaker 2: may not think is a sustainable life because we hear,

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Speaker 2: like you said, about oh, there's not enough money, there's

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Speaker 2: not enough opportunity. You know, it's predominantly white, all the

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Speaker 2: things that will tell you not to do it. But

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Speaker 2: when you do get in the field and you are

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Speaker 2: experiencing what we do every day and making a difference

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Speaker 2: and having people like Therapy for Black Girls reach out

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Speaker 2: to us and want to have these conversations, it kind

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Speaker 2: of makes all the complaints and the smaller picture go

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Speaker 2: away when you know that what we do matters. And

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Speaker 2: I think that's the biggest thing when choosing a career,

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Speaker 2: choose something that matters to you. And I was able

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Speaker 2: to do that out the gate, and some of my

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Speaker 2: biggest inspirations, I have to say, would be one of

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Speaker 2: my advisors at that time, Milton Kent. He was a

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Speaker 2: longtime writer, a sports writer, but he was able to

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Speaker 2: just use that knowledge and kind of show us there

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Speaker 2: are so many different ways to use what you know

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Speaker 2: besides writing about sports, and so he's definitely one of

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Speaker 2: them absolutely.

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Speaker 3: And for me, I told Ozha this before, I wish

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Speaker 3: that I had had the opportunity to have went to

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Speaker 3: an HBCU. I went to a PWI here in Florida

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Speaker 3: where I live, and it really made me wish that

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Speaker 3: I had the opportunity to have went to an HBCU

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Speaker 3: because a lot of the work that I do now

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Speaker 3: dels so much into the black experience. And I think

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Speaker 3: with my writing career, when I begin to write about

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Speaker 3: the issues and the inequalities that we face, something just

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Speaker 3: kind of clicked in me, and I do wish that

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Speaker 3: I had gotten that HBCU experience. But working with Word

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Speaker 3: in Black has kind of been like my HBCU experience

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Speaker 3: because I get to work with ASJA and learn so

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Speaker 3: much more about the educational inequalities.

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Speaker 1: So the Supreme Court decision to repeal affirmative Action has

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Speaker 1: left many questioning how colleges and universities going to approach

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Speaker 1: diversity in admission specifically going forward. I wonder how you

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Speaker 1: anticipate this ruling in any kind of corresponding new executive orders.

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Speaker 1: How do you think that will impact Black students' access

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Speaker 1: to higher education.

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Speaker 3: So the unfortunate thing is that it's for the pwi's

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Speaker 3: and the what they consider the elite institutions. It's really

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Speaker 3: going to depend on for them if they are willing

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Speaker 3: to still champion diversity at the end of the day.

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Speaker 3: Is this something that still matters to you. Are you

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Speaker 3: still going to champion this when it's unpopular, when everybody

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Speaker 3: else is telling you to tear down these programs, and

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Speaker 3: are you still going to fight for it. So a

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Speaker 3: lot that side of it is definitely going to depend

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Speaker 3: on what decisions that they make, because some pwi's have

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Speaker 3: kept some of their DEI programs and some of their

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Speaker 3: enrollment is still consistent At Yale, Brown Universities drop significantly,

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Speaker 3: but some are still working to make sure that their

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Speaker 3: data and black student enrollment is still consistent. So for

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Speaker 3: that is definitely going to depend on at the end

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Speaker 3: of the day, are they still willing to champion it

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Speaker 3: Given that situation. The good news is that there are

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Speaker 3: so many other alternatives like freedom schools that are working

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Speaker 3: with students to try and give them a sense of

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Speaker 3: black more black representation. If this school is not offering

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Speaker 3: this class or this program, come here. You know. There

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Speaker 3: are freedom schools being held at churches at other locations

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Speaker 3: where people are trying to I think it was around

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Speaker 3: last year they did a report from Florida that said

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Speaker 3: that students were giving up their saturdays to go and

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Speaker 3: learn about black history because their schools where they are

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Speaker 3: are no longer teaching black history. And so I think

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Speaker 3: there are so many other alternatives like freedom schools. And

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Speaker 3: then you also have educators who are making a presence

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Speaker 3: on social media where a lot of us are spending

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Speaker 3: our time, and so they are trying to make this

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Speaker 3: content relevant and accessible, because that's another issue that black

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Speaker 3: students face as well, is lack of access to resources.

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Speaker 3: So you have those educators going on social media like

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Speaker 3: TikTok and Instagram to try to make it a resource

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Speaker 3: in itself, if that makes sense. So there's a good

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Speaker 3: and a bad to it in that regard.

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Speaker 2: I'll definitely second Quintessa on her second point about options

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Speaker 2: and just opening your mind and your palette to it.

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Speaker 2: At first, it was an option if you wanted to

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Speaker 2: do the PWY, if you wanted to do the HBCU life.

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Speaker 2: That was something that with affirmative action, we felt was

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Speaker 2: feasible for all of us. And now that it has

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Speaker 2: been stripped away, you are forced to kind of think

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Speaker 2: about those alternatives, and I think it's important for us

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Speaker 2: to put that on the forefront as well, that there

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Speaker 2: are other places that we can get our information. There

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Speaker 2: are other places and other outlets that people are teaching

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Speaker 2: and learning, and so familiarize yourself with that. There's a

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Speaker 2: ton of experts who are creating entities within themselves, creating

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Speaker 2: schools themselves because they see through their work, through their research,

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Speaker 2: that there is a need for it, and affirmative action

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Speaker 2: being stripped down to shows that. So I would definitely

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Speaker 2: seck at that point about exploring your options.

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Speaker 1: You brought up a great point, Aza. You know, last

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Speaker 1: year we saw HBCUs, like Howard and Spelman talk about

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Speaker 1: a record high applications, and so it does feel like

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Speaker 1: there is this trend of students pivoting more towards HBCUs.

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Speaker 1: I wonder, Quintessa, can you talk about the numbers there.

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Speaker 1: Have you seen anything interesting in the data that speaks

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Speaker 1: to this is becoming more of a thing.

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Speaker 3: Definitely, Howard and fam you saw record applications. I know

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Speaker 3: for Howard, I think it was like a two hundred

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Speaker 3: percent higher record of applications. Fam you as well, from

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Speaker 3: what I can remember, it's about ten HBCUs that have

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Speaker 3: seen record highs and enrollment. And so their concern right

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Speaker 3: now is making sure that all of those students feel

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Speaker 3: welcome and that all those students have a place to go.

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Speaker 3: So like, for example, in Atlanta, we have about eight

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Speaker 3: HBCUs in Atlanta. So with Spelman and more House getting

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Speaker 3: these record numbers, they're doing the hard work of trying

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Speaker 3: to figure out, not figure out, but let them know

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Speaker 3: that you have a place to go. Don't feel because

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Speaker 3: it might be not space here at Warhouse, that you

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Speaker 3: don't have a place at Clark Atlanta. So I feel

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Speaker 3: like they're doing the hard work to speak to these

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Speaker 3: record numbers.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, I think one of the things

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Speaker 1: that it feels like comes up every year. HBCUs tend

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Speaker 1: to be smaller, right, like they historically have been smaller,

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Speaker 1: so accommodations in terms of residence halls and like the

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Speaker 1: dining halls, like they just tend to be smaller and

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Speaker 1: can't accommodate a large number. And so I wonder if

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Speaker 1: you've seen anything in terms of legislation or interesting innovative

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Speaker 1: projects that maybe some campuses are doing to try to

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Speaker 1: keep up with the amount of students who may be

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Speaker 1: wanting to pursue HBCU educations in the near future.

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Speaker 2: Well, I know, for for institutes like Morgan, we see

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Speaker 2: President David Wilson. He's been honored a few times for

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Speaker 2: the work that he's done in expanding the campus and

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Speaker 2: creating just state of the art facilities that they had

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Speaker 2: not seen prior to him becoming president. And so within

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Speaker 2: I think he's been president for about twelve years now,

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Speaker 2: twelve to thirteen years now. Within those years, he was

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Speaker 2: able to build a whole new housing development for that

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Speaker 2: influx of students, so that the communities understand the need

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Speaker 2: for the funding, the state understands the need for the

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Speaker 2: funding to create places in beautiful spaces, not just any

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Speaker 2: random place for our students to be housed or to sleep.

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Speaker 2: You see that those projects are happening and they are successful,

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Speaker 2: and you know, it's a reflection of the quality of

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Speaker 2: our campuses and a reflection of what matters.

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Speaker 1: So I'd love to hear more about some of your

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Speaker 1: reporting that has focused in the past couple of years.

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Speaker 1: We've seen countless attacks on critical race theory, although that

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Speaker 1: is not taught in K through twelve, But we know

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Speaker 1: that has resulted in like banned books and like limiting

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Speaker 1: conversations around history and just lots of things that students

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Speaker 1: actually do need to know. And I'm wondering if you've

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Speaker 1: seen and how are you thinking about like executive orders

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Speaker 1: in this new administration, how that impacts the experience and

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Speaker 1: the quality of education for K through twelve students.

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Speaker 2: While you're absolutely right, it's been a mess. I joined

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Speaker 2: Word in Black in twenty twenty two, where they also

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Speaker 2: saw a record amount of banned books and band titles

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Speaker 2: all across the country in libraries and student classrooms, and

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Speaker 2: so I kind of joined when things were really really heated.

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Speaker 2: But in terms of impact, it's pretty obvious when it

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Speaker 2: comes to taking away or not giving it at all,

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Speaker 2: the history and the knowledge that all students, not just

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Speaker 2: black students, deserve to know about the full extent of

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Speaker 2: American history, and when the efforts to take them out

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Speaker 2: of schools or keep them out of schools is as

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Speaker 2: intense as it is right now, we Word in Black

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Speaker 2: have focused on outlets and other resources that are trying

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Speaker 2: to fill in those gaps because students got to know

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Speaker 2: the information somewhere you know, these libraries have to have

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Speaker 2: these books stopped somewhere, and so I'm thinking about this

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Speaker 2: organization called barbershop Books. You go into a local barbershop

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Speaker 2: and you might have a shelf full of top band

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Speaker 2: titles and books for you know, you who come in

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Speaker 2: and get their haircut to get those books. And so,

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Speaker 2: you know, you have these really innovative ideas that are

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Speaker 2: popping up all across the country to kind of fill

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Speaker 2: in that gap because it is impacting our students. And

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Speaker 2: there are students who is interested in knowing these things

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Speaker 2: and they want the knowledge, and they want to seek

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Speaker 2: the knowledge beyond just you know, Google. And so for

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Speaker 2: a while there there was this push to make sure

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Speaker 2: that African American AP courses were in schools, and we

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Speaker 2: saw all of the teachers' unions come together for that.

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Speaker 2: We've seen a ton of local grassroot organizations push for

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Speaker 2: that because it's needed. And you see a lot of

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Speaker 2: community within within this whole era of CRT and banned books.

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Speaker 2: You see the communities and you see them banding together

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Speaker 2: and making sure that if they aren't being taught in school,

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Speaker 2: they're being taught at their local church about it. If

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Speaker 2: they don't have the books that they need inside the classroom,

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Speaker 2: they could go get it at their local barbershop. And

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Speaker 2: so you know, that has been the sole focus of

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Speaker 2: our coverage of this whole ordeal, because we want to

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Speaker 2: make sure that they understand once again that there are

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Speaker 2: other options, you know, especially when it comes to legislation

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Speaker 2: and pushing back on it. As just a regular average

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Speaker 2: person who just wants to go to school. That might

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Speaker 2: be a little difficult for a sixteen year old. But

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Speaker 2: going to the corner where you see a little free

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Speaker 2: library that provides free books all across the country. They

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Speaker 2: have like little pop ups. That's something that you can

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Speaker 2: do as a sixteen year old that you know might help.

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Speaker 2: You can go get that book and recycle it and

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Speaker 2: reuse it and give it to a friend, And there

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Speaker 2: are ways to get around it. But obviously we want

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Speaker 2: this coverage in school. We want this curriculum in our

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Speaker 2: schools for.

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Speaker 3: Students, absolutely. And I second that I was just point.

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Speaker 3: I feel like the beautiful thing that came out of

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Speaker 3: the banning of curriculum and books is that you saw

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Speaker 3: everyone else band together and kind of say, Okay, this

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Speaker 3: is necessary, let's try to fight for this to be

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Speaker 3: put in schools. But with them banning things, if we

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Speaker 3: end up at a wrong turn there, then let's create

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Speaker 3: these freedom schools, these like Aja mentioned, these little free libraries,

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Speaker 3: these programs outside of these schools. It was unfortunate, but

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Speaker 3: a beautiful thing came out of it, as far as

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Speaker 3: saying like, okay, they banned this, but then we banded together,

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Speaker 3: if that makes sense, And.

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Speaker 2: If I can add one more thing I just thought about. Actually,

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Speaker 2: last Black History Month, I did a ton of coverage on,

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Speaker 2: you know, places in Georgia, in Florida that were literally

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Speaker 2: sending home permission slips to learn about black history, to

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Speaker 2: watch a video on Martin Luther King. The most you know,

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Speaker 2: the most basic lessons that they should know became optional

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Speaker 2: and parents were able to opt their students out of

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Speaker 2: it if they tried. And so you see a lot

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Speaker 2: of things like that happening. But I will say when

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Speaker 2: they do, a lot of people up north aren't understanding

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Speaker 2: that these are the realities. Because their curriculum isted, they're

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Speaker 2: a lot more protected than a lot of these other

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Speaker 2: conservative states. And so when things like this continue to happen,

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Speaker 2: it kind of puts just how heavy the k through

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Speaker 2: told world is on the forefront for everybody, because that

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Speaker 2: may not be the first conversation you have when you

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Speaker 2: wake up, like, oh, it's optional for kids to learn

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Speaker 2: about black history in Florida. But last year it was

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Speaker 2: a really big thing that made people realize like, oh,

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Speaker 2: this is really real, you know, and this is not

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Speaker 2: something that's just impacting one student or one district or no,

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Speaker 2: it's affecting whole states. It's affecting whole districts and in

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Speaker 2: parts of this country that you may not care to

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Speaker 2: know or even realize you should know until it's viral

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Speaker 2: on your ex or your Instagram timeline. And so I

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Speaker 2: would definitely say impact wise, we're seeing, We're seeing people

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Speaker 2: are learning, and they're hearing, and they want to be

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Speaker 2: more progressive and want to be a part of these

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Speaker 2: conversations that they may not have been before because it

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Speaker 2: didn't directly impact them.

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Speaker 1: More from our conversation after the break, Yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: and there are lots of downsides to banning books, but

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Speaker 1: we know, you know, it sometimes takes lots of tries

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Speaker 1: to find things kids like to read, right, and so

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Speaker 1: you know, one thing that happens when books are banned

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Speaker 1: is that kids maybe are not as interested in reading altogether.

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Speaker 1: Last year, the National Assessment of Education Progress reported that

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Speaker 1: just seventeen percent of black fourth graders were literate. And

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Speaker 1: so I would love to hear you talk anything you

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Speaker 1: know about, like what some of the biggest factors impacting

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Speaker 1: literacy in the black community are and then what do

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Speaker 1: we see down the line as students are entering college

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Speaker 1: or into the workforce the impact that this difficulty with

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Speaker 1: literacy has.

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Speaker 2: I'll take that while one of the biggest things would

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Speaker 2: definitely be chronically absent students, which are students who are

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Speaker 2: absent more than ten times out of the school year.

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Speaker 2: And so when our students aren't showing up for school,

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Speaker 2: they're obviously not getting the learning that they need. They're

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Speaker 2: not getting the excitement and the energy and the entertainment

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Speaker 2: around learning that they might experience had they been in school.

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Speaker 2: And so that is a really big thing about getting

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Speaker 2: our students to school so that they can actually learn.

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Speaker 2: And so that's really big And another one I definitely

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Speaker 2: want to note, there's just a lot of external factors

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Speaker 2: in terms of their personal life. A lot of our

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Speaker 2: students are homeless, and homelessness is obviously a major issue.

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Speaker 2: Youth homelessness is a major issue that needs to be

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Speaker 2: addressed before we can even address why students aren't going

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Speaker 2: to school. Some of them have nowhere to sleep, some

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Speaker 2: of them haven't had a real meal in days, and

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Speaker 2: so there are a lot of external factors within a

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Speaker 2: student's personal life that schools and other people who can

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Speaker 2: assist them need to address before they even talk about

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Speaker 2: getting them to learn. And so when you to shift

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Speaker 2: the conversation away from hey, all of our black fourth

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Speaker 2: graders are literate versus hey, most of our fourth graders

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Speaker 2: didn't eat last night. You know, it's all about the

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Speaker 2: narrative of the conversation that they choose to have. And obviously,

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Speaker 2: different places, different districts have certain things that is specifically

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Speaker 2: related to them. For some districts it's transportation. You know,

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Speaker 2: a lot of our students can't even get to school.

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Speaker 2: They have to travel over an hour to get there.

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Speaker 2: And so these are all factors. Everything is a factor,

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Speaker 2: to say the least, and through our reporting at Word

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Speaker 2: in Black, you kind of see that when even the

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Speaker 2: smallest things might have huge implications on our students and

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Speaker 2: how they learn what they want to learn about, what

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Speaker 2: they're interested in learning about and so yeah, that definitely

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Speaker 2: will have an impact, and it can have an impact

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Speaker 2: on the young adults entering high school, middle school, all

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Speaker 2: the way up until college if our educators and our

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Speaker 2: system in general don't do enough to it sooner rather

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Speaker 2: than later.

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Speaker 3: Yes, And I also wanted to add, I think there's

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Speaker 3: also an over emphasis on standardized testing. I think that

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Speaker 3: that is something that has really impacted black students, given

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Speaker 3: that the standards that they set for these standardized testing

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Speaker 3: requirements are not culturally competent. So you set these standards

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Speaker 3: and then expect black students to meet them, or you say,

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Speaker 3: you know, you have to meet this to be considered

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Speaker 3: literally efficient if that makes sense, efficient enough. But if

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Speaker 3: what you're using to set these standards are not culturally

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Speaker 3: competent enough for black students, they're not going to meet

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Speaker 3: those standards. And it's so much of that versus actually

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Speaker 3: teaching students and trying to get an understanding of what

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Speaker 3: they know and what they think about things, getting them

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Speaker 3: to think critically, versus telling them you need to meet

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Speaker 3: this quota or you need to meet this guideline in

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Speaker 3: order to be consumed that are literate and I think

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Speaker 3: that's a huge problem as well in the black community

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Speaker 3: because the way that they use these guidelines and set

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Speaker 3: up these standards are not culturally competent enough. They have

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Speaker 3: a racism in itself as well, So I think that's

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Speaker 3: something that is also an issue. And when you think

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Speaker 3: about that early on, that that's happening as young as

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Speaker 3: fourth grade, and that continues in their trajectory at school.

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Speaker 3: By the time they get to college interested in reading,

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Speaker 3: that's not something that's a priority for them because they

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Speaker 3: have this process of because I didn't meet these standards,

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Speaker 3: I don't have this agency to try to have an

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Speaker 3: interest in reading because when I was in school, I

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Speaker 3: was told that I wasn't efficient enough anyway. So I

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Speaker 3: definitely think that's an issue that ends up carrying on

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Speaker 3: the way up to college.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad when Tessa brought that up, because we are

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Speaker 2: seeing a lot of states try to shift away and

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Speaker 2: exit exams to and from many of these grades are handled,

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Speaker 2: and just how heavily weighted they are on, you know,

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Speaker 2: the overall assessment of a student. So you know, we're

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Speaker 2: seeing SATs and other exams become opt out optional, and

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Speaker 2: we're seeing you know, states like New York, who has

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Speaker 2: what we call a regents exam. They recently proposed a

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Speaker 2: couple months ago to have the regents become optional. And

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Speaker 2: that's like a staple exam for students to pass and

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Speaker 2: to actually graduate. You can have be a straight A

408
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 2: student and if you don't pass that regens, you'll have

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Speaker 2: to take that class over, meaning you won't graduate. And

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Speaker 2: so this is a real conversation for a lot of

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Speaker 2: lawmakers and a lot of people who want to see

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Speaker 2: our students win. And part of that is understanding that

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Speaker 2: the way they are tested, the way they are weighted,

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Speaker 2: is it's not the same and it's not equitable, and

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Speaker 2: so they are going back to the drawing board and

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Speaker 2: looking at other alternatives. And so I'm glad when Tessa

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Speaker 2: brought that.

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Speaker 1: Up as well more for our conversation after the break.

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Speaker 1: One of the things that school districts, and I think

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Speaker 1: the entire educational system frankly, is still dealing with the

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Speaker 1: repercussions of the pandemic. And we knew there was a

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Speaker 1: shift to virtual school and online school. And as you've

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Speaker 1: already mentioned, Naja, you know, we know if people don't

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Speaker 1: have homes or access to technology, like that impact whether

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Speaker 1: they were able to show up for those kinds of things.

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Speaker 1: What kinds of things are we seeing in terms of

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Speaker 1: effects on students as it relates to mental health and

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Speaker 1: performance as a result of what we saw during the pandemic, Well.

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Speaker 2: We know that our students, particularly our black students, specifically

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Speaker 2: our black girls, are in a mental health crisis. And

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Speaker 2: we saw what the pandemic did. They kept them home,

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Speaker 2: They kept them away from their friends, It kept them

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Speaker 2: away from their communities that they enjoy and that they

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00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,080
Speaker 2: love and use as an outlet. And a lot of

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Speaker 2: them are still struggling. And a lot of students that

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Speaker 2: I've spoken with over the years have come out of

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Speaker 2: kind of that dark tunnel, that dark path, but a

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00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,440
Speaker 2: lot of them are still trying to readjust and get

439
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,359
Speaker 2: back to themselves before twenty twenty, twenty nineteen, and so

440
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 2: when you couple that with just being young and learning yourself,

441
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 2: and it was a lot on them, and it took

442
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 2: a toll on them. And we saw a lot of

443
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 2: schools try their best to create resources and create innovative

444
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 2: ways for students to have an outlet and reel them

445
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 2: back in, and some successful, some maybe not. Just yet,

446
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 2: but that's been a really big thing. And it's like,

447
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 2: we received one hundred and ninety one billion dollars in

448
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,800
Speaker 2: COVID relief funds directly for schools, and eighty percent of

449
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,879
Speaker 2: those funds were used to fill gaps like hiring teachers, tutors,

450
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 2: making sure students have access to updated technology, but only

451
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,840
Speaker 2: about three three point three percent was directly used to

452
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 2: address the mental health of students and teachers. And that's

453
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,719
Speaker 2: obviously a huge problem. And so although there have been

454
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 2: schools and places that have been more effective in helping

455
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 2: our students kind of bounce back, there obviously just wasn't

456
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 2: enough resources allocated for that.

457
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I was also going to mention the data.

458
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,879
Speaker 3: I'm glad that AZA brought up the one hundred and

459
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 3: ninety one billion dollars because data wise, that's what it

460
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 3: shows is that some progress has been made, but there's

461
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 3: still a ways to go. And then unfortunately, we have

462
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,440
Speaker 3: to understand the natural disasters that have taken place since

463
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 3: we've had hurricanes, the wildfires. Now there's like for black

464
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,919
Speaker 3: students especially, there's been an additional pandemic for them. So

465
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 3: while they're recovering from the COVID nineteen, you have the

466
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 3: hurricanes that have taken place that have displaced a lot

467
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,960
Speaker 3: of black families and students, and then now the wildfire.

468
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,199
Speaker 3: So it's like, yes, some progress has been made, but

469
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,159
Speaker 3: there's still so so much work that still needs to

470
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 3: be done.

471
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you mentioned earlier, Quintessa, like so many schools

472
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,719
Speaker 1: are just set up to be like are these metrics

473
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 1: being met? Right? Like talking about like teachers teaching towards

474
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,159
Speaker 1: the tests, and like things have become so structured that

475
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 1: there isn't even a lot of space in the day

476
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 1: or in the curriculum to assess intends to students mental

477
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 1: health needs. So like, when would this even be happening?

478
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: Are there even the resources in terms of staff to

479
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 1: talk about mental health with students?

480
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 2: Right?

481
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,159
Speaker 3: There's been so much emphasis on meeting this goal and

482
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 3: meeting that goal, and it's it's been it's been really unfortunate.

483
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,879
Speaker 3: But I definitely feel like that's another reason why so

484
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 3: many alternatives have been created, because it feels like with

485
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 3: schools right now, they're pushing us out of those spaces

486
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,199
Speaker 3: and trying to justify why they no longer need to

487
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 3: prioritize diversity and culturally competent programs, and so I feel

488
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,600
Speaker 3: like that's why other people are banning together to say, Okay,

489
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 3: where else can we go? It's like that rhetorical question

490
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 3: of where else can we go? And I see that

491
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 3: a lot of people have pivoted to social media, a

492
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 3: lot of people have pivot into grassroot organizations. AJA covered

493
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 3: a piece last year about book ban organizations that are

494
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 3: working to help with literacy and getting students exciting about

495
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 3: reading again and things like that. So I feel like

496
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 3: that's another reason why people pivoted. You know, It's like

497
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 3: we're made to feel like we're being pushed out of

498
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 3: these spaces. It's not that we don't know how to

499
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 3: teach this in the classroom or that we don't want to,

500
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 3: but we feel pushed out where else can we go?

501
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 3: And I think people are trying to find those additional

502
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 3: and creative ways to do that.

503
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: What would you say you're most excited about, are most

504
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 1: hopeful about? As it relates to some of these Miller

505
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 1: grassroots kinds of things popping up in terms of providing

506
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,040
Speaker 1: additional educational spaces for students.

507
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 3: I think just hearing the people that we've spoken to

508
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 3: recently and how much they've navigated for the importance of

509
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,520
Speaker 3: them and how they are willing to say, We're going

510
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 3: to do this no matter what executive order or what

511
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 3: they try to tear down. When I covered freedom schools

512
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 3: last year with Asalah, which is an organization created by

513
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 3: Cartegie Woodson, and they were doing the freedom schools on

514
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,000
Speaker 3: the weekends, the person I spoke with she made it

515
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 3: very clear, We're going to teach Black history no matter what.

516
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 3: So I think this level of black educational resistance that

517
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 3: they have and are speaking of has been very inspiring

518
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 3: for us and our reporting.

519
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 2: I think for me that's tricky. I think what I'm

520
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 2: most excited about is them bringing people who may not

521
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 2: be under this umbrella of advocacy se and you know,

522
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 2: just have a soul of activism that you were just

523
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,719
Speaker 2: born with, you know, just bringing those people under their umbrella.

524
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 2: I love to see when people engage in conversations when

525
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 2: it comes to our k through twelve students that may

526
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,640
Speaker 2: not have had any interest before in it, that realize

527
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 2: like they are our future. And even if I don't

528
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 2: have a kid in public education, even if I don't

529
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 2: want kids, I still have a responsibility if I can

530
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 2: to be a part of these conversations. And I think

531
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,640
Speaker 2: with these organizations that we're referencing, with the work that's

532
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 2: being done in and outside of public education, it is

533
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 2: making it is making it a real conversation for people.

534
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 2: And I'm most excited to see what where those people

535
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 2: come in and what additional help and resources they bring,

536
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 2: because we all have something to say, and we all

537
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:52,800
Speaker 2: have something to bring to the table, and it may

538
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 2: not be you know, it may not always be on

539
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 2: the same page, it may not always be the same

540
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 2: thoughts as you know, somebody who shares your or whatever

541
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,959
Speaker 2: the case may be. But it's a conversation. And I

542
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 2: think progress starts with conversations, and if they're not being had,

543
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 2: then progress will be slow. And so, you know, I

544
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 2: even did a piece around election season when well Canada's

545
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 2: was still in the campaign trail, why was education left

546
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 2: off the debate stage? And we knew that that would

547
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 2: be the only one live televised debate that they would have,

548
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 2: and education was not at the forefront of any of

549
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,480
Speaker 2: the conversations. It was like a quick snippet. And so

550
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:36,280
Speaker 2: when people who want to run for president for this country,

551
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,239
Speaker 2: isn't even prioritizing speaking about all the strife that our

552
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 2: students are going through on these stages. It leaves room

553
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 2: for other people to join the conversation and speak for them.

554
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 2: We'll put it on the forefront. We'll make sure that

555
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 2: the masses know this and the masses know that. So,

556
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 2: you know, I'm most excited to see what new conversations

557
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,960
Speaker 2: and new people join this fight. I am.

558
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 1: So it has been such a treat to hear from

559
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 1: both of you. I would love for you to share

560
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 1: where can we stay connected with you with what you're

561
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,040
Speaker 1: writing and new stories that you're doing. So your website

562
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: as well as any social media handles you'd like to share.

563
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 2: Will We can be found at wordomblack dot com. That

564
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 2: is our official website, our Instagram same name. We're also

565
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,920
Speaker 2: on threads, We're on YouTube, We're on TikTok. You literally

566
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 2: cannot miss us as long as you type in word

567
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 2: and black. Also on Facebook. Our digital editor Nadara Jameson.

568
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,640
Speaker 2: She does an amazing job of making sure that our

569
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 2: audiences stay connected and stay involved, and so you definitely

570
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,000
Speaker 2: can't miss us if you want to find us. And so, yeah,

571
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 2: we enjoyed this conversation and like I said earlier, I

572
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 2: think it's super super important for all of us to

573
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 2: join in these conversations. And you know, even if it's

574
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 2: not a priority to you, it's a priority to somebody else,

575
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:53,680
Speaker 2: and one voice can make a difference.

576
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 1: Thank y'all so much for that, and thank y'all for

577
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 1: spending some time with me today. I appreciate it.

578
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you so much everything you guys are

579
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,480
Speaker 3: doing in your platform, Thank you.

580
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,960
Speaker 1: I'm so glad Aja and Quintessa were able to join

581
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,920
Speaker 1: me for this conversation. To learn more about their work

582
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: at Word in Black, be sure to visit the website

583
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 1: at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash tvgu and don't

584
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 1: forget to text this episodes to two of your girls

585
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: right now and tell them to check it out. If

586
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: you're looking for a therapist in your area, visit our

587
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 1: therapist directory at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash directory.

588
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by at Least Ellis and Tyrie Rush.

589
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: Editing was done by Dennison Bradford. Thank y'all so much

590
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,480
Speaker 1: for joining me again this week. We'll look forward to

591
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 1: continuing this conversation with you next month. Take it care