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Despite stated goals of providing all kids with a quality education, America’s public education system is rife with racial inequities. Schools attended by Black students are more likely to be racially segregated and lack adequate funding, and the students themselves experience disproportionate discipline, bullying, and fewer academic opportunities.
But across the country, Black-led organizations and nonprofits are working with students, educators, and communities to put innovative solutions into practice. Here are five innovative programs paving the way for a more just public education system — and creating greater access, empowerment, and advancement for Black children.
1. National Education Association Black Caucus
The National Education Association, led by President Becky Pringle, stands at the forefront of conversations about teachers, students, and other education professionals across the country. The NEA Black Caucus, organized at the San Francisco NEA Convention in 1970, focuses on the progress of the Black community by developing leaders and informing policy. As teaching true African-American history has come under threat in numerous states, the Black Caucus continues to push for full, inclusive history to be taught in schools.
The caucus strives to build a world where all communities have “access to a quality, free public education and an equal voice in public policy through leadership cultivation, economic empowerment, and civic engagement,” according to its website.
2. Center for Black Educator Development
The growth and development of teachers is crucial to the success of future doctors, lawyers, and leaders they impact. But firstly, what’s important is recruiting teachers — Black teachers — to increase the representation of Black voices and faces by instructing students who look like them. The Center for Black Educator Development hopes to achieve educational equity and racial justice by rebuilding the national Black teacher pipeline. Educators, activists, allies, and partners from all over the country follow the vision that founder Sharif El-Mekki set out in 2014 when he started the organization.
Part of the center’s fight for racial justice, educational equity, and rebuilding the national Black teacher pipeline is ensuring teachers have the resources they need to be their best selves in the classroom. Through an e-learning course, a professional development course, an annual Black Male Educators Convening summit, and The Freedom Schools Literacy Academy, the group hopes to increase the representation of teachers of color from beyond the 7% who are currently employed in schools. CBED also provides college and high school students with opportunities to explore and deepen their interest in becoming not just teachers, but educator-activists.
3. Hip Hop Ed
Originally founded by Christopher Emdin as a Twitter chat for educators to discuss the intersectionality of education and hip-hop, Hip Hop Ed has created a network where “consultants, speakers, and educators engage in extensive training, research and practice on the intersections of popular culture and a number of academic subjects and school related topics,” according to its mission statement. Youth learn from experts in hip-hop how it relates to STEM, English, counseling, school leadership, and wellness.Now a nonprofit, Hip Hop Ed produces several podcasts — the EPND Podcast, Three Educated Brothers, Lunchroom Cypher, and the Hiphop Ed Podcast — that reimagine the relationship between education and hip-hop.
Hip Hop Ed hosts in-person and virtual events where experts prepare stakeholders with training and professional development that anchors hip-hop culture with the philosophies of learning and leadership.
The team of educators also works with institutions to help design and redesign curricula to provide young people with academically rigorous and culturally rich learning experiences across subject areas.
4. Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color
Based in Chicago, the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color is committed to connecting, supporting, and strengthening educators and community members dedicated to the social, emotional, cultural, and academic development of boys and young men of color.
Founded in 2007 by veteran educator Ronald Walker, the COSEBOC movement believes that all students, including boys and young men of color, possess the full abilities to excel in school, career, and life. Through their programs, like Footsteps and Footprints and Discovering Rituals, Understanding Manhood (DRUM), the nonprofit introduces teams of educators to the rites of passage experience to incorporate into their work.
COSEBOC also offers a professional development series featuring several courses. The courses are available virtually or in person, and are designed to enhance participants’ knowledge and skill in promoting equity and excellence for all students. They accomplish this by focusing on the education and empowerment of boys and young men of color.
5. Heart of LA
The Heart of Los Angeles nonprofit works to help young people overcome barriers with free, integrated programs and personalized guidance. Through partnerships with organizations like the Ghetto Film School and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, HOLA provides students with immersive experiences they may not be offered in their schools or communities.
HOLA features three core intensive academic programs — Smartstart Elementary, Bridges Middle and High School, and College and Career Success — that create a pipeline of academic support outside the schools. Some of their enrichment programs include a visual arts department, premiere sports leagues and clinics, leadership and science development, and counseling services.
