1 00:00:02,350 --> 00:00:06,650 Hey, yo, what is going on? Two Dope Nation. How are y'all doing? 2 00:00:06,740 --> 00:00:10,210 My name is Hi Munos. Um, 3 00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:13,250 and Kevin is not with us for this episode today. 4 00:00:13,250 --> 00:00:16,770 Kevin is getting some time off with family, um, 5 00:00:16,790 --> 00:00:18,850 but we are two dope teachers and a Mike. 6 00:00:18,850 --> 00:00:23,770 We are merely two public school educators in the city of Denver who are out here 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,450 trying to remix the conversation on race, power, and education. 8 00:00:28,450 --> 00:00:31,010 Y'all, as we said, um, at the top, 9 00:00:31,170 --> 00:00:35,650 super excited to bring you this episode. Um, 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,650 I am joined by four of like the doen dopest humans that I've ever met in 11 00:00:40,650 --> 00:00:40,850 my life, 12 00:00:40,850 --> 00:00:45,570 and I have the opportunity to work with them in the Voices for Honest Education 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,850 Fellowship. This is programming that is, um, 14 00:00:48,970 --> 00:00:51,210 sponsored by Nickel by Rally, 15 00:00:51,470 --> 00:00:55,210 and most importantly by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,250 I have four incredible state teachers of the year with me 17 00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:04,930 today. Um, the first is Tracy Nance. How are you, Tracy? 18 00:01:05,730 --> 00:01:07,770 Doing excellent. Happy to be here. 19 00:01:08,270 --> 00:01:12,410 Yes, and here is happy that you are here. Uh, 20 00:01:12,410 --> 00:01:13,530 Wanda in Oh, 21 00:01:13,530 --> 00:01:17,650 and Tracy is a 2020 and 2021 Georgia State Teacher of the Year, 22 00:01:17,650 --> 00:01:22,050 among other things that you'll learn about as a matter of this episode. Um, 23 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,930 next we have Monica, Washington, 2014, Texas Teacher of the Year. 24 00:01:26,930 --> 00:01:30,210 What's up, Monica? Hey. Hey. Thank you for having me. 25 00:01:30,790 --> 00:01:35,210 And this is Monica's second appearance on the two Dope Teachers and a Mike 26 00:01:35,210 --> 00:01:38,770 podcast. So, uh, Monica is a, a veteran. Uh, 27 00:01:38,770 --> 00:01:43,690 next to line we have the homeboy, taro Naoshi to . 28 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,970 That's stumbling over your name. I practiced it and everything. Take Carero tk, 29 00:01:47,990 --> 00:01:51,910 how are you? I'm doing good. Uh, glad to be here. 30 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,660 All right. And I am glad that you're here as well. And finally, 31 00:01:56,150 --> 00:02:00,900 we have my friend, despite being a New Orleans Pelicans fan, Chris Deer. 32 00:02:00,900 --> 00:02:05,900 What's up Chris? 2020, uh, Louisiana Teacher of the Year. Oh man. 33 00:02:06,050 --> 00:02:08,500 Stoked to be here. Stoked to be here. Nah, it's great. 34 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:12,980 And I neglected to mention that Taru is the 2020 Massachusetts 35 00:02:12,980 --> 00:02:17,700 Teacher of the Year. So folks, we have our, um, 36 00:02:17,700 --> 00:02:21,540 we have our panel discussion. We're gonna do a little bit of a round table here. 37 00:02:21,790 --> 00:02:24,860 Um, you all know kind of the guidelines. There'll be some questions. 38 00:02:25,180 --> 00:02:28,460 There are some folks that are gonna lead us off with some of the questions, 39 00:02:28,460 --> 00:02:32,940 but you always have the opportunity to speak on this. Before we hop into it. 40 00:02:32,940 --> 00:02:37,900 Want you all to remember that if you are trying to find Tudo teachers 41 00:02:37,900 --> 00:02:41,500 in a mic, maybe you're finding this episode for the first time. Um, 42 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:45,660 maybe you saw what these amazing teachers of the year that you know, um, 43 00:02:45,980 --> 00:02:48,380 are on this podcast. You wanna know more more about the podcast. 44 00:02:48,590 --> 00:02:52,740 We are at two dope features on every social media platform, 45 00:02:53,310 --> 00:02:56,660 um, including TikTok, where we don't post anything, but we should. Um, 46 00:02:56,660 --> 00:03:00,080 but my daughter will murder me if I do. Um, 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,200 and so it's just gonna be one of those things that we'll have to negotiate as we 48 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,640 go. So, um, we're talking a little bit about, um, this, 49 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:11,480 this work that we were all invited to. Um, 50 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,200 the first thing I want to know from each of you is, 51 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,560 what is it that drew you to voice Stratas education for this, uh, 52 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,080 fellowship through the National Network of State Teachers of the Year? And, um, 53 00:03:23,230 --> 00:03:26,080 what is the lens that you kind of wanna bring? And I, 54 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:31,040 I actually want to kick this off, uh, with Tracy and Monica because you, uh, 55 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,760 were, uh, two of the first people that I knew were doing this work. 56 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,600 So if one of y'all wants to start us off, 57 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,200 what is it that brought you into this work and what lens do you think you bring. 58 00:03:43,900 --> 00:03:47,940 ? Um, this work could not have come at a more opportune time for me. 59 00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:50,900 I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, 60 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,100 and I know the impact that teachers have on a kid, but importantly, 61 00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:57,500 I know the impact that privilege can have on a kid. 62 00:03:57,710 --> 00:04:01,300 My twin brother and I were taken in by our wealthy uncle and aunt, 63 00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:03,060 and our entire lives changed, 64 00:04:03,060 --> 00:04:05,500 and I saw immediately how important those things were, 65 00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:07,620 and I wanted to make a difference. Um, 66 00:04:07,620 --> 00:04:12,260 I wanna be in this work because I know kids and I know teachers, 67 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,020 and too often those voices are missing at the tables where decisions are being 68 00:04:17,020 --> 00:04:18,580 made. I wanna be a part of it. Absolutely. 69 00:04:18,650 --> 00:04:20,780 Yeah. Awesome. Thank you, Monica. 70 00:04:21,650 --> 00:04:25,620 Yeah, thank you for that question. So I think for me, um, 71 00:04:25,770 --> 00:04:29,170 what brings me to the work is the, the, 72 00:04:29,390 --> 00:04:33,810 the knowledge that I was trying to do this work all the time and getting so 73 00:04:34,170 --> 00:04:36,010 pushback. And it was almost as, 74 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:41,010 as if being an advocate for students speaking up on behalf of teachers 75 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:45,050 was seen as me being a troublemaker, um, in some cases. 76 00:04:45,270 --> 00:04:50,010 And so when the opportunity to do that full-time presented itself 77 00:04:50,010 --> 00:04:54,250 was like, h how could I not? Right? This is, this is what is so important to me. 78 00:04:54,420 --> 00:04:57,490 Um, and I know that conditions have to be right for students, 79 00:04:57,490 --> 00:04:59,450 conditions have to be right for teachers, 80 00:04:59,450 --> 00:05:02,570 for us to do the things that we have to do. And I feel, 81 00:05:02,570 --> 00:05:07,370 and I know that this fellowship allows me to get right in there and to make 82 00:05:07,370 --> 00:05:10,810 sure that I am doing as much as I possibly can to, 83 00:05:11,020 --> 00:05:14,530 to improve those conditions. And so, yeah. The fellowship it is. 84 00:05:15,030 --> 00:05:17,760 Yeah. No, that's awesome. And it, like, I don't know if, 85 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,080 if you feel the same way, but when I saw, um, that it was posted, I was like, 86 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:21,913 hold up. 87 00:05:22,090 --> 00:05:27,000 So this stuff that I feel like I've needed to do in a clandestine way for my 88 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:27,830 entire career, 89 00:05:27,830 --> 00:05:32,600 I can actually do and get paid for and, you know, 90 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,000 and have it out in the open and have that as kind of a focus. 91 00:05:35,090 --> 00:05:39,880 So I definitely echo that. Um, take Carero, how about you? And then, uh, 92 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:40,840 and then we'll hear from Chris. 93 00:05:41,410 --> 00:05:42,920 No, I mean, similar to Tracy, 94 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,600 I was just so sick and tired of people who are outside of education who are 95 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,960 essentially hijacking the conversation on what's best for schools and students. 96 00:05:51,210 --> 00:05:52,320 Uh, and we know, right? 97 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,640 That the public doesn't care about what politicians think about what's best for 98 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,680 schools. They don't want politicians, officials, the agenda for public schools. 99 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,280 They don't, they want our teachers, 100 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:06,480 they want our local schools to make the right call on what and how to teach our 101 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,880 kids. And I think because of the noise, because of the misinformation, 102 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,400 because of the media's tendency to under-represent our educator voices and 103 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,800 expertise and over-represent these bad faith reactionary actors 104 00:06:20,220 --> 00:06:24,680 who are making schools and educators and students an easy 105 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,320 political target, right? Yeah. 106 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,600 That need for us to actually speak back on and say, 107 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,200 this is what we know to be true in education is stronger than ever. Um, 108 00:06:33,380 --> 00:06:37,080 and as far as what I bring in, uh, a lot of my identities, right? Uh, 109 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,320 I'm a gay Asian person, a son of immigrants from a bilingual background. Um, 110 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,400 and so not only those different identities, 111 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,640 but the intersection of those identities, yeah. Uh, is also another lens that I, 112 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,280 I I hope to bring in the work that we do. 113 00:06:49,510 --> 00:06:53,640 Yeah. Thank you so much for, um, for sharing that perspective, tk, 114 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,800 because we know that the ways in which these attacks have happened, 115 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,480 especially in the last couple of years, 116 00:07:00,940 --> 00:07:04,480 has very much targeted communities that you consider home. 117 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:07,880 And this is something that is, I think, 118 00:07:07,910 --> 00:07:10,560 I think we're at Defcon one with how we, 119 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,360 how we step in and how we start defending these communities. 120 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,400 Something else you said really echoed, um, some reading I've been doing. 121 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,280 I've been reading Dana Goldstein's book, the Teacher Wars, 122 00:07:20,380 --> 00:07:23,560 and this is an incredible book because it really, 123 00:07:23,930 --> 00:07:28,920 if you want away folks to really understand why attacks happen 124 00:07:28,970 --> 00:07:31,960 on teachers in the communities that we serve, um, 125 00:07:32,100 --> 00:07:37,000 you need not look any further than the last 150 years of public education, 126 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,760 , and the ways in which teachers are stigmatized. So Tika, 127 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:41,720 thank you for naming that. 128 00:07:41,730 --> 00:07:46,400 As a person who moved out of the classroom this year and into, 129 00:07:46,850 --> 00:07:49,760 um, a central office space, I can tell you, um, 130 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,000 there are not enough teachers in any educational space. Um, 131 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,360 there are amazing people, there are amazing people that I work with, um, 132 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,040 who don't have education backgrounds, and they do great work to help, 133 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,680 but there's no substitute, um, for teachers. And, um, 134 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,880 so thank you for that tk. Chris, how about you? 135 00:08:08,940 --> 00:08:13,640 You just mentioned a book that changed my life. I mean, teacher wars is, was, 136 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:14,240 it's incredible. 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,000 And she goes all the way back to reconstruction and how teachers were 138 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,200 stigmatized Yeah. Back in the day. Uh, but anyways, as a teacher, you know, 139 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,480 there's only so much that we can do in the classroom, and we do our best. 140 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:25,440 I'm still in the classroom, 141 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,000 but the more I began to learn about the problems we face in education, 142 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,120 the problems teachers and, and students face, 143 00:08:32,220 --> 00:08:36,080 the more I realized that there's so much going on at a systemic level. 144 00:08:36,340 --> 00:08:39,400 And I also noticed to reiterate what TK just said, 145 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,520 is that there are a lot of people who were making these decisions and who were 146 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:47,160 pushing for political ideas regarding education that were not educators or 147 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,320 teachers who, who had ever worked in the classroom, 148 00:08:49,350 --> 00:08:52,520 they had no experience in the classroom. And as teachers, 149 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,840 we have more expertise in the classroom than a politician or someone working for 150 00:08:57,110 --> 00:08:57,840 a think tank. 151 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,800 And so I really felt it was our time for our thoughts and 152 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,520 perspectives and expertise to reflect what was going on 153 00:09:06,990 --> 00:09:08,320 nationwide and to, 154 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,200 to sort of change the narrative in a way that does uplift teachers and students. 155 00:09:13,850 --> 00:09:18,480 So this opportunity came at a, at a really important time, a really, you know, 156 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,600 hyper politicized time. And I, I couldn't, I couldn't pass it up, no doubt. 157 00:09:27,190 --> 00:09:31,460 Uh, I'm muted. There we go. The first lesson of recording things on Zoom, 158 00:09:31,460 --> 00:09:33,980 you'd think that I would know by now. Um, 159 00:09:34,010 --> 00:09:38,460 what I was saying is really glad that you didn't pass it up. I think it's, um, 160 00:09:38,530 --> 00:09:39,620 I think it's, it's, 161 00:09:39,910 --> 00:09:44,540 there's so much to balance and we'll talk about how you're balancing your life 162 00:09:44,540 --> 00:09:47,820 as a fellow in your life as a classroom teacher. Um, 163 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:50,980 the only one who's still a classroom teacher at the moment, I, 164 00:09:50,980 --> 00:09:52,780 I'll mean still that sounds degrading, 165 00:09:52,780 --> 00:09:55,940 who is currently a classroom teacher and sort of how you're, 166 00:09:56,050 --> 00:10:00,890 you're looking at this, um, one of the things that I hear you all saying, 167 00:10:00,890 --> 00:10:05,810 not just, um, not just right now, but in, in some of our gatherings, 168 00:10:05,900 --> 00:10:10,690 is the ways in which teachers' perspectives tend to be attacked, 169 00:10:10,900 --> 00:10:14,170 um, by a small number of bad actors, um, 170 00:10:14,310 --> 00:10:18,210 who really seek the end of public education. Right? Um, 171 00:10:18,310 --> 00:10:22,370 and it makes me think of something I tweeted a couple days ago about how I can't 172 00:10:22,370 --> 00:10:26,730 think of another profession that is as infantilized and patronized 173 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:29,690 as the teaching profession. Um, 174 00:10:29,690 --> 00:10:33,090 we saw this with Covid where we were heroes for, oh, what would you, 175 00:10:33,090 --> 00:10:35,970 what would you, you all say it was like three or four weeks. We were, 176 00:10:35,970 --> 00:10:37,130 we were heroes A. 177 00:10:37,130 --> 00:10:37,963 Month, tops. 178 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,490 A month. Did you get a month? I didn't get a month. . 179 00:10:41,490 --> 00:10:43,570 I'm saying tops, you know, tops . 180 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,570 Yeah. I mean, you know, tops. And so, and so we know this and, 181 00:10:47,570 --> 00:10:51,010 and so we know that this is kind of the culture. And so, um, 182 00:10:51,010 --> 00:10:54,810 I just shout out to you all for really stepping up to do this work, 183 00:10:54,810 --> 00:10:57,490 and we're gonna, you know, it's not without its risks, right? 184 00:10:57,490 --> 00:11:01,050 We've seen these things happen. And, um, we'll, 185 00:11:01,050 --> 00:11:04,890 we'll touch on those a little bit. Um, so we're gonna do this first round of, 186 00:11:04,890 --> 00:11:08,770 uh, questions, and then we'll have more of a free flowing, uh, 187 00:11:09,050 --> 00:11:12,650 dialogue about some of the other elements of this work that people may not be 188 00:11:12,650 --> 00:11:16,130 aware of. Um, also it occurs to me that this will, 189 00:11:16,130 --> 00:11:18,810 this will air right before the end of 2022. 190 00:11:19,260 --> 00:11:24,210 If you are a state teacher of the year from any year, 191 00:11:24,210 --> 00:11:27,250 keep your eyes out for this fellowship for next year. Um, 192 00:11:27,250 --> 00:11:32,250 we're hoping that in conjunction with the funders and with the, uh, 193 00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:35,330 or finalists. Yes. Um, that's right. It's open to finalists. 194 00:11:35,330 --> 00:11:37,970 I forgot about that. Um, so, uh, 195 00:11:37,970 --> 00:11:40,530 but in conjunction with our funders and partners at, 196 00:11:40,530 --> 00:11:44,490 at the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, um, this, 197 00:11:45,050 --> 00:11:49,970 we're hoping to build something amazing that you all can step into. So, um, 198 00:11:49,970 --> 00:11:53,240 wanna start with, uh, Monica, um, 199 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:57,720 not only the longest tenured member of our little toy family, um, you were, 200 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,400 I I don't mean older. I mean that you were a teacher of the year in 2014. 201 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,840 The rest of us are, the rest of us are so 20, 20, 2020s, you know. 202 00:12:06,490 --> 00:12:09,840 Um, and also the only person I've actually, uh, hung out with, 203 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:14,320 like directly in person, um, . So, uh, so, 204 00:12:14,850 --> 00:12:19,640 so when I look at kind of your kind of biography around 205 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,520 being a state teacher of the year, you are a teacher in Texas. 206 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:30,600 Texas is wild Avenue when 207 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,320 it comes to some of the ed policy and that kind of thing. 208 00:12:34,790 --> 00:12:38,640 What's your journey to and through this moment been like? 209 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,240 Hmm. And I'll say, I am. 210 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:42,393 There it is. 211 00:12:42,510 --> 00:12:45,720 Chickening . Um, but yeah, 212 00:12:45,730 --> 00:12:49,480 it has been very interesting, I'll say, and I, I, 213 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:54,320 and I'll go back to something I said earlier about trying to do 214 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:59,120 this work from the classroom, and I think doing a good job of advocating, right? 215 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,760 We, we weren't really talking about what's culturally responsive or what was, 216 00:13:03,780 --> 00:13:07,080 you know, best social emotional learning that we could do. 217 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:10,480 But if you enter this profession for the right reasons, 218 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,440 you enter with those things as your lens anyway. 219 00:13:13,490 --> 00:13:15,440 It shouldn't be that we're entering for content. 220 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,760 And so that was always important to me. 221 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,680 And I didn't mention my own lens from which I I, that I use, so as. 222 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:24,720 Yeah, that's a great time to do it. , yes. 223 00:13:24,980 --> 00:13:27,760 Now Memphis, south Memphis, where, you know, 224 00:13:27,850 --> 00:13:30,760 we probably most schools didn't have air conditioning, um, 225 00:13:30,860 --> 00:13:33,120 and we didn't have all the resources we needed. 226 00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:37,800 And so we had to make due like, as a student, we were making due, 227 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,200 our teachers were making due. And then when I became a teacher in Memphis, 228 00:13:41,270 --> 00:13:43,160 I found myself doing that same thing and, 229 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,960 and wondering like how I could have come through this whole system. 230 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,320 And then by the time I got to be a teacher in it, 231 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,120 things still weren't corrected. Things still weren't better. Um, and then, 232 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,280 and not knowing really much about policy and how policy, you know, 233 00:13:56,290 --> 00:14:01,200 impacts my, my life and my students' lives, and, um, 234 00:14:01,460 --> 00:14:04,720 not understanding how no Child Left Behind got to be, 235 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,560 and not knowing that teachers weren't at the table, right? 236 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,720 So just knocking on doors, asking people questions, 237 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,240 and realizing that nobody is really asking us anything. Um, 238 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,160 and so I just started to, 239 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,800 to show up in spaces and ask questions to the, 240 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,200 the leaders in the school and in the district Yeah. About why, right, 241 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,560 why and how my are my favorite two questions to, to ask leaders. Um, 242 00:14:28,580 --> 00:14:31,760 and I found out that they didn't really know a lot of the why, that they did, 243 00:14:32,010 --> 00:14:33,120 uh, certain things, 244 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:38,080 really bad policies that were really not allowing our students 245 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,600 to enjoy school in the way that they, that they deserve to enjoy school. Um, 246 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,840 and when I became State Teacher of the year, uh, 247 00:14:46,030 --> 00:14:50,280 I went to the capitol, talked to, uh, we haven't elected, um, 248 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,000 state superintendent, and okay. He was talking about, you know, 249 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,440 some of the things that we were doing, and he is like, oh yeah, 250 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,600 we've got this teacher advisory council. And I was so like, 251 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,480 excited and I wanted to know what teachers were on the council. 252 00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:06,880 And then he told me, no, Monica, there are no teachers on the teacher's council. 253 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:07,480 And I like, 254 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:12,240 almost fell out of my chair that that could be a thing that you can call it 255 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:12,440 that, 256 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,720 but it can be filled with lobbyists and people who are running organizations. 257 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,960 It's amazing ing that making mad, right? Yeah. It made me mad. 258 00:15:19,130 --> 00:15:23,800 It made me want to, to advocate even more. And so it went back to school and, 259 00:15:24,130 --> 00:15:28,520 um, created my own little advisory council there with teachers. And, uh, 260 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,400 it's amazing continued to do that work and to, 261 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,720 to have like monthly meetings where we showed up and we talked about the things 262 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,240 that were not right for kids, 263 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,120 but then we always tried to show up with a way to make it better. Um, 264 00:15:40,210 --> 00:15:43,480 so that that is what I bring to the work. Yeah. 265 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,640 Sort of been my journey of seeing, not knowing well as a student, 266 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:48,720 seeing so many things wrong, 267 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,720 and then making my way through a system that just never was fixed. 268 00:15:52,740 --> 00:15:53,760 And to this day, 269 00:15:54,070 --> 00:15:58,520 I still see a lot of the same things that I saw as Monica Carver High School, 270 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,960 1993 as a senior. Yeah. Those things still haven't been fixed. 271 00:16:02,050 --> 00:16:04,720 So that's my inspiration for, for doing the work. 272 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,600 It makes me mad that we're still fighting for the same things, but can't, 273 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:09,433 can't quit. 274 00:16:09,510 --> 00:16:10,560 Yeah. No. 275 00:16:10,830 --> 00:16:12,800 I know if I answered the question, but. 276 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,600 absolutely, absolutely ain outta me. And, and, and if you didn't, 277 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,240 then the question was wrong. That's the way I see it. Um, but you, but you did. 278 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,120 I think you really did. 279 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,080 And I think one of the things that really occurs to me is, you know, I, 280 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,880 I came into my year of service as Colorado teacher of the year 281 00:16:30,310 --> 00:16:32,640 with, with a very myopic view. 282 00:16:32,830 --> 00:16:36,200 I knew what was happening in my locality a little bit, 283 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,920 what was happening in my state, but no understanding of what was happening, um, 284 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,560 across the country. And Monica, through talking with you, 285 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,760 and then through meeting some incredible Latinx educators when I was at the Ales 286 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:48,880 Conference in Puerto Rico, 287 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:54,240 realizing that the work is different in a place where the union 288 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:59,040 is not permitted, right? The work is different in places that, um, 289 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,120 don't have reputations for being socially progressive, um, 290 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,880 or particularly enlightened. And what I found, um, 291 00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:10,560 not only from your hearing about your work is so much of the work is very 292 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:15,000 grassroots and very local, and that's like a beautiful thing. 293 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,960 So I'm gonna be one of the first people here to say that. Um, I had Texas wrong. 294 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,680 I had a lot of y'all states wrong. Not even gonna lie. Speaking of a, uh, 295 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,760 state that I had wrong, Tracy Nance, um, . 296 00:17:26,130 --> 00:17:30,840 So one of the things that, um, one of the things that really, um, 297 00:17:31,070 --> 00:17:35,440 causes me to just stand in awe of some of the work that you do 298 00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:37,960 is you're in Georgia. And again, um, 299 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,760 some of the things that you've shared and some of the things that we see in the 300 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,600 headlines, um, regarding education in Georgia is intense. Um, 301 00:17:45,860 --> 00:17:50,800 but you have been a fixture in this congressional 302 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:51,633 discourse. 303 00:17:51,980 --> 00:17:56,320 You are confronting attacks on honest education and policy spaces. 304 00:17:56,890 --> 00:18:01,360 Um, you've engaged in some things that are incredibly powerful on behalf of 305 00:18:01,590 --> 00:18:06,320 students, teachers, and families, um, that want the best for their kids, 306 00:18:06,530 --> 00:18:08,720 uh, for the future. Um, 307 00:18:09,190 --> 00:18:14,120 talk a little bit about why policy is, 308 00:18:14,330 --> 00:18:17,880 is an item of passion for you. And I wanna also, um, 309 00:18:17,970 --> 00:18:22,560 include that I've talked to a number of teachers who will tell me that they find 310 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,080 policy to be boring, 311 00:18:24,310 --> 00:18:27,920 that they zone out and they tune out, 312 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,320 and they don't wanna just let me be with my kids and let me teach my classes 313 00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:36,480 and don't bother me with policy things and all that kind of thing. 314 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,720 This is an item of really obvious passion for you. Um, 315 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,560 why don't you speak on that and why more of us need to be keyed in to 316 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:45,640 policy conversations. 317 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,890 Yeah. Thanks, g. It's, it's so important. 318 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:51,330 It's terribly important, 319 00:18:51,350 --> 00:18:56,210 and I understand why some teachers see it as boring or really just that it's 320 00:18:56,210 --> 00:18:59,570 this thing over here that we're gonna trust the government to take care of 321 00:18:59,570 --> 00:19:01,050 because we have these elected officials. 322 00:19:01,230 --> 00:19:05,210 And what could be a more important than all those tiny humans that are in front 323 00:19:05,210 --> 00:19:07,330 of you, right? When you're in that classroom. 324 00:19:07,700 --> 00:19:11,570 We think everybody thinks of it in the ways that teachers think of it, right? 325 00:19:11,810 --> 00:19:14,410 . Yeah. You think everyone thinks that way? I mean, 326 00:19:14,410 --> 00:19:17,050 even when you're inside the four walls of your classroom, 327 00:19:17,050 --> 00:19:20,170 you assume that every other classroom looks like yours too. True. 328 00:19:20,170 --> 00:19:23,370 And that they're all true teaching the way that you do too. . Um, 329 00:19:23,370 --> 00:19:26,130 but yeah, I can see why it would be easy, because I did, 330 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:31,130 I was focused on my students and becoming a state teacher of 331 00:19:31,130 --> 00:19:33,370 the year really started throwing me in the mix. 332 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:38,530 A part of it being just the credibility that the platform lends itself. 333 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,210 I was not really allowed to, you know, they couldn't discipline me. 334 00:19:42,210 --> 00:19:44,250 Atlanta public schools couldn't discipline me. 335 00:19:44,250 --> 00:19:46,090 The state of Georgia couldn't disciplined me. 336 00:19:46,090 --> 00:19:49,810 I had been given this award and had already traveled the state for 337 00:19:50,130 --> 00:19:52,410 27 months. . 338 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,330 That's amazing. Education. You can't tell me nothing. You were, 339 00:19:56,330 --> 00:19:58,850 you were like Kanye, but in a good way, . I. 340 00:19:58,850 --> 00:19:59,730 Mean, it's wild. 341 00:19:59,730 --> 00:20:04,690 They had me speaking on equity and talking about the power of teachers. 342 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,130 They asked me to stay on for a second year at the height of the pandemic. Yeah. 343 00:20:09,130 --> 00:20:11,850 Um, and the height of the summer of racial reckoning. 344 00:20:12,350 --> 00:20:16,050 And then things started getting crazy here in Georgia. Yeah. Um, 345 00:20:16,050 --> 00:20:20,370 there were a couple things that led me to the space of policy is where my voice 346 00:20:20,370 --> 00:20:24,010 is needed right now. Um, one of them is that when I was traveling the state, 347 00:20:24,010 --> 00:20:27,650 I realized that all of these people we put on a pedestal, school board members, 348 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,930 school principals, superintendents, they're just people. 349 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,370 They are normal everyday. 350 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,490 I mean, most of them, no , they're people, they're regular folks. Yeah. 351 00:20:38,690 --> 00:20:39,510 . Yeah. 352 00:20:39,510 --> 00:20:43,730 And a lot of them don't have near enough expertise as the same as, you know, 353 00:20:43,730 --> 00:20:45,530 as teachers and as parents. 354 00:20:45,700 --> 00:20:49,880 So I saw that really being important during the Atlanta Public School teacher 355 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,800 protest when they weren't allowing vulnerable employees to telework. Um, again, 356 00:20:54,870 --> 00:20:57,960 hundreds and hundreds of teachers saying, will you say this for me? 357 00:20:57,960 --> 00:20:58,960 Will you speak out for me? 358 00:20:59,110 --> 00:21:03,200 I organized a big zoom over 500 educators with Channel two news, 359 00:21:03,930 --> 00:21:07,880 um, titling themselves with anonymous names to speak out. Um, 360 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:12,640 and then a person running for a school board in ap s called me and 361 00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:15,720 was asking for, um, campaign donations. 362 00:21:16,180 --> 00:21:20,280 And I told him that I was doing this other work within education. He said, well, 363 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,040 teachers just don't ever speak up and show up. And I was like, what? 364 00:21:24,820 --> 00:21:25,653 Wow. 365 00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:29,880 Just because you're not paying attention doesn't mean that we're not speaking up 366 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:30,440 . So. 367 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:32,080 You have to show up. Yeah. I, 368 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,560 I realized how easy it is to go to a school board meeting. Um, 369 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,320 and these are some things that I would love to add to the show notes. 370 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,640 Just some links, some ways to reach out to your policymakers. 371 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:45,240 We even have drafted form letters where you can borrow and then add your own 372 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,920 magic and spice. It's absolutely critical our voices are needed. 373 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,840 Yeah. And, and that is really important because I do think that, you know, I, 374 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,440 I agree with what you say. A lot of us as teachers, and I, 375 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,800 I've been one of them in the past, you don't know where to start with policy. 376 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,440 It feels overwhelming. It, the more you educate yourself about it, 377 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,360 the less confident you feel that you can engage in and understand it. Um, 378 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:12,440 but it's, it's important, uh, just like these folks you're referring to, 379 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:17,360 teachers or people with perspectives, um, that absolutely matter. Um, 380 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:18,800 shout out to Dr. Tabin. 381 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,960 I took your critical policy analysis class about a year ago. 382 00:22:22,110 --> 00:22:23,840 I don't know if you listened to the podcast, 383 00:22:23,940 --> 00:22:27,840 but that was r really started to break down the walls for me and to really 384 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,920 understand some things. Um, we're gonna shift gears really quickly, 385 00:22:32,570 --> 00:22:34,400 um, to Chris, uh, 386 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,520 Louisiana Teacher of the year from 2020. Um, 387 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:42,320 you're the only member of our crew that is working as a classroom teacher 388 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,240 currently. Um, 389 00:22:44,690 --> 00:22:49,120 so how has engaging the work of Honest 390 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:54,080 Education been for you as you do both of those things? So you're out here, 391 00:22:54,410 --> 00:22:55,240 uh, publicly, 392 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,760 we're gonna talk a little bit about social media later in the show. Um, 393 00:22:58,980 --> 00:23:03,840 and then you'll know all of these folks on the call with me, uh, need, 394 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,040 you need to be following, um, all of them on social media. Um, 395 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:09,480 but so Chris, 396 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:14,360 how has this work been for you as you continue to show 397 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:15,440 up every day for kids? 398 00:23:16,790 --> 00:23:19,400 Yeah. You know, it's been super eye-opening to be able to, 399 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:23,000 to teach students during the day at the, at this micro level, 400 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:24,080 at this community level, 401 00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:28,840 and then hop on meetings with y'all and with politicians after work to kind of 402 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:29,720 see what's going on. 403 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,920 From your classroom too. We, we've gotten, 404 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,200 we've gotten little glances of your classroom, and that's, that's very cool. 405 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,400 It is true. And it's cool to like tell my students what I'm doing too. 406 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,400 They're like, who? Like, they'll stay after class to chat and, and what, so. 407 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,000 You do share with, with your students this work that you're doing? Oh. 408 00:23:45,210 --> 00:23:47,840 Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. They think it's amazing. Think Yeah. 409 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,160 They think it's really cool and, and whatnot. Yeah. So, but yeah, you know, it, 410 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,760 it's, in many ways it's inspirational and sort of, uh, revitalizes this, 411 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,480 this why I do the work and stay in the classroom because as y'all know, 412 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,080 it's easy to get, uh, dissolution with all the pressures we have as teachers. 413 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:02,880 But, you know, 414 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,440 having a crew like y'all that are so committed to advocating for teachers and 415 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,280 students in positive ways, it's, it's kind of, uh, motivational. 416 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,400 And it keeps my, my why centered, 417 00:24:12,660 --> 00:24:17,080 but also being a teacher and still being in the classroom is, 418 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:20,760 is really interesting while I do this work because it has changed with over, 419 00:24:20,820 --> 00:24:25,400 you know, in the last few years, especially within the last year, the, you know, 420 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,000 with increasing stigmatization and polarization. I mean, 421 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,720 we have politicians that talk show hosts that, that bash teachers and scapegoat, 422 00:24:33,330 --> 00:24:33,680 uh, 423 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,520 seemingly almost every night for societal issues that we work so hard to 424 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,560 try to rectify in our classrooms. Yeah. 425 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,160 All these issues that happen at the societal level. Yeah. 426 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,000 We face that in our classroom and we work so hard to, 427 00:24:47,010 --> 00:24:50,400 to help students who are, uh, facing these issues. 428 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,960 So to have have that lens during a time as an advocate, I think is, 429 00:24:54,010 --> 00:24:55,640 is truly unique. I mean, 430 00:24:55,640 --> 00:25:00,480 there was a time when legislators in Louisiana tried to pass an anti C R two 431 00:25:00,750 --> 00:25:04,920 C R T bill, which, you know, as you and and your listeners know, 432 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,280 it's really just designed to stop teaching honest history. It, yep. 433 00:25:09,310 --> 00:25:11,080 I can't remember the exact wording, 434 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,440 but you couldn't teach about race or issues like that. 435 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,560 That might be discomforting or something Yeah. To students. Well. 436 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,520 I think divisive is one word that's been used, but I don't know if it, 437 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:22,840 what it was in Louisiana, though. 438 00:25:22,950 --> 00:25:26,600 Divisive was definitely a word. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, as a teacher, 439 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,120 I can advocate against this and give perspective on why it's wrong from a 440 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:32,760 history teacher's perspective, who's right in the classroom, 441 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,040 who wakes up every day and does this work. And so, you know, 442 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,320 we advocated against this bill. We wrote op-eds did interviews, 443 00:25:39,330 --> 00:25:41,160 we sent in questions and stuff. 444 00:25:41,380 --> 00:25:44,760 And I can do all of this from a history teacher's perspective. 445 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,680 And I think that's, that's unique to say during this time. 446 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,240 And also the teachers and students won Louisiana didn't pass an anti c r t or 447 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,080 anti Honest Education Bill, which if you know a lot about Louisiana politics, 448 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,400 it's, it's really shocking. But, uh, but yeah, 449 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,800 just being a history teacher during this time is, 450 00:26:02,330 --> 00:26:06,600 is truly a unique lens to, to see Yeah. To see the world. 451 00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:10,640 And if y'all don't follow, um, Chris on social media, um, 452 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,240 you're really missing out. Like, I, I think that this is an individual who, 453 00:26:15,380 --> 00:26:18,720 who knows the game and, and who's fierce. And I, 454 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,240 I say that about everybody on this, um, on this panel, the, 455 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,280 the ways that you have learned to deal with that. And a little bit, 456 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:31,080 we will talk a little bit about, um, how each of these spaces looks. 457 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,000 Because one thing that I've learned in this work with you all, um, 458 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,480 these last few months, is that the work lives everywhere, 459 00:26:38,780 --> 00:26:43,000 but it takes a different form depending on where you are. Um, 460 00:26:43,530 --> 00:26:48,480 so we're gonna move to, uh, to tk, take Carro. Quick question for you. 461 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,040 It doesn't have to be quick, actually, it's not a quick question. 462 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:52,760 There's a lot in there. Um, 463 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:57,280 so I don't know if you had the same experience that I did when I was able to let 464 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,000 people know that I was a part of this fellowship, people would be like, oh, 465 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,120 yeah, Tracy from Georgia. Yeah, that makes sense. You know, oh, Louisiana. Yeah. 466 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:08,020 That makes sense, Texas. That makes sense. Colorado, 467 00:27:08,810 --> 00:27:13,300 like Massachusetts. I think there's a lot of, um, there, 468 00:27:13,300 --> 00:27:13,820 there's a, 469 00:27:13,820 --> 00:27:18,700 there's a lot of sort of naivete about harmful attitudes 470 00:27:18,700 --> 00:27:23,540 that are directed at marginalized and minoritized communities. 471 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,700 The, the stereotype is, it's all in the south. We don't have this in the north, 472 00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:29,780 we don't have this out west. Um, 473 00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:32,540 what does the work look like in your communities? 474 00:27:32,540 --> 00:27:36,380 I wanna emphasize multiple communities, because at the top you sort of named, 475 00:27:36,910 --> 00:27:37,280 um, 476 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,220 the intersections of your identity and how those all are really important to you 477 00:27:41,220 --> 00:27:46,180 in the work. So what does the work look like in your place and time? 478 00:27:46,610 --> 00:27:49,780 Yeah. No, I, I appreciate you for naming that. I, and similar to you, 479 00:27:49,780 --> 00:27:52,300 I don't agree with that framing, right? That, you know, 480 00:27:52,300 --> 00:27:54,980 all parts of the country, regardless of whether they're red or blue, 481 00:27:54,980 --> 00:27:57,540 they need consistent advocacy around. 482 00:27:57,650 --> 00:27:58,380 A hundred percent. 483 00:27:58,380 --> 00:28:00,140 Right. And, and so I'm Massachusetts, 484 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,340 I'm most our product of New Jersey public schools. 485 00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:07,260 And so as far as education communities are concerned and it's intersection with 486 00:28:07,260 --> 00:28:11,740 politics, I do think of it as yes, more progressive liberal spaces, 487 00:28:12,270 --> 00:28:13,900 uh, which at least in the theory, 488 00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:17,100 are more supportive of honest and inclusive education. Yeah. 489 00:28:17,230 --> 00:28:17,800 Um. 490 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,460 And I think here's a danger though, right? Um, 491 00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:22,220 while there is a political stronghold, uh, 492 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:24,860 in our state houses are elected offices, uh, 493 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:28,380 to protect schools against this legislative onslaught that, uh, 494 00:28:28,380 --> 00:28:30,820 is taking place across the country, uh, 495 00:28:30,820 --> 00:28:34,380 that doesn't mean that even within our blue places, 496 00:28:34,460 --> 00:28:39,220 there aren't pockets of anti honest education sentiment growing. 497 00:28:39,550 --> 00:28:43,020 Uh, and as we're seeing this sort of forced metastasize across the country, 498 00:28:43,060 --> 00:28:47,420 we're also seeing a lot of the indirect ways in which it impacts, uh, even, 499 00:28:47,420 --> 00:28:51,260 you know, states like Massachusetts and, and, and, and New Jersey. Um, 500 00:28:51,260 --> 00:28:54,940 and so like right, we, at this fellowship, we've talked a lot about our, our, 501 00:28:55,030 --> 00:28:59,340 um, the bills, the anti C r T bills, the book bans, the gag orders, um, 502 00:28:59,570 --> 00:29:02,700 even in states like Massachusetts and New Jersey, they make it on the docket, 503 00:29:02,700 --> 00:29:03,900 right? New Jersey, yeah. 504 00:29:04,500 --> 00:29:08,220 Introduced an anti-trans bill that's trying to prevent gender affirming care for 505 00:29:08,220 --> 00:29:10,140 young people. Uh, and secondly, 506 00:29:10,140 --> 00:29:13,780 even if those bills don't get passed just by being platformed, 507 00:29:13,780 --> 00:29:17,300 they're still impacting our educators. They're still impacting our students. 508 00:29:17,300 --> 00:29:20,460 It's creating That's right. It's chilling effect. Um, 509 00:29:20,460 --> 00:29:21,860 it's poisoning our discourse. 510 00:29:21,860 --> 00:29:25,860 It's scaring teachers away from actually leaning in to the honest and inclusive 511 00:29:25,860 --> 00:29:29,100 pedagogical principles that we know to be true. Um, 512 00:29:29,290 --> 00:29:34,060 I left the classroom around the time when a lot of this anti C R t, uh, 513 00:29:34,060 --> 00:29:37,540 discourse was ramping up. Uh, and I noticed that a lot of my colleagues, 514 00:29:37,570 --> 00:29:40,860 they started self-censoring their curriculum, their lessons. Yeah. 515 00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:44,360 Out field retribution, librarians were taking books out, um, 516 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,640 especially right now around l g LGBTQ topics because they're afraid of being 517 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,240 targeted as groomers, uh, and schools, right? 518 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,680 They're asking departments to avoid these concepts around diversity equity, 519 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,080 because they're, they just don't wanna deal with the noise. 520 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,400 It's not because they agree with it, it's just, yeah. 521 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,720 It's not because they think they're wrong or that they're doing, 522 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:05,560 they're engaging in anything educationally unethical. Mm-hmm. . 523 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,520 It's because there is such a vested interest in misrepresenting this 524 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,640 work that it's like, is it worth it, man, sorry, I interrupted you though. No, 525 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:14,960 and. 526 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,360 That's part of the design, right? Like, 527 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:21,360 let's make the situation so cumbersome that like the onus of having 528 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,200 to respond is gonna happen on the school. 529 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,400 Teachers are gonna happen on the school leaders that like, 530 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,160 we're gonna overwhelm and flood them, uh, 531 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,160 like holds them with information and they have to deal with, uh, uh, 532 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:33,940 outcome of that. 533 00:30:33,940 --> 00:30:37,480 And the people who are making these attacks don't have to do their due diligence 534 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,880 around the science or the research or evidence. And so, 535 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:44,200 when we think about these consequences, right? Um, I also think like, uh, 536 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,160 those are the harms, uh, specifically this, this chilling effect. Um, 537 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,960 but I also think that like, we're not seeing the good things happen either. 538 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,720 Mm-hmm. And so, by that I mean right. Anti honest education, um, 539 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:57,120 when those attacks happen, 540 00:30:57,170 --> 00:31:01,680 they're also dampening enthusiasm for great things that should be taking place. 541 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,880 That's right. And I remember right from Massachusetts when, uh, the, 542 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,640 the wake of George Floyd's murder, 543 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:11,080 there were so many leaders in organizations rallying together saying 544 00:31:11,100 --> 00:31:14,960 anti-racism, anti-bias equity work is important. Um, 545 00:31:15,300 --> 00:31:18,560 but since this anti education movement started to take hold, 546 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,200 those same organizations and those same leaders, they're more silent. 547 00:31:22,570 --> 00:31:24,160 Uh, they're less enthusiastic. 548 00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:27,480 There's greater reluctance to, uh, 549 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,960 advocate on behalf of the things that we know to be true. Um, 550 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,160 and to give you one specific example, in the state of Massachusetts, 551 00:31:34,270 --> 00:31:38,400 I have been working for the past three years to help pass legislation on an 552 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:42,920 inclusive curriculum bill that would recognize the contributions of L G B LGBTQ 553 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,120 plus people in history. It was a bill that, you know, teachers got together, 554 00:31:47,690 --> 00:31:51,840 um, and, and, and tried to pass, uh, in the houses, um, 555 00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:56,360 you know, consulted with a lot of our legislators. We submitted testimonies, 556 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,520 we spoke at committee hearings. We even combined forces with other anti-racist, 557 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:01,800 anti-bias, uh, 558 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,640 curriculum bills to increase the chances that the bill gets passed. Right. 559 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,240 In Massachusetts. Yeah. And it hasn't gone through. Um, 560 00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:11,440 and I think that's such a great example of like, 561 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:17,190 in these so-called states that we might not think that there is much of an 562 00:32:17,190 --> 00:32:20,750 issue. There's also not a sense of urgency Yeah. Uh, in these states. 563 00:32:20,750 --> 00:32:24,110 And I think a lot of liberal people, , they have this like, 564 00:32:24,230 --> 00:32:26,310 let's not rock the boat mentality. That's. 565 00:32:26,310 --> 00:32:27,070 Right. That's. 566 00:32:27,070 --> 00:32:27,440 Right. 567 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:28,310 Hundred percent. 568 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:31,830 Roll all ourselves in this false sense of security. Yeah. Uh, 569 00:32:31,830 --> 00:32:35,790 these terrible things they happen to other districts in other states in our 570 00:32:35,790 --> 00:32:36,150 neighborhood. 571 00:32:36,150 --> 00:32:37,710 Couldn't happen here. Yeah. 572 00:32:38,070 --> 00:32:41,360 . So part of that work, work that we do in, in our communities here is, 573 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,600 is, is overcoming that kind of mentality. 574 00:32:43,910 --> 00:32:46,520 Yeah. Th thank you for naming that. Cause I think that's, 575 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,880 I think that's a really important thing to keep in mind. 576 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:50,640 Colorado's a little bit different in that way, 577 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:55,600 where Colorado had been a very conservative state for most of the time growing 578 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,520 up. I think, um, it was to the point where when Reagan ran for president twice, 579 00:33:00,860 --> 00:33:01,280 the, 580 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,920 his opponent didn't bother to campaign here because Colorado was considered to 581 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,960 be kind of a lost cause. And over the last few years, um, 582 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,760 there are some weird takes about why it's become more progre progressive, 583 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,360 but Colorado's become progressive, 584 00:33:14,580 --> 00:33:19,520 and yet our social studies standards were almost completed. . Yes. 585 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,960 Maybe it was the legalization of certain things that happened in Colorado back 586 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,400 in the day. Um, but the, um, but you know, what we, 587 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:32,280 what we have seen is that there's still these pockets and there are these places 588 00:33:32,490 --> 00:33:36,280 we had to fight for our social studies standards that did exactly what it is 589 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:37,120 that you're trying to do, 590 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:41,960 which is to recognize the contributions of marginalized and 591 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,880 minoritized people. Shout out Serena Gutes and, uh, 592 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,080 Julie Gonzalez and Colorado State Legislature, uh, for passing that. And, 593 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,840 and we narrowly, uh, were able to preserve those. So, you know, you, uh, 594 00:33:54,180 --> 00:33:56,920 you know, I don't wanna say you're not safe anywhere, 595 00:33:57,020 --> 00:34:01,080 but it's kind of like that. Um, at the same time, 596 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,640 there's opportunity everywhere to kind of do this work. 597 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,240 We're gonna take a really quick break. Um, when we come back, 598 00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:12,760 we're gonna talk about how all of us are able to sort of 599 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,920 participate in what the work looks like in various places. 600 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,280 Stay with us on Tudo Teachers and a mic. 601 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:26,010 What's up? Two dope people's. Uh, we're back. I'm back. 602 00:34:26,010 --> 00:34:29,530 Get outta . So Kevin is not back, but he wasn't here to begin with. So, 603 00:34:29,660 --> 00:34:33,890 um, he can't really be back if he didn't come in the first place. Uh, but he, 604 00:34:33,890 --> 00:34:37,410 he'll be with us. Don't, don't worry. Y'all been asking where Kevin been. 605 00:34:37,450 --> 00:34:42,050 Kevin is in this teaching grind. I'm not in this teaching grind right now. 606 00:34:42,050 --> 00:34:46,970 And so, uh, when, when Kevin is freed from, 607 00:34:47,220 --> 00:34:51,450 um, his , unpacking, decompressing, then, 608 00:34:51,450 --> 00:34:54,570 then he'll be back and we'll be doing this. I saw a, uh, 609 00:34:54,570 --> 00:34:58,810 a meme that started off with what it's like to teach in December. And, um, 610 00:34:58,810 --> 00:35:00,610 the first line is nobody's listening to you. 611 00:35:01,350 --> 00:35:05,130 And so I remember those days. Um, 612 00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:06,770 so we're gonna, 613 00:35:06,770 --> 00:35:11,210 there's a bunch of places where the work that we have been doing 614 00:35:11,620 --> 00:35:16,090 as, uh, voices for Honest Education Fellows lives, and I don't know about y'all. 615 00:35:16,090 --> 00:35:19,890 I was like kind of blown away by all the various places, um, 616 00:35:19,890 --> 00:35:24,860 that this stuff is happening and all of this sort of moving parts when you're 617 00:35:24,860 --> 00:35:26,300 engaging in a national discourse. 618 00:35:27,410 --> 00:35:31,240 So we're gonna talk a little bit about how this work looks in social media, 619 00:35:31,740 --> 00:35:36,320 how this work looks in policy spaces, um, how this works look, 620 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,240 work looks if you're from a marginalized or minoritized community. 621 00:35:40,780 --> 00:35:45,360 And we will sort of talk a little bit about all that kind of stuff. 622 00:35:45,530 --> 00:35:47,040 Um, so, uh, the, 623 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:51,840 the social media presence of the Voices for Honest Education Fellows, um, 624 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,760 is powerful. Like y'all are amazing. And, um, 625 00:35:54,970 --> 00:35:58,040 in a time of Elon Musk's, you know, 626 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,680 sort of whatever malfeasance he's doing in Twitter, 627 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,160 y'all are still at the top of my feet all the time. And so this is good stuff. 628 00:36:04,570 --> 00:36:07,200 Um, Chris, you know, 629 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:12,080 the social media world in ways that I am still coming into grips with, 630 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,960 like, um, this is, this is a real study for me. Chris, 631 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:18,040 why don't you start us off, kind of, 632 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,040 kind of share with us a little bit about what, um, what the, 633 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,800 the social media space is, 634 00:36:24,870 --> 00:36:27,880 what it isn't when it comes to these conversations, 635 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:29,440 and everyone else can chime in as well. 636 00:36:31,020 --> 00:36:33,360 You know, it was really interesting how I, I, you know, 637 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:34,600 started getting into social media. 638 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,640 I was teaching during C O V D and I was given, you know, them, 639 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,640 I was making these videos for, for students, and they were kind of long. 640 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,120 And then some of my students said, you should make, you know, TikTok videos, 641 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:45,640 . 642 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:50,640 It's so if only there was a shorter format that I could use to teach my students 643 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,640 . Yeah. Everybody is smiling right now. I just wanna point this out. 644 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:54,720 . Yeah. 645 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,240 They were. And I was like, ah, you're not gonna catch me. 646 00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:01,200 I'm not Clock app or whatever, you know, at the time. , that's 2021. 647 00:37:01,300 --> 00:37:02,840 And then I was like, wait a second. 648 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:06,680 They were bringing in knowledge from this app that, uh, 649 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,680 students usually don't know about. So I started engaging. 650 00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:14,040 And so that's probably the main way that I engage with Honest Education is by 651 00:37:14,270 --> 00:37:19,120 making these TikTok videos that highlight marginalized history to somewhat, 652 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:19,360 you know, 653 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,220 ensure that students who might not be getting this history still 654 00:37:24,220 --> 00:37:25,540 see this honest history. 655 00:37:25,540 --> 00:37:28,900 Because there are a lot of students who are in classrooms where the teachers 656 00:37:28,900 --> 00:37:31,420 literally can't teach certain aspects of US history, 657 00:37:31,790 --> 00:37:34,660 or they won't teach it because, you know, uh, 658 00:37:34,660 --> 00:37:38,300 it's been demonized as C R T or some sort of like wokeness. 659 00:37:38,730 --> 00:37:40,460 I I did that in quotes by the way. I don't know. 660 00:37:40,660 --> 00:37:43,140 , right? It's air quotes. You can't see the air quotes on the audio. 661 00:37:44,020 --> 00:37:47,140 . Yeah, yeah. You know, and as DK was saying, teachers and librarians, 662 00:37:47,140 --> 00:37:49,380 they're self censoring. They're edit, it's in their curriculum, 663 00:37:49,380 --> 00:37:52,420 they're taking out books. Well, with the internet, you know, 664 00:37:52,420 --> 00:37:55,460 you can't stop kids from getting historical truths really can. 665 00:37:55,460 --> 00:37:57,780 So as much as people try to bury this history, 666 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:02,620 the more kids and they kids know when they're being, you know, 667 00:38:02,650 --> 00:38:06,580 misled. They, they know they're, they're, they're very much aware than, 668 00:38:06,580 --> 00:38:08,260 than people give them credit for. Yeah. 669 00:38:08,260 --> 00:38:11,140 They're gonna go find this history in unique ways. 670 00:38:11,350 --> 00:38:15,740 So with my TikTok videos and with many other history teachers, now students, 671 00:38:15,770 --> 00:38:19,100 they can learn, you know, things about, uh, 672 00:38:19,380 --> 00:38:24,380 black leaders and politicians from the reconstruction era or, um, uh, 673 00:38:24,380 --> 00:38:28,940 a labor movement where multiple different groups came together or L G B T Q, 674 00:38:29,010 --> 00:38:33,300 historical figures. Yeah. So it's, it's been really powerful in that way. 675 00:38:33,300 --> 00:38:34,780 But like you said, I'm also on, you know, 676 00:38:34,780 --> 00:38:38,680 Twitter highlighting and promoting honest education and authentic history and, 677 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,160 and talking politics. But that's, that's really messy. And unfortunately, 678 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,400 Twitter has been less productive as of late than before. Sure. But, 679 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,120 but still can be a good avenue to, to push forward ideas and, 680 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:51,400 and articles and whatnot. 681 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,530 Yeah. What about others? What, what would you Yeah, go ahead. Tk. 682 00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:59,730 This. So I just wanted to make a plug for him. Like, his tos are so amazing, 683 00:38:59,750 --> 00:39:04,370 and part of what makes it so amazing is he's prolific and has a way of 684 00:39:04,380 --> 00:39:08,370 opining on current events in a way that's not only student friendly, 685 00:39:08,510 --> 00:39:12,930 but contextualizes the issues in a broader historical context. And so, 686 00:39:12,930 --> 00:39:16,370 if you're an educator and something happens in the news, 687 00:39:16,370 --> 00:39:19,410 in current events and international news, that you feel like, 688 00:39:19,410 --> 00:39:20,810 I don't know how to explain this, 689 00:39:20,810 --> 00:39:25,050 particularly through a way that's conscientious about like equity and what needs 690 00:39:25,050 --> 00:39:28,010 to be done, right. In terms of student affirming and understanding, you know, 691 00:39:28,010 --> 00:39:29,130 the broader context at play. 692 00:39:29,130 --> 00:39:33,410 Like Chris is your go-to guide because he will have within a day a, 693 00:39:33,410 --> 00:39:37,890 a take on it away of understanding and processing it that you can model for your 694 00:39:37,890 --> 00:39:38,640 own students. 695 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:43,210 Yeah. I just wanna say that I, I paid TK 50 bucks to say that. No, 696 00:39:43,210 --> 00:39:44,850 I'm just kidding. I really appreciate you tk. 697 00:39:45,090 --> 00:39:47,690 . You know what, TK is worth way more. Way more. 698 00:39:47,690 --> 00:39:48,730 You should have paid a lot more. 699 00:39:48,780 --> 00:39:49,130 My. 700 00:39:49,130 --> 00:39:52,770 $500. No, your worth. Tk Know your worth. . I. 701 00:39:52,770 --> 00:39:54,650 Appreciate the kind words I appreciate. It's. 702 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,530 It's the primary sources that get me too. So, like, 703 00:39:58,700 --> 00:40:00,490 as an American literature teacher, 704 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:04,010 I was always looking for those and always having them look for those. 705 00:40:04,070 --> 00:40:07,210 And I find myself like going back to see like, Ooh, let me see that picture. 706 00:40:07,210 --> 00:40:10,010 Like, where did Chris even get that picture? And like, dropping the, 707 00:40:10,010 --> 00:40:12,370 just dropping at the bottom, like where he got things. 708 00:40:12,620 --> 00:40:15,170 So I know there are a lot of people on social media who, 709 00:40:15,350 --> 00:40:19,250 who do the same thing without the receipts to back it up. 710 00:40:19,310 --> 00:40:21,210 But Chris always has the receipts. 711 00:40:21,590 --> 00:40:22,423 Yeah. 712 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:23,560 Gotta bring the. 713 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:27,280 Receipts somewhere in my head. I want, at some point, I wanna, um, 714 00:40:27,670 --> 00:40:32,560 I wanna put Chris and my friend Bra Hubble who manages the Liberating 715 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,320 Narratives account on, um, on Instagram. 716 00:40:35,590 --> 00:40:39,440 Just put 'em in a room and just see what happens. Because like, because, 717 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:43,760 because Bram has a similar approach, but his is more focused on documents. 718 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,960 He doesn't do the videos and that kind of thing. Um, I, 719 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,800 I think that that's not in his wheelhouse, but man, that would be fun. 720 00:40:50,030 --> 00:40:50,920 He's so cool. 721 00:40:51,390 --> 00:40:51,880 Yeah. 722 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,800 I would love that. All kinds of people. Yeah. 723 00:40:56,340 --> 00:41:00,630 What are some other thoughts we have so we can kind of move into like 724 00:41:01,220 --> 00:41:05,350 social media and, um, the political discourse in, 725 00:41:05,350 --> 00:41:10,190 as Chris kind of mentioned, um, on Twitter especially, um, 726 00:41:10,260 --> 00:41:12,230 it's, it's getting a little messy out there. 727 00:41:12,230 --> 00:41:15,710 It's kind of wild in those Twitter streets. Um, talk, 728 00:41:15,710 --> 00:41:20,630 let's talk a little bit about just how we've all engaged 729 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,590 in some of the discourse on social media and what that's been like and why we 730 00:41:24,590 --> 00:41:28,670 feel like that's an important place to engage Messy, though it may be, 731 00:41:28,730 --> 00:41:31,990 and maybe I can hear from, uh, from Monica and Tracy, 732 00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:34,920 since you've been doing a lot, lot of policy work. We can kind of bridge that. 733 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:42,010 I'll say one of the things that really I think about a lot is, 734 00:41:42,010 --> 00:41:44,130 cause it can feel messy for sure, 735 00:41:44,130 --> 00:41:49,050 but it can also be just disgusting and it can be tiring and it can make you 736 00:41:49,050 --> 00:41:54,010 want to just not look, just find a pillow, just cover up and not Yeah. 737 00:41:54,110 --> 00:41:55,090 Not wanna be engaged. 738 00:41:55,090 --> 00:41:58,130 Anymore. Like how many na how many names can you be called before you're like, 739 00:41:58,130 --> 00:41:59,090 you know what, I need a break. 740 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,810 Absolutely. Absolutely. And so, I don't know. 741 00:42:02,810 --> 00:42:07,410 I think as we engage with people or around, especially around honest education, 742 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:11,690 I think it's important to know that there are some people who have their 743 00:42:12,050 --> 00:42:15,250 position, who do not ever plan to change their position. 744 00:42:15,250 --> 00:42:19,050 You can come with all the facts. You can, you know, show them all the things. 745 00:42:19,420 --> 00:42:22,690 Um, you can tie it to kids, you can try to make sure you, you know, 746 00:42:22,690 --> 00:42:26,250 have a common ground with them and they have an agenda and you can't change it. 747 00:42:26,250 --> 00:42:29,370 And so I think it's important to know right when to back away. 748 00:42:29,550 --> 00:42:32,890 And it's also important to realize like, where the teachable moments are. 749 00:42:32,890 --> 00:42:36,010 And I think that's something that we all, we all sort of know, 750 00:42:36,010 --> 00:42:40,850 like we can see within a space when we're able to persuade someone and when it's 751 00:42:40,850 --> 00:42:44,050 not going anywhere. And, um, I think that's been, 752 00:42:44,050 --> 00:42:48,490 that's been a fun part for me is watching all of you and learning how you're 753 00:42:48,490 --> 00:42:53,010 engaging, um, with people and how you keep your cool. Like, that is so . 754 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,690 I, I don't always do that. Like, I have to just like put it down, like done. 755 00:42:56,830 --> 00:42:59,610 But then I'll see Chris, I'll see Tracy and I'm like, oh, 756 00:42:59,610 --> 00:43:02,290 how did they keep their cool? They've been called names. Um, 757 00:43:02,290 --> 00:43:05,090 but then to move people even after that, 758 00:43:05,090 --> 00:43:07,210 like Tracy probably will share this with you, 759 00:43:07,430 --> 00:43:12,090 but even to have someone apologize to you after calling you names, because wow, 760 00:43:12,090 --> 00:43:16,690 you were able to back up what you were saying with some thought provoking 761 00:43:16,690 --> 00:43:19,530 things. And so I just think that we have to know when to, 762 00:43:19,530 --> 00:43:21,290 it's important to always try to engage, 763 00:43:21,310 --> 00:43:25,730 but we should also know when to disengage as well, because it is hard. 764 00:43:25,730 --> 00:43:28,010 What we do as educators is hard enough. 765 00:43:28,270 --> 00:43:32,890 And if it becomes so much that it feels heavy and it doesn't allow us to be the 766 00:43:32,890 --> 00:43:36,210 light that we need to be in this world, then that's why we have each other. 767 00:43:36,210 --> 00:43:39,010 That's why we do the work in community. When I can't do it, 768 00:43:39,010 --> 00:43:42,210 I can tag someone else, step out and let them handle it, 769 00:43:42,210 --> 00:43:46,490 and then come back when I can when I've gathered myself. And so, um, yeah. 770 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,090 Engage and disengage. 771 00:43:48,410 --> 00:43:50,930 . No, I agree. And it's, it's funny because I, 772 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:55,690 I look at the poise and the confidence that Chris and Tracy gotta come 773 00:43:55,690 --> 00:43:59,610 with and, and they're just kinda like, no, no, no, no. And, 774 00:43:59,610 --> 00:44:03,890 and it's just wild to me because like, again, like, like you, um, I, 775 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,650 I get angry and it, and it's, and it's frustrating and it's upsetting, 776 00:44:07,650 --> 00:44:10,490 but that's really important kind of perspective. Tracy, 777 00:44:10,490 --> 00:44:11,850 you wanted to add something? Look like. 778 00:44:12,070 --> 00:44:15,970 You know, we've learned a little bit about being in these social media spaces, 779 00:44:15,970 --> 00:44:19,650 you know, kind of what TK was saying earlier. We don't wanna sit back and say, 780 00:44:19,650 --> 00:44:23,250 oh, we don't have to worry about that. You know, or say that, well, 781 00:44:23,250 --> 00:44:26,490 that space is ugly. I'm gonna leave the playground and go somewhere else. Yeah. 782 00:44:26,490 --> 00:44:29,010 Like, no, we found that we need to speak up. 783 00:44:29,010 --> 00:44:32,120 And like, social media's a version of the real, real world, isn't it? It is. 784 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:34,560 Like, people talk about how it's not the real world, 785 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:39,560 and yet people are getting ideas and repeating things in 786 00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:43,000 the real world that they're seeing on social media. I interrupted you. 787 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:43,640 I have a really bad habit. 788 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:45,800 Sorry. No, just complete misinformation. 789 00:44:46,020 --> 00:44:50,640 And so when you're out there on this playground with the bullies, uh, 790 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:53,960 just remember to humanize the situation, right? 791 00:44:54,550 --> 00:44:58,840 Just humanize it. Like, I'm not, you know, I'm an elementary teacher, , 792 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:03,360 I teach kids to read, we read culturally responsive books and know I'm, 793 00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:05,560 you know, um, but humanize it and, 794 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:09,560 but definitely speak up and speak from a place of shared values, right? 795 00:45:10,650 --> 00:45:15,280 We know that 87% of parents agree that we should be 796 00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:19,040 teaching our kids a full history. Yeah. And teaching, you know, 797 00:45:19,390 --> 00:45:22,640 kids how to have a better tomorrow and preparing them for it. Yeah. 798 00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:25,640 We can really get behind shared values. Yeah. Um, 799 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:26,760 it's important to keep that in mind. 800 00:45:26,860 --> 00:45:30,880 And I think that's really important when we start thinking about how we take 801 00:45:31,030 --> 00:45:34,800 humanizing into policy. We, we have to remember that, 802 00:45:34,990 --> 00:45:39,880 that policy ideas impact real humans and they have implications 803 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:40,600 for real people. 804 00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:45,240 And I think bringing that back and always looking for the shared values 805 00:45:45,460 --> 00:45:50,400 and welcoming the dialogue when it's in earnest and when it is in, 806 00:45:50,450 --> 00:45:55,200 in the right mindset is important. Um, tk, one of the things that I think, 807 00:45:55,410 --> 00:45:59,880 um, I was hoping you could speak to a little bit is when I, 808 00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:04,000 when I think about some of our shared background, right? Um, 809 00:46:04,090 --> 00:46:08,280 we both come from communities of color. We both, um, 810 00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:12,560 are children of immigrants, and there can be a lot of layers. 811 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:17,440 And then your, um, your membership in the L G B T Q community is, 812 00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:22,380 is so important as far as that goes. Sometimes, man, I, 813 00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:26,860 I look at you and I wonder why are, why do you want this smoke? Like, 814 00:46:26,970 --> 00:46:29,740 it's like you haven't been through enough in your life, 815 00:46:30,300 --> 00:46:34,620 to come and sort of, you know, in invite this. And I, 816 00:46:34,620 --> 00:46:39,580 and I say that with respect because I think that it is complicated 817 00:46:39,610 --> 00:46:44,380 when maybe the values I grew up with are kind of 818 00:46:44,380 --> 00:46:48,620 countered to this speaking out and speaking up and being in front of people. 819 00:46:49,110 --> 00:46:53,380 Um, and I'm a cis hat dude. And so the, these are things that, you know, 820 00:46:53,380 --> 00:46:55,500 there's a limit to where I kind of empathize, 821 00:46:55,500 --> 00:46:59,300 but like where I feel a connection. But talk a little bit about that. 822 00:46:59,300 --> 00:47:00,380 Like where, 823 00:47:00,570 --> 00:47:04,660 what does it mean to come from a marginalized community and to, 824 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,220 and to engage in this work? And why is it important for more of us to do that? 825 00:47:09,570 --> 00:47:14,300 Yeah. You know, one of the things that our fellowship has been training us in, 826 00:47:14,630 --> 00:47:18,900 um, is this idea of not letting the opposition control the narrative. 827 00:47:19,430 --> 00:47:20,420 Um, and, 828 00:47:20,420 --> 00:47:23,540 and I was thinking about like how marginalized communities have been doing that 829 00:47:23,570 --> 00:47:26,980 like forever, right? They create their own discourse. 830 00:47:26,980 --> 00:47:31,020 They don't allow That's right. Bad faith, divisive, 831 00:47:31,500 --> 00:47:34,220 reactionary actors to control the narrative. Mm-hmm. , 832 00:47:34,220 --> 00:47:38,580 because if we let them do so for marginalized communities especially, 833 00:47:38,750 --> 00:47:42,780 it means us having to debate our own humanity. Why we should exist, 834 00:47:42,780 --> 00:47:46,940 why we should have rights, why we deserve to be contr, uh, considered as people, 835 00:47:46,980 --> 00:47:48,500 right? Um, 836 00:47:48,500 --> 00:47:52,820 and so marginalized communities are actually really good at not speaking on the 837 00:47:52,820 --> 00:47:57,780 terms, uh, that are defined by these groups oftentimes who yield power. Uh, 838 00:47:57,780 --> 00:48:01,460 and we do this by, by by talking about things on our terms, 839 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:05,460 the truth and, and, and the truth that's based on research, on empathy. 840 00:48:05,460 --> 00:48:07,900 And this belief, particularly for honest education, 841 00:48:08,130 --> 00:48:11,980 that all students deserve access to a full education that affirms, 842 00:48:11,980 --> 00:48:15,220 that affords them. Um, and, and, 843 00:48:15,220 --> 00:48:17,780 and I think part of how we do that, right, uh, 844 00:48:17,780 --> 00:48:22,100 in terms of speaking our own truths and, and us controlling the narrative, uh, 845 00:48:22,100 --> 00:48:26,660 is describing really the positive impact the assets of what we can bring. 846 00:48:27,310 --> 00:48:28,740 Um, I do this a lot, 847 00:48:28,740 --> 00:48:32,540 like for the college essays that I help with my students and sometimes write 848 00:48:32,540 --> 00:48:35,420 things like, I want to go to this school because, you know, 849 00:48:35,420 --> 00:48:39,220 I'm a person of color. Um, uh, and, and representation matters. 850 00:48:39,220 --> 00:48:41,660 And those are really true things in the abstract, 851 00:48:41,660 --> 00:48:45,420 but one of the ways in which I try to nudge them is by having them think, uh, 852 00:48:45,420 --> 00:48:49,740 what does being a person of color mean in terms of the perspective that you add 853 00:48:49,790 --> 00:48:52,780 to the campus community that you're, yeah. Uh, 854 00:48:52,780 --> 00:48:57,220 and I think some of the things that marginalized communities, uh, when they do, 855 00:48:57,220 --> 00:48:59,580 when they control the narrative in a way that's the best, 856 00:48:59,710 --> 00:49:01,780 is when we are able to define ourselves, 857 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:05,780 not by narratives of oppression, um, 858 00:49:05,780 --> 00:49:09,980 even though that's part of the discourse, but also through narratives of joy, 859 00:49:10,270 --> 00:49:13,340 of aspiration, of our contributions, uh, 860 00:49:13,340 --> 00:49:17,020 and really the positive ways in which we can inspire hope. Um, 861 00:49:17,020 --> 00:49:19,700 and so I think that's always an antidote. 862 00:49:19,700 --> 00:49:23,860 People are more likely to change when you inspire them and give them a sense of 863 00:49:23,860 --> 00:49:24,900 hope. And so, 864 00:49:24,900 --> 00:49:28,460 while it's important to highlight the negative things that are happening, uh, 865 00:49:28,460 --> 00:49:33,220 owning our own discourse, um, but owning it in a way that is happy and sparkly, 866 00:49:33,430 --> 00:49:36,620 uh, in the ways that it has to, I think is also an important takeaway. 867 00:49:36,890 --> 00:49:41,340 Yeah. So that's what I've been doing wrong, , I get, I get in the, 868 00:49:41,340 --> 00:49:43,980 I get in the rabbit hole and it gets really frustrating. I mean, 869 00:49:43,980 --> 00:49:46,620 that's one thing that's been really beautiful about getting to know all of you 870 00:49:46,710 --> 00:49:50,140 is, you know, we, we have our official conversations and then we'll have, 871 00:49:50,660 --> 00:49:55,460 let's call 'em our unofficial conversations. And I feel like, um, I, 872 00:49:55,490 --> 00:49:59,700 I get to see your authentic voices all the time. And I, 873 00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:02,020 and I love it. And it, and it's a beautiful thing. 874 00:50:03,980 --> 00:50:07,830 I was gonna add too, you know, as, as a black woman Yeah. 875 00:50:07,830 --> 00:50:12,750 Who there is this perception that you're angry and you're loud 876 00:50:12,770 --> 00:50:13,790 and you're, you know, 877 00:50:13,810 --> 00:50:18,030 and so then you're gonna go do a fellowship that requires you to be really loud, 878 00:50:18,030 --> 00:50:22,430 right? That you need to be loud, you need to talk a lot. Um, and so, and, 879 00:50:22,430 --> 00:50:25,110 and I've had people say to me like, oh, you, you go say it. 880 00:50:25,110 --> 00:50:26,950 Like it's easy for you. And I'll just say like, for people, 881 00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:30,840 people in marginalized communities, it's not always easy, man. It's necessary, 882 00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:33,560 but it's not always easy to borrow your phrase. Right. 883 00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:36,000 To take the smoke to know that you're going to get the smoke. 884 00:50:36,130 --> 00:50:37,720 So you just have to realize like, 885 00:50:37,900 --> 00:50:42,560 I'm going to take this that I feel and move it to the side because I need to 886 00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:44,120 center other people. Um, 887 00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:47,080 it's almost gonna decentering of self to center someone else, 888 00:50:47,140 --> 00:50:50,560 but at the same time you are saying like, as a person of color, 889 00:50:50,620 --> 00:50:55,440 and it is not only our job, right. To speak up about things that, um, 890 00:50:55,440 --> 00:51:00,280 are wrong and that have been done and discriminated against the whole 891 00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:03,320 community. It's not yeah. Us that, like only us. 892 00:51:03,420 --> 00:51:08,200 But I think that when we do it and we are authentic and we step out there 893 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:09,800 and we're able to take it, 894 00:51:10,030 --> 00:51:13,720 I just wanna let anybody know who's listening that it does not always feel good. 895 00:51:13,720 --> 00:51:18,320 And it is not always easy. And it, if the most articulate person, the most, 896 00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:21,680 you know, well-read person who you think may not be struggling, 897 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:22,800 it's a struggle to do that. 898 00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:27,560 And so you have to spend something emotionally to be a person of color, 899 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:31,480 to get out there and to advocate. So there is something that is spent, um, 900 00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:34,920 but we spend it because we know what the gains are on the other side. 901 00:51:35,270 --> 00:51:40,120 Yeah. It's got a cost. It Yeah, absolutely has a cost. And, you know, I, 902 00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:44,360 I think that, and thank you for, for naming that, Monica, because you know, 903 00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:48,920 I think that you are definitely an individual who, 904 00:51:49,580 --> 00:51:52,400 you just always are so poised and so prepared. 905 00:51:52,660 --> 00:51:56,040 And I think people who don't know you, don't, don't always, 906 00:51:56,190 --> 00:52:00,240 they don't see the work that that goes into that. And, you know, 907 00:52:00,650 --> 00:52:04,920 we talk about emotional labor and you know, there have been numerous, 908 00:52:05,330 --> 00:52:07,800 uh, studies on the impact of emotional labor, 909 00:52:07,800 --> 00:52:12,320 particularly on black women teachers and how that 910 00:52:13,060 --> 00:52:16,170 is exhausting. And there's the whole, you know, 911 00:52:16,170 --> 00:52:19,650 William Smith has written about racial battle fatigue when it comes to black 912 00:52:20,010 --> 00:52:22,970 educators. And these are things that we can't lose sight of. Um, 913 00:52:23,220 --> 00:52:27,170 so thank you for that. And, um, and it does come at a price, um, 914 00:52:27,270 --> 00:52:31,370 for so many of us. Um, so, 915 00:52:32,270 --> 00:52:37,090 you know, I believe that the, that the revolution has to be defined by joy, 916 00:52:37,090 --> 00:52:40,770 right? Um, I was reading Sa Lewinsky's book and um, 917 00:52:40,770 --> 00:52:44,010 he was criticizing the younger generation, um, 918 00:52:44,430 --> 00:52:47,690 for not making a movement. The kind of thing that you wanna be a part of. 919 00:52:47,690 --> 00:52:50,610 You look around and you're like, these people are not enjoying the work. 920 00:52:50,610 --> 00:52:53,850 They're not having fun. Why do I want to be a part of this kind of movement? 921 00:52:53,850 --> 00:52:57,490 And I just wanna name that when he was writing that he was writing about my 922 00:52:57,490 --> 00:53:01,970 parents' generation . Um, and so that kind of goes back a little bit. 923 00:53:01,970 --> 00:53:05,170 So we we're, we're multi-generational here. We got a couple of, uh, 924 00:53:05,170 --> 00:53:07,850 gen Xers here. We got a couple of millennials. We, you know, 925 00:53:08,060 --> 00:53:12,050 we don't have any ears yet. Um, you know, but, but they're coming. 926 00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:14,930 They can't order for themselves or want to talk on the phone, 927 00:53:14,930 --> 00:53:19,770 but they will definitely tattoo Acab wherever they feel like it. . Um, 928 00:53:20,230 --> 00:53:23,410 and so, uh, we're gonna bring some joy in here right now. 929 00:53:24,380 --> 00:53:29,250 So we agreed that music is something that really 930 00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:31,690 speaks to all of us. 931 00:53:31,870 --> 00:53:36,290 And when we talked a little bit about what motivates us on these days, 932 00:53:36,290 --> 00:53:40,010 on these things that we need to do, uh, we talked a little bit about music. 933 00:53:40,010 --> 00:53:43,530 And so what we are gonna do is we're gonna make y'all a playlist. 934 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:48,610 This is gonna be our Voices for Honest Education playlist. So, um, 935 00:53:49,140 --> 00:53:51,930 uh, Chris and Monica, you have ideas on how to pool this. 936 00:53:52,220 --> 00:53:54,290 So we thought we would throw some titles. What do you think? 937 00:53:54,290 --> 00:53:58,730 What's a good number of tracks for an Honest 938 00:53:58,730 --> 00:53:59,690 Education playlist? 939 00:54:03,320 --> 00:54:04,750 At least 10, right? 940 00:54:04,960 --> 00:54:07,750 So, okay. Yeah. I tend to overdo it. 941 00:54:07,750 --> 00:54:10,470 Like I got playlists and then I don't know if anybody, 942 00:54:10,470 --> 00:54:12,110 this is maybe just a me thing. 943 00:54:12,300 --> 00:54:15,670 I find that I have like 25 playlists on my Spotify, 944 00:54:16,290 --> 00:54:21,110 and it's really all the same 20 songs, like just on multiple playlists. 945 00:54:21,110 --> 00:54:25,630 Is that just me? I think that's just me. Oh, man. Um, 946 00:54:25,740 --> 00:54:28,670 that's okay. My daughter's like, wait, this is the same stuff. 947 00:54:28,670 --> 00:54:32,150 I also have a tendency to watch the same five movies over and over again. Like, 948 00:54:32,150 --> 00:54:35,230 those are the only movies I'm aware of. I'm a creature of habit, but, 949 00:54:35,230 --> 00:54:37,550 so we're gonna, so we'll say 10 tracks. 950 00:54:38,560 --> 00:54:42,470 So that's two tracks per fellow . 951 00:54:43,100 --> 00:54:45,710 It's a lot to think about. And you know what? You, you can, 952 00:54:45,710 --> 00:54:49,750 we can drop one at a time. If you know you're two, we can throw Tracy, 953 00:54:49,750 --> 00:54:54,110 you look excited. You look ready for this playlist. Um, 954 00:54:54,140 --> 00:54:55,390 should we start with you. 955 00:54:56,350 --> 00:54:57,490 Man? I've got this. 956 00:54:57,490 --> 00:55:02,090 My students have analyzed so many hip hop songs and lyrics when we're learning 957 00:55:02,090 --> 00:55:06,650 poetry, bring some rap. But in the spirit of honesty for education, 958 00:55:06,720 --> 00:55:11,130 I think the best one to add is break the walls by fits in the tantrums. 959 00:55:11,620 --> 00:55:16,240 Ooh, I don't think, I don't, wow. Break the walls by fits in the tantrums. 960 00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:20,200 . That's amazing. I've never heard of any of those. All right. 961 00:55:20,370 --> 00:55:25,120 So Tracy starts our play playlist with Break the Walls by Fits in the 962 00:55:25,120 --> 00:55:29,640 Tantrums. All right. Who wants, who Dares, who Danes to go next? 963 00:55:30,330 --> 00:55:33,150 I'm gonna go old school. I, I gotta do it. When I think of, you know, 964 00:55:33,150 --> 00:55:37,150 honest education and fight in the Good Fight, uh, Woody Gunther's, 965 00:55:37,150 --> 00:55:41,910 all you fascist Bound to lose, you know, , that's from the 1940s. I mean, 966 00:55:41,910 --> 00:55:44,230 you play that today and, uh, you know, there's, 967 00:55:44,230 --> 00:55:47,390 there's a lot of people out there that are pushing this country in, 968 00:55:47,390 --> 00:55:51,550 in certain directions. And so that's a really motivational one for me. W. 969 00:55:51,590 --> 00:55:54,950 Woody Guthrie man, like, it, it's, it's amazing. Um, 970 00:55:55,570 --> 00:55:58,670 cuz you name Woody Guthrie for like younger people and they're kinda like, 971 00:55:58,670 --> 00:56:01,470 what it, and it's like really powerful stuff. All right. 972 00:56:01,470 --> 00:56:02,670 That's very good at these next. 973 00:56:02,860 --> 00:56:05,710 They love it too, when they hear the lyrics and stuff. Yep. Kids get, 974 00:56:05,710 --> 00:56:08,310 they were like, wow. They had this type of like, you know, 975 00:56:08,310 --> 00:56:09,830 revolutionaries back in the day. 976 00:56:09,830 --> 00:56:12,670 Yeah. Oh man. Uh, yeah, esp. Yep. Absolutely. 977 00:56:12,670 --> 00:56:16,270 I had the same experience with Pete Seger . So. 978 00:56:16,460 --> 00:56:19,790 I mean, that's another one, right? John Brown's body. Pete Seger, I that, 979 00:56:19,790 --> 00:56:21,670 those are two. Uh, and then I'm done and then I'm done. 980 00:56:21,710 --> 00:56:24,240 There you go. Oh, okay. Wait, is that yours? Is that, 981 00:56:24,240 --> 00:56:26,400 are you committing to John Brown's body or did you have. 982 00:56:26,470 --> 00:56:28,880 I mean, right when you said Pete Sing, uh, secret. That's, 983 00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:32,560 that's what popped in my head and I just started singing that. So , 984 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:37,310 his rendition and what, you know, John Brown, he Yeah. 985 00:56:37,310 --> 00:56:37,790 Quite. 986 00:56:37,790 --> 00:56:41,430 The, nah, that's John Brown. That's, that's my favorite thing about like, 987 00:56:41,750 --> 00:56:44,230 you know, white folks who are willing to engage in the fight. I, 988 00:56:44,230 --> 00:56:49,110 I just refer to y'all as having John Brown vibes. Like, it works. It works. 989 00:56:49,110 --> 00:56:52,190 All right. Who would like to add the fourth track? 990 00:56:52,820 --> 00:56:54,350 Should I add my fourth and fifth? 991 00:56:54,730 --> 00:56:57,070 All right. You can't, you may, sir. 992 00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:00,790 As right, the one of the resident millennials here, uh, 993 00:57:00,790 --> 00:57:03,830 I'm killing a lot of my generational tastes here, but, uh, 994 00:57:03,830 --> 00:57:06,230 the first very nice American idiot by Green Day. 995 00:57:06,860 --> 00:57:07,870 Okay. Yes. 996 00:57:08,100 --> 00:57:10,470 Like anti-war. I think it was around like the. 997 00:57:10,470 --> 00:57:12,870 Bush Show. Chris is pumping his fist. For those of you who. 998 00:57:12,980 --> 00:57:16,710 I know, you know, the politics and too much of what was going on at the time, 999 00:57:16,810 --> 00:57:20,310 but I think it's like a, you don't wanna be an American idiot, right? 1000 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:21,313 No. No. 1001 00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:22,910 So. 1002 00:57:22,910 --> 00:57:26,150 Definitely I feel like that's gonna be appropriated at some point. 1003 00:57:26,150 --> 00:57:30,150 And that makes me really sad. . Um, so American Idiot by Green Day. 1004 00:57:30,150 --> 00:57:32,350 All right. And then you have a fifth track for us. 1005 00:57:33,080 --> 00:57:35,350 Um, where's the Love by Black Eye. 1006 00:57:35,350 --> 00:57:39,430 Peas? Man, you know what that is, right? What's wrong with this world mama? 1007 00:57:39,430 --> 00:57:41,110 People acting like, yeah. 1008 00:57:41,660 --> 00:57:43,910 It's anti-war pro humanity. 1009 00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:47,590 It talks about war discrimination and environmental. 1010 00:57:47,590 --> 00:57:50,270 Gang violence. Like gang. Yeah. 1011 00:57:50,620 --> 00:57:52,990 Here's the best part. I looked at the lyrics because, you know, 1012 00:57:52,990 --> 00:57:56,430 our whole fellowship is about truth and honesty. And, and, and, and, 1013 00:57:56,430 --> 00:58:00,150 and this Riva lyric, the truth is kept secret. It's swept under the rug. 1014 00:58:00,150 --> 00:58:02,790 Because if you never know truth and you never know love. 1015 00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:08,310 Oh, if you never know truth, you never know love, I'm telling you this, um, 1016 00:58:08,590 --> 00:58:13,550 playlist is gonna be fire. All right. I think we have not heard from Monica yet. 1017 00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:17,390 Um, yes. Okay. Monica's got a whole catalog. Look, 1018 00:58:17,390 --> 00:58:21,390 th this whole podcast is eventually just gonna be Monica's favorite songs cuz we 1019 00:58:21,390 --> 00:58:24,910 already have one where she has a bunch of tracks. And so . 1020 00:58:26,360 --> 00:58:29,590 Um, I'll just drop, I'll drop one. I do have a few, but I, 1021 00:58:29,590 --> 00:58:31,990 I wanna make sure I correct myself from earlier. Just waiting a moment. 1022 00:58:31,990 --> 00:58:35,070 Like I said, I started an advocacy council, 1023 00:58:35,070 --> 00:58:37,310 shout out to the teachers who helped me. I'm all about the we. 1024 00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:41,470 It wasn't me alone and okay, I wanna just say shout out to them. And also, 1025 00:58:41,470 --> 00:58:45,430 I think I said our commissioner is elected. No, I is, he is not. 1026 00:58:45,430 --> 00:58:46,990 He is appointed. Okay. So now, oh. 1027 00:58:46,990 --> 00:58:49,470 Boy. Oh boy, , um. 1028 00:58:49,630 --> 00:58:51,950 Gotta drop a little public enemy, 1029 00:58:51,950 --> 00:58:55,190 fight the power because that what we are doing. 1030 00:58:55,190 --> 00:58:57,750 We're fighting the powers that be, fight. 1031 00:58:57,750 --> 00:58:58,590 The powers that be. 1032 00:58:58,650 --> 00:59:01,990 Yes. I'll, I'll save, I'll save another couple until we. 1033 00:59:02,310 --> 00:59:05,590 . Yeah. All right. So I'm, 1034 00:59:05,590 --> 00:59:10,150 I'm gonna go in real time and go into my Spotify and let's, 1035 00:59:10,150 --> 00:59:14,110 let's just see because I listen to the same 12 songs over and over again. 1036 00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:18,230 Um, for me, I'm going to add, 1037 00:59:18,230 --> 00:59:20,430 and I'll know if folks are ready for this, 1038 00:59:20,430 --> 00:59:24,720 I'm gonna add Bju bon's Untold Stories. Um, 1039 00:59:24,820 --> 00:59:28,760 and so Bju man, he'd been through some stuff, , um, 1040 00:59:29,340 --> 00:59:34,320 and I just had the opportunity to interview, uh, Susu Brown, 1041 00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:38,920 who wrote this beautiful book called [inaudible]. Uh, bad Hair Doesn't Exist. 1042 00:59:39,260 --> 00:59:40,280 And, uh, 1043 00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:45,280 she reminded me of Bja Bonton Untold Stories is amazing because it just 1044 00:59:45,550 --> 00:59:49,480 highlights the need to ensure that stories are told, 1045 00:59:49,480 --> 00:59:54,240 particularly from those of us who come from places where the 1046 00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:58,040 powers that be, um, are motivated to erase our existence. 1047 00:59:58,040 --> 01:00:02,960 Any race are stories. So I believe we are on, 1048 01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:06,730 what is this Track eight? Let me count. 1049 01:00:06,730 --> 01:00:11,250 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Yep. Track eight. Tracy, I believe it's you. 1050 01:00:11,680 --> 01:00:16,050 Yeah, I think it, it needs to end on a really like, fun, joyful note. Like, 1051 01:00:16,050 --> 01:00:18,410 we know that there's mess going on and we work hard, 1052 01:00:18,470 --> 01:00:22,850 but we also know how to play. So I'm throwing in Good Day by Nappy Roots. 1053 01:00:23,770 --> 01:00:27,890 . Yes. Tracy did our homework on this. I just have to, uh, 1054 01:00:27,890 --> 01:00:32,130 point this out. Uh, stays ready. Whoops. 1055 01:00:32,130 --> 01:00:35,970 I misspelled that. This is going, I'm typing this as we speak. 1056 01:00:36,080 --> 01:00:39,370 Good Day by the Nappy Roots. All right. Um, so then, 1057 01:00:40,660 --> 01:00:44,410 so two more tracks. I guess I get one and then Monica gets one. 1058 01:00:44,550 --> 01:00:46,930 And then T Tk and Chris, if, 1059 01:00:46,930 --> 01:00:50,170 if there are tracks that you just can't, like, 1060 01:00:50,480 --> 01:00:53,930 just have to have on this playlist, 1061 01:00:53,930 --> 01:00:58,810 like I'm gonna allow it. We're decolonizing numbers as as we do this. 1062 01:00:58,940 --> 01:01:01,050 So, uh, who's ready? 1063 01:01:01,480 --> 01:01:04,890 I feel like we can't have a playlist like this without Tupac, right? 1064 01:01:04,890 --> 01:01:07,370 Like the nephew of Asada Shakur. Um. 1065 01:01:07,370 --> 01:01:08,203 I mean. 1066 01:01:08,260 --> 01:01:11,650 Changes is a good one. I'm down for whatever y'all wanna do, but that one's, 1067 01:01:11,650 --> 01:01:12,483 it's such a classic. 1068 01:01:12,590 --> 01:01:14,570 All right. Is that, is that your final answer? 1069 01:01:14,570 --> 01:01:16,210 I'm pointing at the camera changes. 1070 01:01:16,450 --> 01:01:17,890 , that's my final answer. 1071 01:01:17,890 --> 01:01:21,250 That's a good, I, you know, I actually thought of the same one. Um, 1072 01:01:21,420 --> 01:01:26,210 so I'll let you do that one and not me. All right. Uh, tk, 1073 01:01:26,210 --> 01:01:29,330 you look kind of worked up. You looked ready for to throw a track out there? 1074 01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:33,700 Not yet. All right. All right. We'll, we'll come back to you tk. Monica, 1075 01:01:33,700 --> 01:01:35,700 do you want it or you want, or you want me to take it? 1076 01:01:36,750 --> 01:01:40,300 Um, I'll add a little Marvin Gay, what's going on? 1077 01:01:40,650 --> 01:01:43,460 Yeah, I mean, what is going on. 1078 01:01:43,700 --> 01:01:45,380 Happening? What's going on. 1079 01:01:45,940 --> 01:01:50,130 ? I love it. All right. 1080 01:01:51,100 --> 01:01:53,130 Um, so, well now I feel, 1081 01:01:53,130 --> 01:01:57,130 I feel like I need to have something in Spanish. Um, 1082 01:01:57,260 --> 01:02:00,650 because although Spanish is my second language, um, 1083 01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:03,290 I like to sing in Spanish more than I like to sing in English. 1084 01:02:03,870 --> 01:02:07,610 And this song is called, I don't know if you've ever heard it. 1085 01:02:07,610 --> 01:02:12,330 It's called [inaudible], um, by the Rapper, Ente. 1086 01:02:13,060 --> 01:02:16,650 Um, and Elte, it's, it's kind of hard to translate, but in Spanish, 1087 01:02:16,650 --> 01:02:21,560 it's like what we put up with, right? A is to put up with something, 1088 01:02:21,730 --> 01:02:24,800 is to endure something and get through it. 1089 01:02:25,140 --> 01:02:28,800 And it is this incredible song about everything 1090 01:02:29,870 --> 01:02:33,160 s everything that we just deal with and endure. 1091 01:02:33,380 --> 01:02:35,800 But it's like a total party song. Um, 1092 01:02:36,020 --> 01:02:39,320 the music video takes place in a bar and they're just, 1093 01:02:39,320 --> 01:02:43,160 they're raising their glasses and cheering to 1094 01:02:44,280 --> 01:02:47,500 [inaudible] because the struggle is beautiful, right? And I, 1095 01:02:47,500 --> 01:02:50,900 and I think if I was gonna break our rules and add another one, 1096 01:02:50,900 --> 01:02:55,500 I would actually put, um, the Beautiful Struggle by Taliqua. Um, 1097 01:02:55,740 --> 01:03:00,220 don't follow Quali on Twitter. He's, he's not awesome on Twitter. But, 1098 01:03:00,470 --> 01:03:03,260 um, beautiful struggle is amazing. The struggle is beautiful. 1099 01:03:03,260 --> 01:03:06,820 We are too strong for your slavery. 1100 01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:09,540 Any other tracks that people are dying to put on here? 1101 01:03:10,010 --> 01:03:11,700 I, I got some. All. 1102 01:03:11,700 --> 01:03:12,290 Right. 1103 01:03:12,290 --> 01:03:16,900 A little bit in Queerness Female Voices. Let's do it in here. Uh, 1104 01:03:16,900 --> 01:03:21,500 one is Born This Way by Lady Gaga, great pro. L G B T Q Anthem, 1105 01:03:21,500 --> 01:03:23,540 that like, centers how, 1106 01:03:23,540 --> 01:03:28,260 who you are and how you navigate is valid and should be accepted. Uh, 1107 01:03:28,260 --> 01:03:31,700 and then the other one, a little deeper Cut from Christina Aguilera. Beautiful. 1108 01:03:32,190 --> 01:03:35,940 Uh, also just such a beautiful message, um, how it really. 1109 01:03:35,940 --> 01:03:36,773 Is. 1110 01:03:37,300 --> 01:03:38,133 in the way. 1111 01:03:38,810 --> 01:03:41,980 That song, that song hit different than I thought it would, like, 1112 01:03:41,980 --> 01:03:44,540 the first time I heard it I'm like, okay, it's Christina Aguilar. So, 1113 01:03:44,720 --> 01:03:48,140 and then it just got me deep. It's like, I feel beautiful. 1114 01:03:48,330 --> 01:03:50,820 It's having another moment. I think, uh, yeah, 1115 01:03:50,820 --> 01:03:54,100 there was another music video that was sent in like the social media age, 1116 01:03:54,100 --> 01:03:57,020 cuz a lot of folks are just feeling anxious about everything. 1117 01:03:57,020 --> 01:03:57,853 Yeah, I mean. 1118 01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:01,250 I love how we've moved into the Warm squishies. 1119 01:04:01,640 --> 01:04:06,170 I think it's not appropriate to dedicate a song to all the teachers listening. 1120 01:04:06,170 --> 01:04:09,290 And we're gonna go back. There you go. Old school nineties, you know, 1121 01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:12,770 raised in the nineties. How about Natalie? Merchant kind and generous? 1122 01:04:13,220 --> 01:04:13,620 Oh. 1123 01:04:13,620 --> 01:04:18,330 Shirley speaks about every educator I've met on this incredible journey. 1124 01:04:18,330 --> 01:04:20,970 And really the teachers I see working hard in classrooms. 1125 01:04:21,280 --> 01:04:23,530 Yeah, I think that's what it really comes down to. 1126 01:04:23,530 --> 01:04:26,050 I always think about the poor, righteous teachers, um, 1127 01:04:26,050 --> 01:04:30,850 which is who we represent and who we would humbly 1128 01:04:30,850 --> 01:04:35,770 submit that potentially we may be. Um, well, folks, we, 1129 01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:38,290 this, this of course went long than that, than we planned, 1130 01:04:38,290 --> 01:04:42,090 but it's because when you get, um, when you get these four brilliant, 1131 01:04:42,090 --> 01:04:45,610 brilliant people on this panel, on the podcast, you know, it's gonna be amazing. 1132 01:04:45,870 --> 01:04:50,530 And there's gonna be a lot of ideas. Um, y'all, where does everybody follow you? 1133 01:04:50,530 --> 01:04:54,600 How do, how do people find you on social media? Drop Ya handles? 1134 01:04:57,110 --> 01:05:00,820 Oh, sorry, I'm Twitter. I'm, I'm Swaggy G on Twitter. , yeah. 1135 01:05:01,010 --> 01:05:03,420 2020 Georgia Teacher of the Year. 1136 01:05:03,850 --> 01:05:04,700 That's Tracy. 1137 01:05:06,550 --> 01:05:09,190 Manzi. It's just my first and last name at Chris Dear. 1138 01:05:09,190 --> 01:05:10,950 And that's for Twitter and TikTok. 1139 01:05:12,170 --> 01:05:17,030 You find me on Twitter before it crashes and crumbles. Uhhi, 1140 01:05:17,120 --> 01:05:19,400 N A g a Y o s h I. 1141 01:05:19,860 --> 01:05:22,800 And even as it crashes and crumbles . 1142 01:05:24,360 --> 01:05:27,930 I am at Texas t o y 2014. 1143 01:05:28,510 --> 01:05:33,090 And also, if we have a way to drop our website with, uh, 1144 01:05:33,300 --> 01:05:35,770 uh, all of the things that come with the podcast, yep. 1145 01:05:35,930 --> 01:05:38,050 You can click our faces on our, um, 1146 01:05:38,050 --> 01:05:41,210 contact us page and go to our individual Twitter pages. 1147 01:05:41,510 --> 01:05:42,850 Hey, that's really cool. 1148 01:05:42,850 --> 01:05:47,170 And shout out to Monica for that amazing design and doing that kind of stuff. 1149 01:05:47,260 --> 01:05:50,690 We will include a link to the website, um, in the show notes. 1150 01:05:50,690 --> 01:05:53,690 If you do wanna have any of the members of Voices, 1151 01:05:53,690 --> 01:05:58,450 Ronas Education come and speak, um, do training, hang out with you all, 1152 01:05:58,450 --> 01:06:01,570 just hear what you gotta say. Uh, we're here for it. And, uh, 1153 01:06:01,570 --> 01:06:04,970 we're doing this work that, you know, we're, 1154 01:06:04,970 --> 01:06:06,770 we're only part of the way through it y'all, 1155 01:06:06,770 --> 01:06:10,970 but it's been such an incredible process. Um, really grateful to all of you. 1156 01:06:10,970 --> 01:06:13,730 Thank you all for being on the podcast today. 1157 01:06:14,340 --> 01:06:16,270 Thanks for having us. Beautiful. 1158 01:06:16,270 --> 01:06:17,350 Appreciate it. Thank. 1159 01:06:17,470 --> 01:06:20,830 You. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah. So I am Ard, 1160 01:06:21,730 --> 01:06:25,150 I'm your Colorado, the teacher of the year for 2021. Um, 1161 01:06:25,150 --> 01:06:29,910 you are listening to Tudo teachers and a mike. Now what we do is, um, 1162 01:06:29,960 --> 01:06:33,030 on my count, we're all gonna try to say state up together. 1163 01:06:33,030 --> 01:06:36,750 We're saying it from five different states. And so we're gonna do that. 1164 01:06:37,120 --> 01:06:40,430 So in this time of tension, in this holiday season, 1165 01:06:40,840 --> 01:06:44,070 in this time where you feel like you're fighting for your life and just trying 1166 01:06:44,070 --> 01:06:48,030 to find a reason to smile, stay optimistic, stay fighting the good fight, 1167 01:06:48,100 --> 01:06:51,990 stay truthful, stay honest. But above all, you always want to 1168 01:06:56,740 --> 01:07:00,470 stay old peoples and . 1169 01:07:00,500 --> 01:07:02,950 This is why it's good to be able to edit. There we go.