Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism is the Integrated Schools Book Club pick for the fall. So we thought we'd revisit our episode with Dr. Ewing. If you've never attended Book Club , it's a wonderful to chance to chat with folks from around the country who are interested in school integration. We have small groups and great facilitators who make sure the conversation flows. Book Club is free! Register now ! ----------------------...
Aug 13, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 11Ep. 20
The president just signed a truly monstrous piece of legislation into law. Much has been written about the impacts on health, climate and the debt, but there is a lesser known evil lurking in this bill - a national school voucher plan. It's temping to lose hope, but there is something each of us can do. LINKS: A blog post version of this episode. Visit our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us. Join our Patreon to support this work, an...
Jul 06, 2025•8 min•Season 11Ep. 19
As Season 11 comes to a close, we wanted to spend some time reflecting on the lessons we've learned from this season and what we hope for in Season 12. We'll be off for the summer with a few possible bonus episodes, and back for real in the fall. In the mean time, we want to express our deepest appreciation for a number of people who make this podcast run. Firstly, to all of our guests, thank you for joining us, for sharing your stories and your wisdom with us. Being in conversation with each of...
Jun 11, 2025•30 min•Season 11Ep. 18
“Having my children in public school was something that I wanted to do with people in my community. It was a commitment that we were making together. And then when I saw folks leaving, it felt like a betrayal.” – Stephanie Forman. Where we send our kids to school is, for many, a complicated decision. We struggle to weigh multiple factors- curriculum and teachers, diversity of the student body, the commute and hours, not to mention what role we want to play in supporting the institutions where ou...
May 28, 2025•55 min•Season 11Ep. 17
“I hope that you know that I believe you, the community of listeners believes you, and that's good enough.” Dr. Asia Lyons Dr. Asia Lyons is the host of ' The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators ' where she practices archival justice by sharing the stories of Black educators who have left the classroom. Her own journey to education and then out of the classroom led her work both on the podcast, and in creating intentional spaces of healing for Black educators. Dr. Lyons's work focuses ...
May 14, 2025•49 min•Season 11Ep. 16
"If we're not centering children’s humanity through love, there's no strategy, no professional book or instructional method in the world that can prepare the teacher to elevate the child." - Dr. Gholdy Muhammad Identity, skills, intellectualism, criticality, and joy. These are the five pursuits that Dr. Gholdy Muhammad argues are key to education. Our educational system focuses most of its attention on skills while often overlooking the other pursuits to the detriment of all kids. All people nee...
Apr 30, 2025•55 min•Season 11Ep. 15
“At its inception, in the courts, and as a project, integration was deeply contested and Black people were deeply divided about it. ” – Dr. Noliwe Rooks The common narrative about integration often frames it as a clear victory—a moment when American education finally confronted injustice. But Dr. Noliwe Rooks argues the reality is far more complicated. In her new book, Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children, she traces the history of Black education, showing how the pursuit of de...
Apr 16, 2025•59 min•Season 11Ep. 14
Last month, integration advocates from around the country gathered for the National Coalition on School Diversity 's National Conference to discuss where we find ourselves in this difficult moment. From policy makers to researchers, school leaders to equity advocates, the conference featured many of the brightest minds focusing on how we build up and support an education system that serves all children well. Despite the challenges to education, especially public education, not to mention multira...
Apr 02, 2025•39 min•Season 11Ep. 13
Public education is touted as the bedrock of democracy, a leveler of playing fields, and our best tool to create active, engaged citizens. And while that vision is powerful, Dr. Eve L. Ewing argues that it was never intended to be those things for Black or Native students. In fact, her new book, Original Sins: The (MIs)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism , maintains that schooling in America was created to prepare White kids for leadership, Black kids f...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 12
"To be White is, is to be raised on lies. Lies that are passed down, generationally that a lot of White folks don't always know that they're passing down." - Greg Jarrell Our guest today, Greg Jarrell is an ordained minister, a cultural organizer and the author of Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods. Through many years of building community while engaging in anti-racist learning, he has come to realize that he also has a stake in ending White supremacy, advanc...
Mar 05, 2025•58 min•Season 11Ep. 11
Omkari Williams believes deeply in the power of people to change their environments - that through the power of the human spirit, and small, concrete actions, anything is possible, and that true changes requires all types of people. Her recent book, Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World Without A Bullhorn, is a testament to this idea. In it, she lays out four activist archetypes - The Headliner, The Producer, The Organizer, and The Indispensable. All movements need all four ...
Feb 19, 2025•47 min•Season 11Ep. 10
The 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared that separate is inherently unequal. The Supreme Court declared that it was in the national interest for kids to learn together. And while progress towards that goal was slow, and often met with resistance, there was an opportunity in the decision to try to heal our nation from the extraordinary wounds caused by slavery, Jim Crow, and persistent separate and unequal opportunities for Black people. In many ways...
Feb 05, 2025•57 min•Season 11Ep. 9
Every parent and caregiver wants a crystal ball. We want to see how the choices we make for our kids, from screen time to activities to where they go to school, will impact them when they're older. Choosing an integrating school can feel like a risky choice, and even if we believe that it is the right choice, both for our kids, and our community, it's easy for doubt to creep in. Susan, a White mom in Lancaster, PA, and her husband, made that choice for their son, Elias in kindergarten. When he w...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr•Season 11Ep. 8
We often talk about race as a social construct. We know that there is more genetic diversity within racial groups than between . And yet, race obviously has real life impacts on people's lives. We have talked on the show in the past about the historical creation of race , and looked at the creation of Whiteness, particularly in relation to Blackness. Our guest today complicates this understanding both by asking us to acknowledge the ways race continues to be created and re-created, particularly ...
Dec 18, 2024•57 min•Season 11Ep. 7
The way we fund schools in this country often results in haves and have nots. We have some districts with immense wealth, often bordering districts that are severely under resourced. The work of creating more equitable funding formulae is important and ongoing. At the same time, we have district lines that make for school districts deeply segregated by race and class. The work of desegregating our schools is also important and ongoing. And yet, the people working on these two seemingly separate ...
Nov 27, 2024•59 min•Season 11Ep. 6
In the wake of the election results, Dr. Val and Andrew sit down to reflect on what it means for ourselves, for the Integrated Schools movement, and for the institution of public education. Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further. Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us podcast@integratedschools.org . The Integrated School...
Nov 13, 2024•30 min•Season 11Ep. 5
As we approach the 2024 election, we wanted to revisit a conversation with one of our favorite guests, Dr. Carol Anderson , the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. In addition to writing White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide , One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy , and The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America , Dr. Anderson brings a depth of knowledge about our country's ongoing struggle...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 4
In the fall of 1963, in Petersburg, VA, 6 young Black girls integrated Stonewall Jackson Elementary School. In the middle of the Massive Resistance era, districts around Virginia and throughout the South were fighting desegregation tooth and nail. From physical violence to the closing of entire school districts, communities were circumventing the Brown v Board decision in whatever ways they could. In 1961, Reverend Grady W. Powell, Sr, became the pastor of Gillfield Baptist Church, located in th...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 11Ep. 3
Janel George, a Georgetown Law professor, who explores race and justice in education, recently wrote a paper that moved us here at Integrated Schools. Called " Deny, Defund, and Divert: The Law and American Miseducation ", the piece outlines historical and modern systemic educational inequalities faced by Black communities, linked to legislative actions and adaptations of White supremacy. She joins us to talk about legislative lawyering, the importance of community engagement when making public ...
Oct 09, 2024•50 min•Season 11Ep. 2
We're back!! We hope you had a wonderful summer! We're excited to be back in your feeds as a new school year gets underway. As we kick off season 11 of the podcast, we are recommitting to the mission and vision of Integrated Schools, and using the podcast as a platform to invite you in to the conversation. Mission : Integrated Schools prepares families with racial or economic privilege to commit to integrating our children, driving new narratives about education, and advocating for justice in ou...
Sep 25, 2024•26 min•Season 11Ep. 1
Nineteen episodes later, Season 10 comes to an end, and we are reflecting on an incredible season. Our themes for the season were the importance of public schools, the power of storytelling, the importance of community, and stamina, and we had 19 incredible episodes going deep on all of those themes, and more. Plus, we had our first ever live show! Thanks to everyone who makes the Integrated Schools work possible, from our Board of Directors, to our chapter and network contacts, our leadership t...
Jun 12, 2024•34 min•Season 10Ep. 19
Dreams really do come true . . . We have wanted to do a live show for quite some time, and finally had the opportunity thanks to The National Coalition for School Diversity, The Century Foundation, and the American Institutes for Research,who invited us to facilitate their event marking the 70th anniversary of Brown v Board. Hosted at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, on the Oprah Winfrey Stage, we were honored to facilitate three panel discussions grappling with the c...
May 29, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 10Ep. 18
May 17th, 1954 the Supreme Court handed down its famous decision in the Brown v Board of Education of Topekacase. So much of the work of Integrated Schools is about trying to live into the promises made through that unanimous decision. On May 17th, 1973, a girl was born in Woodbridge, Virginia. That girl, Courtney Everts Mykytyn, would go on to found Integrated Schools in 2015, calling in parents and caregivers with privilege to work towards fulfilling the vision extolled by the court nineteen y...
May 17, 2024•21 min•Season 10Ep. 17
In 1954’s Brown v Board decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal. However, the Brown II decision a year later said that fixing our separate education system should happen with “all deliberate speed.” The deliberate speed in most places was glacial, leading many local communities to file law suits demanding action. These local desegregation cases happened across the country following similar patterns, but varying due to local contexts. We started with a three-part se...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 10Ep. 16
In 2021, 80% of teachers in our country's public schools were White, while just 6% were Black. That same year, 54% of public school students were students of color, and 15% were Black. We also know of the extensive research showing the positive impacts of Black teachers on all kids, but especially on Black kids. However, as we learned last episode from Dr. Leslie Fenwick, we lost over 100,000 Black teachers in the wake of desegregation attempt, and the Black teacher pipeline was crushed through ...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr•Season 10Ep. 15
Seventeen years after the Brown v Board decision, in 1971, US Senator Walter Mondale chaired a number of Select Committee hearings on Equal Educational Opportunity. One of these hearings focused on what was happening to Black teachers and principals as the country begrudgingly worked to desegregate our schools. The hearing featured testimony and supplemental documentation calling attention to the vast number of Black teachers who were losing their jobs in the Southern, dual-system states. Despit...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 10Ep. 14
PART 3 of 3 In 1954’s Brown v Board decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal. However, the Brown II decision a year later said that fixing our separate education system should happen with “all deliberate speed.” The deliberate speed in most places was glacial, leading many local communities to file law suits demanding action. These local desegregation cases happened across the country following similar patterns, but varying due to local contexts. We are going to div...
Mar 20, 2024•1 hr•Season 10Ep. 13
PART 2 of 3 In 1954's Brown v Board decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal. However, the Brown II decision a year later said that fixing our separate education system should happen with "all deliberate speed." The deliberate speed in most places was glacial, leading many local communities to file law suits demanding action. These local desegregation cases happened across the country following similar patterns, but varying due to local contexts. We are going to div...
Mar 13, 2024•58 min•Season 10Ep. 12
In 1954's Brown v Board decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal. However, the Brown II decision a year later said that fixing our separate education system should happen with "all deliberate speed." The deliberate speed in most places was glacial, leading many local communities to file law suits demanding action. These local desegregation cases happened across the country following similar patterns, but varying due to local contexts. We are going to dive into sever...
Mar 06, 2024•35 min•Season 10Ep. 11
We are fortunate to have many guests whose work is focused on research, policy, and the broader school integration movement. However, we know that most of our listeners are parents and caregivers, and many of our favorite episodes share the perspectives of those raising kids and making decisions about how to show up in schools, in communities, and in the country. Today's conversation with Jon Tobin (and his wife Amanda) is just that - an exploration of how one family continually finds ways to ma...
Feb 21, 2024•52 min•Season 10Ep. 10
