Covid Impact on Education

back on set today and this show is really really packed. Um. We're gonna be talking about COVID, but not from the perspective of the vaccinations or the health risk, which we definitely are going to do a show that addresses that particular topic. But this is going to be more about our children and what has happened to them mentally, um, emotionally and most important, I guess it's not more important than your mental health, and mental health is number one,

but very important is educationally. Um. You know, they say that black children will lose at least one year of education just in the shifting of moving from in school to out of school, which, by the way, schools in the inner city are not educating our kids the way that they should be anywhere. We know that. We know that, and especially young black males. Um, we know are really really struggling in the just the the public school educational system,

and not just that. There's some charter schools that I've heard from folks are not really working as well as they should as you know as well, and so just the education system in general, like every other system that we every other institution that exists within this kind tread, needs an overhaul. Um I am. I have thrown out the word reform sometimes, I might say, because you know, you gotta covery yourself because the Negroes will find the

day that you said yes. So no. So you know, because I've been saying reform for so long, I catched myself. And in fact, um, you know, my book was written a while ago, and now that it's out and I've been reading it over and over and studying the material and also um, you know, just just and well, first of all, I had to read it, which was difficult for the audio over to. Thank you very much. It's coming in May eleventh, just a few days and it's

gonna be released. As crazy, how this process started somewhere around July or August of last year, and now here I am like trying it's really coming out like, oh my god. But anyway, UM, what one of the things that I wish I could go back and change, which will be a part of my next book because I'm in the process of writing my memoir. UM. But it

says the word reform. It talks about reforming systems. And of course, over the course of the year, as I really have done a deep dive and they have grown in my own understanding of what has to happen in this movement, I realized that reform won't work. It will not work. I've thrown that out. And even though it says reform in the book as the title of one of the areas where I'm talking about what needs to happen with systems, if you read the content, it talks

about overhauling. It talks about tearing. Yeah. Transform, that's that's a good word. You're very good words. Transforming, um. You know, just dismantling really and rebuilding new systems. So education, it's one of those institutions that where that needs to happen, transformation, UM.

And what we know is because they're saying one year, right, that these kids going from school every day, which is not that great to being at home, even finding a spot in your house where you could sit, and really just you know, being being a parent and and having to remote school. You know, both of my son's door remote school, and just finding two separate places in the house for them to do their own school. It's almost impossible because if you them together, that's never gonna happen.

So you you sit one of them on one side, you said, the other one on that side, and then one of them is talking too loud or they hear the other one than the other one got their headphones, and and then the other one gets up because he gets a little bored. He gets a break before the other one does. He's in the screen and he's telling him to sit down. And they got breaks at different times. So it's just it's a lot. So you have that. Then of course the teachers trying to figure it out

other students. It was so much so that went on for months just trying to figure that out. And and and and don't let your teacher get COVID because then the teacher the parents is out that this all of this stuff happened to try to get the education to operate online, and I still don't think that they figured out figured it out a hundred percent. And now it's May. The year is about to end, so a whole year of education, maybe even a year and some change these kids have lost.

What do we do? And really, honestly, if you think about it, it is more than a year at this point, because this began last year in March, right, So this is you know, really serious. And we have a bunch of guests that are coming on today that are going to talk about COVID nineteen and education and what we've got to do to try to get our kids up to speed. Can't wait to see what they have to say, because I need some help. Yes, that's this is why

why helps me. I don't have any more children, because but people who have kids, you know what it is is for me. I think the conventional way teaching is just something I adhere to. Even if you you home school in your children, just separating kids to what they're not able to interact, it's very difficult, you know, because it puts them on these games. If you off parents then you know, Minecraft, Fortnight Fortnite and roadblocks control your home.

Especially in these days. They don't even want to go outside. Kids into soccer. They want to go out soccer all the time. Now they want to sit on a game and I have to have to have to force them to They only can play those games on the weekends. Like but they over Mario had us. It was like Fortnight. It wasn't like Super Mario was a big deal. Only thing. Super Mario was a big deal. Like you stayed in the house, that's just Super Mario Mario, just when it

was the regular Mario. Because remember Super Mario came second. When it was regular Mario, you were in the house trying to figure out how to get that thing to climb over and go up the wall and do the things. But it wasn't Fortnite. The thing is this the difference with these games, right, your your friends had to come to your house to play technology. Right technology they're playing with their friends from across the world. My cousin with

their cousins live in Baltimore. They on the game and they're talking to each other and it's like you and it's so loud. It completely takes over your house. It is the weird. It is the yourdition is the craziest thing ever. So my thought of the day today, Um, you know, and speaking of transforming systems, you know, I just listen. I've been I just be trying to figure out why do we have to fight everybody all the time about everything? It's just too much? Like that's literally

my thought of the day. Why do we have to fight everybody all the time about everything? Why? So the reason why bring this up is because in New York City, the City Council of which could you know, folks say, y'all don't do nothing. Y'all y'all ain't never changed no laws. You don't you never you know, you're gonna do nothing. That also what we do. Meanwhile, in a place like New York. The other thing is you're going working in other states. What's happening in your own state? Well, well

let me tell you so. First of all, many of the people in office, elected officials in the state of New York are people we fought to get them in office healthy and not just when I say that, I'm not talking about I just endorsed the candidate, or like I make you donate. That's the funniest thing. Come almost twelve o'clock right before these deadlines. My sign you gotta open up your pocketbook or you you don't have pocket book but your bank account, and you gotta donate to

this one. That one when you're like, wait a minute, is too many people, and it's usually a slate and unfortunately you can. You have to at least do two hundred and fifty dollars, which we usually donate more than that. You've done probably about five hundred dollars per person. I have been expect more. Listen, they come to me and then like we need the thousand. We're gonna need some people do it. We've been doing it right. The reason why two hundred and fifty dollars is significant is because

you get matching funds eight to one. So for every two hundred and fifty dollars, each dollar gets an eight dollar match from the city, so that goes into their campaign fund. And so if you so when you donate two hundred and two hundred and fifty, and that's um so it's yes two thousand dollars that they receive just

off of that. So they want you to donate to fifty if you can't do nothing else, if you can't do anything else they need you to do to fifty anything else that you donate above that helps and pay the staff and do other things right, And there's usually a limit on the amount that you can donate as a regular person and definitely as a corporation to any candidate. They have like a four thousand dollar minimum. It just depends on what it is that they're running for. So

you know, we've been doing that. So now that's one is that we actually do take our own personal money and ensure that we get certain types of elected officials in office. But beyond that, when I say fighting, what I mean is that we've had to actually work to transform the political landscape in New York to start getting more candidates who are more radical even in terms of

they're thinking. And I like using the word radical because that pisces people off radical radical, radical, Yeah, no, so when when we say that, well, we're talking about these are people who are super liberal, super aggressive, right, And that's important because these are folks and even in their super super progressive state, we still gotta fight, even our friends to be like, yo, we need you to push harder, we need you to go harder, because they're up against

systems that immediately once they walk in the door talking about we need to end qualified immunity, the whole system blows up. No, we don't want to do it. We don't want to do it. But these are individuals who work to really push the envelope in terms of the things we care about. From New York State, where we just um legalized marijuana, let let's talk about this story really quickly. The state legalized marijuana last session. They were supposed to do it. It came down to the last

few moments. And our friend Senator Brian Benjamin, somebody we helped. We helped him get elected. We work with him, we we advise him, even though sometimes I have to fight Brian because Brian, like you know, can't be doing everything y'all need me to do. It just ain't gonna happen. But he still understands why we sent him to the Senate, right so he in last session was one of the only people who held out his vote. And everybody was piste off because they wanted to see marijuana get you know,

they wanted to see marijuana become legalized. He said no because he did not feel that number one, there was enough being done on the expungement side for people who are currently people who was in jail forward selling weed was getting their records clean. There was one day when he wanted to do more that, but the main reason was because he felt that the license in in terms of people being able to actually sell and get in the business of those people they locked up that was criminals.

Then they're gonna need to get a load licensees so they can make some legal money with marijuana, because you locked him up and said it was illegal, So now give him an opportunity to make some money while it's legal, right, except not necessarily people. I don't know this. I don't want to put this on him. I don't know if it's folks that might have a felony conviction, because I

don't know exactly how that works. But he's definitely trying to make sure that more black and brown people have access into the pipeline so that they could get in the business of of of marijuana. Right. But I think most I think a lot of them people are saying that they want those who were convicted of marijuana to have to have a you know, a certain percentage to be just advocated and put to them, so that I

think that that's right. So he didn't feel that that was happening because because because in the state of New York, first of all, one of the things that folks are supposed to be checking for me and I really want to know I'm under I've been told that all the Republicans that are in the Senate and the Assembly in the state of New York are white. I have not been able to having anybody show me one that is

of color. Now I might be wrong, But if if I am wrong, I'm wrong by one or two no state senators and or assembly members that are Republicans in New York. It might be the city council too. I'm gonna have to check that out. I could be wrong about city council, but from the state level, I have not found one, and so some other folks are doing the research to make sure. But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong by one person, maybe two people every year is white.

And so the Republicans, And of course at the time we had that I d C, which was the independent caucus of people who got elected as Democrats. But they went into a small caucus and started to mean and vote with the Republicans. So the governor Cuomo. Who y'all just love Cuomo because you see him on TV and he's doing such a good job with COVID, which he's not doing more than he's supposed to do as a governor. He's doing his job. He's charismatic, he speaks well. He's fine. Yes,

he is, Ladies, I know. The white boy is fine. Excuse me, the white man is fine. I get it, ladies, I know. But nonetheless, when you look at his record in New York State, Governor Cuomo has been extremely problematic, and in some instances, I would go as far as to say that he and his administration have actually discriminated against black and brown people and particularly poor people. Now, I could go harder, but I'm not for the purpose

of this conversation. So we right advocated to get a black woman back in her seat as the speaker in the state, which is um okay, which is Andreas Stewart Cousins, Okay, a black woman, Okay. We help to get a black woman who is now in the process of investigating the NYPD and investigating Donald Trump as a New York resident. Her name is Letitia James, and she is the the Attorney General of this We helped get her elected. We helped to get several progressives and key positions within the state.

And Brian Benjamin, who I just we just went through what he's been working on. This is a man who was specifically one of our candidates that we ran and helped get the elector. But they're gonna don't really mean I'm not talking repentation. What were they doing, but we're not talking about representation. We just gave you just some of the things, just some of the things. Controller Now I'm supporting him. This show is not the street politicians

is not involved. But I'm no, I'm supporting Brian. I'm going to support him to um now. But in the city, the second ranking highest the second highest ranking elected official in the city, the public advocates name is Jermanni Williams, who we also ran and helped him get elected. And anybody who you just go google Jamana, Well, I'm just trying to say high that school get black people free. Okay, Well we know, come on, Jamani, I'm saying you've got

all the year. We heard that year they've got some stuff. Well is that gonna get black people free? So we we were gonna getting black people free? But Jermanni Williams, is that gonna get black people free? You're crazy. But Jermanni Williams yet another person who was in the City Council, and because of him, the city got has a crisis management system that actually helped to reduce violence in epic

proportions in the city. First of all, we're talking about now maybe forty million dollars that is being designated for for normally incarcerated people, health services, uh, jobs and all types of programs, legal services. All of that are coming out of the City Council because of people like Jamanni Williams and also City council Member Fernando Cabrera. Cabrera excuse me, so, and we could go on. We could talk about people, um, you know, folks who are now running Vanessa Gibson is

now running for Bronx Borough president. These are our people. People have done amazing things in the City of New York and in the State of New York, and and it just got to the point where we're actually able to do even more. We had just been trying to clean it up and get some people out and new people in. Now we're at the place where we can actually pass progressive laws and progressive legislation in the city.

So back to my question in the day, because we went all the way around from next to get back

to it. The city council signed a bill ending qualified immunity because just so we know, just so we know, just so we know, the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act is a federal bill that by the way, Joe Biden, President Joe Biden, when he did his State of the I don't know what I think it was a one hundred day address just the other day, he mentioned he stated that he wanted to see the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act passed by May, the anniversary of when

George Floyd was murdered. That's what he said, and we're going to hold him to the But that's federal legislation that includes ending qualified immunity. And there are many like um, like Congresswoman Corey Bush and others who have said that they will not sign a bill that does not deal

with qualified immunity. And for folks who who are listening, who are saying, what is that, it means that you will be able to sue a police officer directly, that's right, So that they will have to pay if they are participate in an issue where someone is abused or murdered in in an in an incident of police brutality. Okay, so that yes, it is a federal uh, federal legislation that we want to see get pass, but cities and states do not have to wait. Colorado as a state

just ended qualified immunity. Teslin A. Figura always reminds me Colorado as a state. New York City City Council voted to pass and into qualified immunity. And when they sent the bills to the mayor, because folks don't be understanding all the details, when they sent the bills to the mayor so that the mayor could sign all the bills and say, okay, I agree to all of this and send it back. He did not send the qualified immunity build back signed. So that's why we got the fight.

And that's what the problem is for me from these government officials like you work for us, you know, and and if if the people are telling you that qualified immunity does not fit the needs of the people, then how are you going to continue to tell us that it does? You know? And I think that's the reason why you know the mayor is on his way out. Well, he was gonna be out anyway because it's time is up. But I'm saying he needs to go, and he really just need to go now. He's really in a way.

And at this point it's like, listen, man, we've seen what we were dealing with police, and we realized that qualified immunity is one of the things that has shielded him and protected them. There's no real responsibility, there's no

real consequences. When you understand that when you harm someone and you physically abuse and you murder someone, that you can't get paid and that it's gonna come out your check and you're not gonna be able to survive and need your kids and all those things, then you think twice. When there's no real consequences of things, then you continue to move on because the same taxpayers that you're killing are gonna pay for you killing them. So that doesn't

really make much sense. You know, you got to say that again because people may not understand that the same taxpayers that you're killing are gonna pay for you to kill them. Well, did you got to explain what that means? So that means the money that is being allocated to the families who win these civil suits come from taxpayers money in any cases. I mean, they have some insurance policies, but there's still a large but there's a large portion

that comes from taxpayers money. So there's no consequences for that individual who takes the life or beats and abuses on a taxpayer. So that's what we're saying. So at this point, man, you know, come on, you don't. You've been boring long enough. Man, get out the way. Man, stop blocking stuff. We tied of fighting you about stuff that we want. Not only are we fighting him up our stuff that we want. This is what he said he was gonna be about when we voted for him.

Today it's not the day, so you know, it's it's just I'm like, now we now we got to go to work on Deblasio again, and a whole lot of people that we do. And I and you know what, I actually really really like Deblasio as a person. This is somebody and he's a nice guy. But I found

he really he betrayed. I mean I raised money for him, I supported I stumped for him, like I was out there and I and I'm like wow, and now and by the way, there was another man running, Bill Thompson, a black man who I was more insupportive, but unfortunately it didn't work out. And they also asked Billy built Billy is what we call you know, But Bill Thompson, they asked him some questions about police brutality and some other issues, and I felt like he just wasn't he

didn't hit it hard enough. And Deblasio was like, boom boom, boom, boom boom, was marching with us. So because some folks will say yeah, but we said the same thing about this one and that one. No, no, no, Dablasio was with us. He was doing. He was out there and we were doing. When we were doing, occupied the streets, the game out all night, marching to end, stopping fris fifty people on Father's Day down Fifth Avenue, going to

like any team. He dated, you brought your chopped. As he picked you up, he said, yea, I love you. He used to be in Jamani's position that he's down. He was the advocated. You took him on the date and he said yes that he didn't call back. No, he called back. He called, but now he got a baby on me and you know what I mean, he got he got to other families found out about It's like, seriously,

this this is what I realized. The policy, everything he did, what he did security I realized in the banana and the tailpipe thing is really serious. Man. We don't we keep falling for not again though now. But you just gotta stay. We have to stay on time. I'm gonna still on top of but I understand my thing is this what I realized I was having this conversation yesterday. Right, we have to understand what to expect from politicians because

they still politicians. So if they promise you a hundred things, we're gonna fight for twenty because that's the reality. And we're gonna try to get the next a d out of the next four people that we voted, because we ain't gonna get fifty sixty. The reality is fight for twenty and expect fight fight for every day. But because that's the reality that we live, that's what politicians do.

That's what this system and this system instruction was really never get towards giving us equal the injustice inequality right. So as we incrementally get it piece by piece, we have that's what we have to expect We can't. Like I tell people all the time, nobody we voted in is gonna change give us freedom. It ain't gonna get Black people are not gonna get free by the vote. What we're gonna do is get incremental change and incremental evolution.

And we utilize that incremental change in evolution, and we added to what we do on our own. We added well because the communities still have to operate. The communities still have to obviously within the hospitals need to work, they need a grocery store. These are things that still have to happen. And therefore these elected officials you have to keep until they do away with the elected officials

in America, which is not gonna happen anytime soon. We gotta you gotta make sure that the ones that are in there are people that you can push their buttons and make them do the things that you need to do. And it may not be all of it, but I'm not willing to allow any area around me to go uncontrol where my voice at least is not a part of the process. So that's the deal with that. So my favorite segment is the changemaker. Second, we have a

great brother who is coming to us today. His name is am In Raw, but he is better known as Principal Raw, Principal Raw Compton. Who Compton is what I'm talking about. So he's the founder of the University Pathways Public Service Academy. Uh. He has known to be a revolutionary educator. UH. And he's with the Compton Legacy Foundation. Now, this man is changing the world in education. And we know that Compton is not one of those places where they like to educate our kids, especially you know, the

regular school system. Right, that's right. So you have to actually create your own, which is what you were talking about earlier. You said, Hey, we need to work the elected officials that we have because they first of all, we have to shake their money, their pocketbooks out and get the budgets so that we can use our taxpayer dollars to create things for ourselves. But we have to use the system that currently exists and reduce its um reduce its influence in our communities as much as possible.

But still since it exists, we have to have our feet in it and make sure that we have control over and at least at a huge part of our voices are heard in those spaces while at the same time creating our own Principal Raw has figured out how to create an educational component for our communities, um where we can what is it for us by us foo woo, you know, is to educate our own kids. So we're

happy to have Principal Raw with us today. Thank you so much for joining that, you know, thank you, thank you for allowing me to be in this space, and uh just thank you for the platform and thank you for what you guys do to advocate for our communities and put it out there in the way for our young people to connect with. So thank you for allowing

me to be here. Well, thank you man. We we we want to always celebrate brothers and sisters from our community are doing things to uplift and be revolutionary and help our kids you know, have a better chance than we did. So we want to salute you man. So so give us some background. You founded this University Pathways Public Service Academy, Like how did you how did you

get to this? What is the process of too? Absolutely first and foremost, you know, we go by to you because we know University Pathways Service Academy is a long name, so we go by to you and I was I was the youngest principal to be the founder in the second largest school district in l A U. S D. And how this came about was I'm born and raised in the city Watson Compton. If you know about the West Coast, you know it's the hub and a dub.

So to create a school in which I came from, in which this I come from, was a dream come true. So really the concept of the school is under my under my my ideology is we can't if we grant the system permission to feed us, then we also grant them permission to start us, which is coming from education. So it was important for us to have some kind of ownership so we have autonomy so we could teach our young people how to go out in the world

and make a real change. So I sat down with those who were bringing the funding in the capital and they said, like, you know, typically schools they have a mascot with lion tigers and all that. But me growing up, I said, no, we gotta be a change agent. You know we are. Our mascot is called the change Agents because I want young people too. If I call them that every single day, then they're gonna believe it. You want to go out there and they're gonna make a difference.

So when they see an authentic leader I was younger. I opened the school at twenty nine and thirty four. Now they can see a young black man that comes from the same streets, that have the same struggles, that that can deliver the message in the same way, but also teach them about capital markets, teach them about understanding colonialism so they can figure out how to navigate capitalism. Right. So this this knowledge is sacred knowledge that we want

to provide for him. Came to just being an educator in the district, No ex l a U. S d. For believing and taking a chance on a young principle to be the founder to write the plan. And I'm proud to say that right now we got on graduation rate. Um that graduation rate. Yeah, so we open the school and uh now now we're here to our first graduating class this year. So we're talking today about COVID nineteen and the impact on our kids, particularly in the realm

of education. Uh. And if you're a good educator, then you know that you can't just deal with books reading what they say, reading, writing, arithmetic, but you also have to understand the mental capacity of our youth and what this pandemic has done. UM, we see violences up, clearly, suicide is up. UM. You know, it's actually pretty traumatizing watching some of the videos that are out there showing what's going on in our own communities as a result

of UM, what we believe it's isolation people. You know, the poverty rate has risen, all of that. So what what have you? First of all, what are you finding? I mean, the statu is that that our kids will you will lose somewhere around the year, shifting from in school learning to remote learning, and you know, people not having the technology that they needed and all of that.

So give us some insight on what you've been what you have found throughout this pandemic, and then moreover, what have you been doing to try to balance Um, you know all that's all yet that's happening. Absolutely. I would start off with what my father told me that the best cure to any disease is prevention and being an educator. I I'm trauma and formed because I'm I have a

lived experience. So prior to the pandemic, we built we built the school based off of trauma and foreign practices based off of building a culture where our kids felt love. So when the pandemic happened, we were able to I always say a visionary leader. We was able to see some of the things prior to it. So we were able to build a virtual kind of of of culture where our kids are posting on Instagram and they're coming on Instagram live feeling connected. Um. I always say the

educators too. You know, we don't at our school where high school, we don't focus on our kids trying to identify jobs. We want to identify that purpose right. We want to identify their gift and share it with the world. So what we found is that critical hope hit hard when the pandemic. It the loss of critical hope. People want to say loss of academic It was a loss of hope because hope started to linger in and when in the idle mind now you start to lose it more.

Now it's like I don't want to read, I don't want to do mad I don't want to do a rethmentic. I only want to do an elective. So we have to provide critical hope and we did that by bringing in and having I don't know if you guys, remember that, don't rush challenge, trying to focus on joy, because when you find joy and you connected to your purpose for our young people, then that is an avenue in the

pathway for their gift. And then when you're gift driven, then you can find ourselves having a still a hundred percent graduation rate, still kids wanting to come to school, virtually, still kids feeling connected. So you know, it's not always about the arithmetic, it's about how you feel to provide

that critical hope um. The pandemic created what's called hope deferred, where where they tried to ignore the realities of trauma, the digital divide and and all those types of things which which made a lot of of a lot of young people falling in spiral. So I would say that, you know, shout out to my teachers. They have some revolutionary educators who who put boots to the ground to connect with young people so they can feel a sense

of belonging. I really, I really identified with that because I think that's the way that I utilized my voice, you know, just coming from that perspective, understanding that where we come from and utilizing our trauma and all things that we dealt with to be able to apply that and give it to these kids who they have a better opportunity. So I just want to say I salute you for that. But one of the things that really stood out to me was that your school concurrently offers

you get a diploma an associate arts degree when you graduate. Yeah. Absolutely absolutely, So I'm I'm gonna give your context. So before we had this dual enrollment program of a B two eighty eight in California, I was I was a product of a program similar when I went to high school, I graduated, and I graduated high school two thousand five, and then shortly after I got my A A degree which awarded me to start teaching at a young age

and become a principal at a young age. So I wanted what I wanted that same thing for my young people, because we know how the system works. Are young people gotta identify some things a little bit quicker and once they identified a gift and they can navigate the system or work the system, then now they equipped to change

the system. So if if our our school we offer our students to take and we know the two year college, it's the same classes you're taking in high school, you just taking the community college, So why don't you take them concurrently? So now when you graduate high school, now you you finished two years. Now you don't gotta pay as much being a transfer student instead of starting as a freshman, and you can still have the luxuries of staying at a university for four years. So that's what

we offer right now. We're proud to say that we have like of our students that's in that program that's working towards that. So, uh, it's doing well. Now, do you get a lot of support from the traditional public school district? Um is their collaboration from the city or do you feel shunned because you know, you guys have a program that is operating probably better than the regular

public school education. Yeah, you know, it's a it's a unique We're in a unique state because you know a lot of times, uh, in education, they want to they want to find something that they can do what we call cookie cutter, right, they want to cut something. And I'm a firm believer that every community school, for it to be a true community school, it has to have a uniqueness about it. We scale to be a replication of something because every Detroit is like Compton, but this unique.

Detroit is unique. Chicago is like Compton, but Chicago is unique. So in our school, we do have some things that we have to navigate, right, the politics, you know, street politicians, but this is the politics and the bureaucracy of the district. But we do get support because we're doing something that's the data is speaks right, the data honey. Yeah. So, and I will say this, Our primary focus is kids. We don't focus on the test score, we don't focus

on comparing our students to their white counterparts. We focus on how they can be their best self and then the data speaks for itselfs So, um, we navigate with the with the district politics, and we have a we haven't saying do what we have to do, so we

can do what we want to do. It's funny you say that, because that was the same thing that made us begin, um, you know, really focusing on data for the crisis management system, because people were saying, it's no way that a program that specifically hires formally incarcerated people, Uh, it's proven to do violence intervention, like to bring the number of violent incidents down, and we were saying, yes it does, but they would not really flood the program

with resources until the data came in from the first you months to prove that the program actually work. Absolutely, absolutely absolutely, And that's I mean, that's really what we do. I mean, we have a law academy in a courtroom on our campus. We have we actually partnered because we know the school to prison pipeline exists, right, So we have a law society where we teach our kids and shoutouts to to oh G that I'm wearing off school grounds. Um,

that that works collaboratively with supporting it. So it's just something that I feel that shout out to, oh G. Yeah, I work with them too, man, Dope, I don't organization absolutely so yeah, that that that organization that supports the coalition anti principle, so we can share best practices for this to work. Wow. So that you one of the most sought after schools in your right now. Who are some of the other people that you partner with that

have made it possible? I know you need funding and things like that, So who have been some of the people who stepped up? Yeah? So I want to give a big, big shoutouts to the think Watts found Nation and a rapper and an activist named Sticks him and

I you know, we met through social media. I'm born from Content, he born in Watts and a rapper and a principle came together to bring a brand new gymnasium sponsored by the Los Angeles Clippers, a brand new weight room sponsored by Planet Fitness, where we worked on financial literacy with the Bank of California, And right now we're working on chartering a credit union at our school because I feel that if we want to change our community and change our world, we've got to change the criminal

justice system. However, if we really want to change the criminal justice system, personally, I feel we have to change the educational system because the mindset within the pipeline of education is a condition mindset. So the partner with Think Watts, we're trying to work on the economical divide that exists in public education by charting our credit union. So now macro Economics becomes a self sufficient school within our community.

So now we can have a self sufficient community. So shoutouts to Think Watts, shoutouts to Sticks for for making uh an environment at our school. When you walk on our campus and you see a new gymnasium and you see a Planet Fitness and you see great paintings on the wall and murals, you're expired. So that's one of our biggest partnerships. Absolutely. I'm like, they got Planet Fitness.

Can I get enrolled in high school again? Because my high school years, I threw that in the trash somehow, you know, just running the street, and um, I ended up in a program to your point, where I got my g D and my UM associate's degree at the same time at the College of New Rochelle. And then of course we don't want to get my bachelor's and to do other great things and and to your point, life experience has taught me so much. But I would

love to go back. If people always ask me what would I go back and do, I would go back to high school because you actually need to pay attention and not just be cut in school all the time, m like I did. But the other thing I would do is go to an h b c U, right, Like I would want to go through the experience of being at HBCU because I just want to get you want to go to school days? Yeah, days it was dope.

But I just want to ask you a question because when you look at this school, right, and and just being from being a young black boy from marginalized communities and understanding how hard it is for black boys to to fit into the public school system. Like what percentage on males like males in your school, because you got a hundred percent graduation with So I just want to know how many black men are graduating? Yeah? Absolutely so, I mean at our seniors of our black men are

graduate right. So now when we let's break this down, so our total school, we have six women, right, young young young girls that are on our campus. We have thirty percent boys. But to your point, similar to me, like I didn't find no relevance in public school. No. I I thought I was to change my circumstances. I thought I was gonna be a rapper, and I thought I was gonna play football. I hadn't made like play for the Dallas Cowboys. Boom, get up out of here.

But you know, reflecting back, you know, are the school systems like they equate good schools and marginalized communities on how well we can get students out the community? Right? And when I open the school, I wanted to say, like how well can we like transform our community? It's different. Right, So as a principal, I still teach a class. So I teach all my ad hope boys, right, all my adhole boys. They work with me because I say, like nobody on the campus can connect with them like I can.

So I class one day a week where I teach them just how to be a king, but also it's important for them to see how I treat my wife, how I treat my daughter, how they can see relationships in the family dynamic. So we just teach them that those things um and I think that's found the greatest success at our school time and that you gotta see it to be it. And lot of times people talking about leaving the hood, I'm saying, you gotta fix the hood.

I want to. I want to be able to be to contribute to making the lives of those who come from where I come from better. You know, I don't want to take my success outside with someone else be able to, you know, reap the benefits of my success. I want the kids to see me and say, hey, this, I can do this because he's from here and he can do this and he actually still here. So you know, I really want to applaud you because I've always said that these public schools, they don't teach us the way

that we need to be taught. We don't have visions of success of people that come from where we come from that look like us. You know, I actually do consulting with schools and public schools, and I deal with teachers and deans and principles and explain and a lot of the questions is how can we keep you know, the the engagement and the focus of these young black boys, because they they're not engaged, you know. And I said, what you have to do is find out what it

is that they're interested in. You gotta create curriculums and you know, lesson plans and everything around with interest young black boys. You know that the regular public school system is not engaging us. So I want to applaud you, man, because it seems like you figured out, you know, the formula in this working Yeah, and I know we have to wrap up, but I did want to just ask you really quickly about what you're teaching your young people

in terms of who we are, where we come from. Right, Because of course, the public school system teaches from the book of enslavement. That's the first step that you hear about you don't hear the history before we actually, you know, we're enslaved, and so I just wonder what type of curriculum are you teaching them that connects to the struggle

that we're in today. Absolutely so, like Marcus Garvey said, right, Uh, a student that doesn't know their history is like a tree with our roots, there's no way for them to grow. So for us, you know, my I grew up on sand code for principles and the negoz Osaba. Right, you know where you're going, you have to remember where you came from. So for our young people and specifically my teachers, we have to we have to unpack and unlearned the

system in which oppressed our minds. Right, Like a lot of the teacher programs don't teach how do you can connect how to make it relevant? So what we do is we come together and we have real deep book studies. Right. A book that we're covering right now is Black Appetite, White Food and understanding the systems of like the poverty of culture that exists at many schools. Right Like they think that they got to fix the community. So we have to unpacking and learn those things. And we do

what's called link learning. So link learning at our school is see when we went to school, you have math and isolation, English and isolation, and you just went to your individual class. At our school, we do what's called link learning, where you will get a project and then now it's linked to all your classrooms. And I'll just give you a quick quick link on one of our case studies is we study environmental racism. So we're in Watts,

so we go in our study our our environment. So you may get this in English class where it's like, all right, we're gonna look at some research and the mad they're gonna be looking at where are the locations and mapping out the different liquor stores, looking at centers, looking at those different things. And then we took them to the field trip to u C. L A. Where they start to do the same thing. How many parts is in this area? And then they have to have

a contrast. And then and then in their science class, I mean history class, they talked about the rise of the Roman Empire in the democratic system and different things like that, so they start to see how legislation and things start to structure. And their science class they start to look at epigenetics and and and D and A and how to do fingerprints. And then after that they

built up these skills and then we did a murder mystery. Right, we did a murder mystery on our campus, and they have to use all those skills together to come up and and infer and come up with evidence and claims about what happened. So that's like our environmental racism. And then we do crime scene investigation and then they go and acted out in the courtrooms. I need y'all, let me get a money. I need a month like I want to go to class. I need to be matriculated.

Need me a little I D give me an I d y, I cut my bid and everything. Well, I want to say thanks again for having you man. You're doing an excellent job. You know we unfortunately we got to end this. Will continue to work, man, You're doing the work that needs to be done. Principle Roy, one of our change makers University Pathways, Public Service Academy, revolutionary educator. Keep doing what you do, man, and thank you so much for my book. State of Emergency is going to

be on campus. I've been in I've been in touch with Jamala, so we're working on. We're buying three and fifty for our school. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Listen, black folks are gonna make my book a success, and that's what I always wanted, and I appreciate it so much. Brother, I really do. Keep keep going. We're rooting for you.

Thank and appreciate. I appreciate you all. Appreciate you all. Right, y'all, Before we go to the next segment and have our special guests joint, we're gonna take a quick break for our sponsors. New York is obviously home to us, and we were educated in New York City and educational system. So whenever we get to talk to people who understand our hometown, were like, give me more, give me more.

It's a lot to unpack, that's you would say. And today our guests, um, she wears a few hats, but one of them is very high level within the administration in the Department of Education. So but today we're not speaking from that chat. I just had to mention that because black women need all their flowers all the time, and black people, yes, all the acknowledgements. It takes us a lot to get to these high level positions. But

we to have the real, real conversation today. And when you speak on behalf of an institution, it's a little different, you know. So that's not what we're doing today. Today we're speaking to Dr Maury Diego Vaya as a leadership strategist and an educational expert. You are, you know, educate her. You're an expert in this area. UM, and I'm happy to have you with us today. We have to have you on set. Thank you so much for happy to be here. Pleasure. You would be probably the third person,

third in studio guests. You know, COVID had us everywhere outside, so you know, it's good to be of close and personal with people who we admire and who are doing the work that we want to celebrate and and the feeling is sentimental and awesome, mutual. Thank you so much. I love your work too, Thank you. Thank you. So let me start off by thanking you for supporting State

of Emergency, for reading the book. You gotta pre copy of a pre release copy of the book, had an opportunity to really check it out, and UM, I appreciate the feedback and also just your willingness to try to include it in some of your work that you're doing so, thanks a bunch. Um. So the schools have been closed our first of all, all the schools really open. Are the children? Are they in the seat every day? So what does that look like? What it looks like is

New York City has reopened. We have fully opened elementary, middle and high school schools are open. Children get to attend, right, parents, we are allowed to opten. So we actually have more children in now than we did let's say at the beginning of the school year. Right. So a lot of few things that have allowed for that. One is just an understanding of what creates good health and safety measures? Right? How can I be safe? It does a parent that's

the number one concerned, right, watch out back. I want to create some degree of normalcy or defining of this new normal and getting our children back. And that was the biggest prior already. So at this point all schools are all children back. No for the parents who have opted in and one of the itials to come back, they've had the option and they're they're okay. So a blood question, do you do you guys have the COVID test?

Like are there for the administrators particularly And I know we're not speaking from a d OE perspective, but just teachers in general across the nation are they doing COVID testing on a regular basis. So within New York City we do have testing and tracing going on for students and staff who are in place, but we might be done with COVID. COVID not done with us, right, So that's just a brutal truth. So the parents who have said, yes, I'm gonna opted and guess wanna send my child back?

That is a part of the agreement that you're having your child tested. UM. A lot of Department of Education employees have also gone for the vaccination. We can't mandate that. That's that's a personal choice. But people have, you know, taken on these measures to help again, just reacclimate and get back to what we would consider, you know, what we formerly knew as normal, even though it's never going to be the same. Why they get right, But the idea is we know that our kids learn best when

they're back in person. I truly believe that. So from your point of view, how many how many not your point of view, but how many? What percentage of children would you say it back in UM? I would say maybe a little less than okay, And so what are the measures that you're taking all you're doing homeschooling for those who opt out, right, so you have remote remote learning apologize. And this is across the nation, because we're

not talking about New York specifically, across the names. You've seen school districts take on the idea of you like a hybrid model where some children are in person and some children are remote. You've seen school districts that are fully open, right depending on Tenne's mandated that your kid

come back, come back. So schools are I think it really it depends on community demand, parent voice, which is something that's really been important, I know for me thinking as an educator, I'm listening to the community, like I need to know what parents really want to see happen, Like what are their concerns? Where are we missing the mark? Sometimes those conversations can get contentious, but it's in the

contention that you actually get the answer. So when we when we're bugging as parents were wilding out that's taken notes, I'm like, uh huh. Because I'm a parent myself, I have an eight year old. Another have yes, it's another hat, I have an eight year old and have an eleven year old and then both in public schools. Right, so I'm clear what it's like to be in a meeting

like it was a hyped COVID, Right. I know it's like to be in a meeting upstairs and my son is in the hallway and my daughter's in the living room and everybody's on remote and the Internet goes down because the expander wasn't working. I'm clear what it looks like, and it's and it was, and I'm an educator and I was like clicking and rocking myself. So it's it is.

So unless you've had that experience, right, and then their parents were dealing with other experience, you have fair and families who are living in shelters and families who are living in timber every how, saying so the empathy level has to go off a whole notch and be also able to not take it personally. But let me hear your story, mom, we got on this day coming up.

If you really want to honor mothers and like single moms who are in these situations with their children, knowing that if you've got five kids, you need five devices, right, I mean, you can't be sharing devices one child might be in high school another two mighty school too, might be an elementary won't might be an early childhood and everybody gets to learn right. So a lot of it has also been educating teachers administrators around their own social

emotional awareness. Where are you and your empathy meter? Right? And then and then the dynamic girl also up agins is that teachers and educator and administrators, they too needs an empathy right. You all heard the African program. You know it takes a village to raise a child, but I always say who's in the village? And during this season, for me, it's been around a three sixty approach, like all the way around to all stakeholders have to be well, right,

so that our children are well. We have focused a lot on our kids. But in order for our children to learn, order for our children to get access, and order if our children to really be able to ride this wave, the social emotional peace must be in place. You know, I think prior to COVID, we would say things like, you know, order perceives learning. Now I would say like, social emotional awareness proceeds learning, so that parent who comes to be frazzled. Right. And then let me

say this. Even though we say schools are open, if there's a certain amount of cases, schools have to be responsible and say you gotta close down, so you may be on the drop of a dime going right back to remote. So that's not because it's in the school systems are horrible, bad people, but we are also navigating and negotiating through this pandemic, which no one has done before. So it's that type of flexibility. We also gotta you know,

hug parents. Don't use the word hug, hug them through because that's really because I gotta go to work, right, I gotta go to work. Man's real talk. I to go to work. And now you're telling me the school schools because it was a case. Does my kid have it? Not Grandma, it's just spirals. So my number one job has been listening. I have to hear what your story is because I know my household was not your household. Well, first of all, happy Mother's Day, you know, because happy

Mother's Day to you. So just listening to this, right, I know that it is affecting the teachers as well as the students. When when you when you started to open the schools back, did you know what did you notice was the biggest takeaway that was impacted. Did you see children were having a problem getting back into the groove of just going to school. Kids are so happy to be back in school. They are so happy, They

are so happy. My sister said to me today that she felt like my niece could have been on board, like borderline depression, Like she was really worried about what was happening in the Skyla because she was home. First of all, my mother had a stroke and Skylar became the caregiver. She was like the the extra hands in the house because my mom is like, my dad is taking care of my mom. But my niece is a girl that's home, so she's like, I don't want to

talk to him about certain things. So scholar Skylar, Skylar, and and of course my niece got in there and did a good job. But after a while her own friends, like, what happens to your life? You become grandma and Grandpa's best buddy. It's very crazy because for me, like school is such an intricate part of childhood. You know, when you think about all of the most important things that happened you especially do from grade school through high school,

it's it happened in school. Yeah, but you know the first argument you had in third grade, the first girl you liked that was in your class, you know, all of the things social factors. Really, so when I when I'm looking at my sons who are seven and nine years old, in this whole year they were in the school, and what they did was, you know, go straight to this computer and play these games all day and started

losing social skills. Had to turn it office. And when we're going outside, you're gonna do something outside in the park, you know. So just definitely understand in the groove. But are they having mental health issues or so? This is when sensitivity comes in. Right, So there's been a great push around the social emotional learning supports. Right, So where do you do in the child's in crisis? Right? Because remember,

for some children coming back it's darring. And if you were let's say you were remote, maybe you're coming back in person, which is cool on one hand, But the teachers who you may have remotely, you may not have in person because teachers also have different accommodations. Some people

have health measures that they're considering. Me. Well, six hundred thousand people died almost now some of them is because of the actual virus and other parts if it is because of the care that we should have been yet lack thereof, right, So let's be clear about that, because I'm you know, really like the numbers. We understand six hundred thousand people were impacted and they died. But some of it is because the systems are failing. Yes, yes, and that is where schools get to say, when you

see a child in crisis, who are you? And that. So there's been a lot of effort around training. So we're doing things like yoga and mindfulness training. So we have a program of I'm I'm a shout in New York. Cite from me. We have the Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Preparation Program And in that program where we've done is take educators and initially, to be honest, it was about fort really trying to conserve money because schools are spending

a lot of money on vendors. So we wanted to have teachers within our school system certified and trained in yoga and mindfulness. And I cannot tell you we finished our first cohord, which was Cohorn zero last January and talk about it. I was a part of that cohort. Timeliness was everything because to be able to go into meetings now and let's start off with a mindfulness meditation. Let's do the six movements of the spine so you can move right and bringing that two schools has been transformative.

So the childhood was in crisis, let me work with you on deep breathing, let me calm you down, let me let you see that your agency still lives with inside of you and that you're not You're not a product of what you've gone through, but you're a possibility. So that is that's been the work, and you know, making sure again that the teachers and the leaders are well positioned to think that way because if you are in crisis, just because the adults are in crisis, some

of them right talk right. So making sure that there is a wellness on the adult spectrum also can help mirror would have happened. So that that's a one example the yoga in mindfulness work. UM. There's also been a lot of supports within the school culture and climate division around what happens when UH teachers are trained within different

modalities around social emotional wellness. Right, So that could look like the breath that could look like movement, that could look like how you organize your class right, because sometimes you know, you walk into a classroom where there's social distancing going on, right, everybody's coming at you in a mask. You know you can't You're there with your friends, but you don't see them like you're student. You can't connect

with them at lunch stopes dynamics. Let me ask you this last question because we were unfortunately we have more guests than usual today talking about this COVID crisis and education, and I want to get to this one point. They say we're losing a year, that our students will lose a year. So as someone who I'm sure you're working with teachers all across the country, you guys are parts of different groups that talk about this stuff. What are

we missing? What do parents need to know and how can they help their children to get this year back. I mean, it's been you're on the pulse right, tell me where my child is and how they're performing. It's really we got to get some baseline assessments where our children as readers, where our children as writers, as mathematicians.

Help me understand where they are right because because for some children, they thrived in this arena of remote learning, like oh this is I'm I'm more Some kids are more on point now than when they have to go in personally. Maybe maybe in person whose it was a long community to get there. But now I can turn

our computer and be excellent. Right, So there's that which whether the bottom line is tell me where my child is and so the assessments that get done, so you can you can say your child is level and reading,

your child is doing this in math. And then the connected point that you mentioned earlier my song, right, the idea I'm a connected parents, I am still even though I might be remote, even though you might be going back and things just shifting over these next couple of weeks until we get to the end of the school year, because this teacher might be different and so forth. Tell me what you're working on, Be curious about where my your child is in terms of what's expected from the

teachers and so forth. So that way you, you too have your finger on the post to help guide from the home, and that's how the homeschool connection gets strengthened as well. We really thank you you got to come back. We ain't have enough time, but we just want to thank you for what you're doing and continue, thank you all for taking our kids because when this remote learning himself for us having to do it ourselves is driving me in saying daddy, school was okay, but it was

driving me. I needed some more time off and the little breaks there wasn't enough. So we wanted to says on that we are with you and that's why we have to make sure that our priorities to reopen school so across the country of seeing that, I hope people are experiencing that and benefiting. Thank you so much a Dr Maury. We appreciate you so much and we can't wait to have you back to talk more and and

really and tell us about the progress. Ye yeah, these parents come up to an advocate for a job, right and we need we need community building, rebuilding to bring our children up to speed because they're not going to be able to compete on the global right. That's right. You have to write on that right. Enough of our children being marginalized as not being able to our children are more than capable. And what's your position in that way?

Well you should Dr Murray. You need to teach me and my child, teach me, teach thank you before we go to the next segment and have our special guests joined. We're gonna take a quick break for our sponsors that we are so keeping up with our theme about COVID and his effect on our schools. We have another guest and we have msr abdu Selim Hassan. He is the Superintendent of Schools for the East Orange, New Jersey School District and the former Assistant Commissioner for the State of

New Jersey. How you doing today, my brother? How are you doing, sir? It's it's great to be here with you two. Last year has been really tough. You know, my kids go to school in Jersey, so I understand a lot that's going on in there. Can you give us like some updates our kids back in school? Fully, what's going on in Jersey? Well, first again, I want to just thank you too for the work that you both do out in the community and uh you know, I just can't thank you enough for addressing the real

needs of our community. Um as. You know that you know, all school districts are totally impacted by this pandemic uh in COVID and when it comes to our families, um et cetera. Um As you have previously stated. You know, I'm the superintendent of Eastern School District and the former assistant commissioner of New Jersey Department of Education, which oversees all the superintendents in the state of New Jersey. UM. With that being said, we wrote the book the Menu

in conjunction with other stateholds around the country. When it came to reopening, currently, I am reopened. I opened on April the nineteenth, and it is some things that impact of the urban community. So we may not have opened like some of the suburban community because of certain issues and concerns that that that is transparent of that we can address when it comes to equities of servety communities versus rural communities and urban communities of our needs. So

it took us a while to get it open. Um, we got it done, and we got it done in a safe manner. And that's always my goal as the superintendent to protect the students, the families and the community stakeholders. And it was all a partnership between our mayor, UM, the local health department, and the school district and you know,

of course our elected officials. So what could I ask a quick question, what do you think are some of the issues that affected black and brown communities that didn't affect the other comunities that you know first and primary and you heard it all over the country. It was the digital divide impact to our community because unlike suburban communities, they could just go out in the schools or parents could just go by three d all chromebook for a student.

But when it comes to these large school districts, large school districts like North having thirty something students or my district having ten thousand plus students, when you're talking about buying chromebooks for a whole school district is a whole different a vision, and it takes funds to do that when you project your budget year to year. So right currently, when you're in COVID, you don't have the budget to

go by that volume of computers. But thank thank you to the Cares Act and all the support from the federal government and local government. We were able to achieve that. But it wasn't on the on set of July. You know, we lie we were supposed to open up. All of us were always planning. So when we got to September, many school districts didn't have the adequate computers because like the things that go over overseas when it comes to China, they weren't able to send the computers over to us

in the ways that they usually send computers. So all of us were in the deficit a waiting for computers with impact, which impacted the readings of schools. So when you're sending kids home from a brick and mortar which you're used to going to school every day, to an online platform. You can't have an online platform if you don't have a computer, and if you don't have a computer, you can't log into a learning management system to get

inside of a classroom. But were I'm sorry and we heard you know, one of the um one of the other educators who was on with us earlier was speaking to you know, not being able to share computers because that was the thing in a lot of households that they were being or asked to or had no choice but to share devices and that doesn't work. Yes, you're

absolutely correct. And if you think about when kids are home and it would be on the online platform, that could if the computers with one student or one family member, what is the other family members doing when they're supposed to be classes, so we were able to accommodate our students and three students and the three family members of the house. We were able to give them all devices. Not only are devices a conversation, it's also a WiFi

conversation of WiFi. So that is an issue too in the urban community because we're buying all these new devices, all these new chrome books, new dells, they're pulling more sprint from the wifis, Everybody Networks which called some of the places the city wifis and moved slow, as well as the infrastructure inside the school district on the hybrid. So it's a lot of conversations that we didn't always see, of course, doing doing the pandemic that we had to

address and become reactionary too. And I experienced that, you know, do having to do zoom meetings and calls and having two children that are on two separate computers just completely taking up the WiFi and and everything is pausing and it's just not really working. So you know, I'm understand that was a real challenge for us. Who were you know,

parents dealing with remote learning. But since children have been back in school, what do you think us some of the major steps that you've taken to help them reacclimate to school and keep them healthy at the same time, my son, that's a good question, my brother, and and some of that area is that we know that our students as well as the community has experienced real trauma

during this pandemic. So the first thing we gotta do is address social emotional learning to get them back into the mindset of learning UM though, because we know, and you've heard it all through the news, that the whole country is being impacted with the learning laws by far.

So if we hear that the suburban community is impacted by learning laws, rural communities are impacted by learning laws, you can only imagine the impacts the urban community because when it comes to assessments using our assessment scores a lot like the suburban communities, so that learning laws is

significant in our communities. So what we're doing in our community is really focusing on UM after school enrichment online platforms as well as focused on summer enrichment for our students in person full day, because a lot of times when you look at summer school for peopleho have kids, a lot of times just half a day, and then

you gotta figure out what you're gonna do. So we want to give some academics and also address on social emotional learning, doing that summer enrichment, so we can we bring our kids back in September that they're straight and they're ready to go to school. And is there a plan to have actual summer school, not just in in New Jersey that you know of, but across the country. Are you hearing this idea of having instituting summer school

to try to catch up. We've been talking on this show today about this one year gap, uh that you know, the studies are saying and we're here on the meet and then that is that our kids are going to lose one year. Black kids, particularly black and brown kids, in comparison to the few months that white kids who live in suburban communities or children who are are more well off, Um, it won't be as bad. So do you think summer school is what needs to be instituted?

Do you think that there also needs to be a curriculum that the parents have at their disposal to work with their kids over the summer. I think, Mallory, I think that's the great point that you're talking about right now. It is definitely needed um, the enrichment and from what area that it that students needed. I'm open up my summer school for pre k to twelve for all great um, full day for all students. UM. I did work it out. How are you gonna pay for it? And that's the beautiful,

great question. I'm very thankful that the federal government gave us, like we talked about earlier, the CARES funding. Some of the CARE funding is broken down in specific areas where you have to use it, and part of the money is used for summer enrichment or learning laws. All our money for that learning laws also to I'm very thankful that the federal government as well as our state government gave us some money to also address trauma and mental health and not only just for the student, but also

for the staff. So the last thing I just want to ask, um is what are we missing as a community? What are we missing? What is it that you feel like it's something that the entire community, educators, parents or not can be want to help our kids. Well, you know, I'm always and I see you do it all the time. Advocacy is keys key and we need to continue to advocate for our rights, our citizen rights. And I'm talking

about being very transparent with that conversation. And sometimes when you go to certain key stakeholders, you may think you don't have rights, but you do have rights. So we have to really, like they say, a squeaky whiells gets get the attention. We got to continue to be that squeaky will to get what is needed for our communities

and advocate for our rights. So I always tell parents, advocate, advocate to your local elected officials to get your just do to make sure your students and your stakeholders get what they need. The other thing is too we want to make sure that we're taking care of facilities because

you know COVID was all the ages back concerns. We want to make sure not only do we comply with CDC guidelines, but we want to make sure our schools look like the schools and the suburbs just like any other school, college campuses, all the landscape being all when you going to malls in different places where they hire extra staff to white down peop. Want to make sure we have we provide all the resources the other communities have.

We want that in urban distries as well. Can I just want to end on this question, because this is very important. I was a student athlete, you know, and a lot of these children are going to school with athletic you know, abilities, and they missed the whole year. Like if you if you're a junior or you're a senior and this was your last year and you're playing basketball and you were hoping to get scholarships, like this

is very serious. So is there some type of plan implemented because a lot especially black and brown communities, we we don't have a lot of finances and a lot of us are looking for scholarships and looking to be seen. And a lot of people have missed whole years of sports that have put their whole life parments, have invested pretty much their whole um career and their whole education for these kids to this, you know, to be able

to play these sports. So is there any process or something being put in to make sure that these kids still have opportunities? My brother, again, great question, and and we were able to to have sports and curcriculine activities doing COVID. Our basketball team went nine and two. How we had to address the COVID uh CDC compliance guidelines.

Our football team had a season, our girls volleyball team had DFCAS and we got boys volleyball and you know, very thankful to the New York Jets that they sponsored in addition girls flack football. So it's a couple of school districents that gotten into that. So the kids have been playing sports. The cheerleaders have been doing there on the air part, but we also had to address anything that dealt with positive contact racing with that and it

was very limited, but that did impact some of the season. Um, but it's been fine. The kids are attending extracurriculum activities and also to we've been able to get some of our kids in to do social justice activities definitely starts campus high school, so they've been doing amazing stuff. Mayor has also put out a murder for Black Lives Matter, so we're you know, we're addressing these things because we have to. We have to also understand they're doing this pandemic.

We also had another current going on Lives Matter, and our kids are very impacted by that because even though we see and other communities sat our family members or their family members being assaulted or sometimes death, but it also happened in these communities too, and it's not in the newspaper. So our kids are very impacted by this, and to see that type of energy on the news for weeks and weeks and weeks with COVID, that tour

into the mental health of our students as well. And when you when you when you look at those who have who have lost their lives from George Floyd, Brianna Taylor on My Arm Break and Dante Right and many others, this is not over the work. So that level of advocacy. I always appreciate YouTube for the love of advocacy you do, but our students are doing it as well. Well, thank you. This was a joke show. It was very I learned

a lot. Man. We talked to educators from our communities, educating our children, talking about how these disparities impact our children. So you know, it was really dope. UM. Excellent guests, uh, politicians because the number one show that's that in the world in the world's um. But also because we get

to bring the type of content that we want to see. Yeah, that's what we always Yeah, we get to bring the people we wanted because a lot of people have to bring who they should bring, and you know, we want to bring people who need to be highlighted. Building from the pH we want to give your roses. Now, we want to elevate you before the world see we we had to see this town really making change. A lot of shows are built around what big celebrity you're gonna have on And not to say that we won't have

those people at different times. We've had a number because we've got friends that we've had a number of people. But I like the fact that we're not We're staying true to who we are, and that is that you know, our celebrity friends, they're our friends. They're not celebrities, they are friends, you know what I'm saying. So when we bring them on, it's because something impacting the world as well.

But there are so many people to your point, that need their flowers, and especially I really and they need to be highlighted before you know. They need somebody to see them and help them along the way, not just get them when they already made it. Hey now you

know that ain't a word, but you know. And then, and I also think that we should every three months at least check in with professionals about what's happening in education because guess what, everything else we're talking about every day we have you know, every week we have different

shows with different content. That's important, But how our students get re acclimated to the educational system, it's probably one of the most important things we could ever cover, especially in our communities, which brings me to my I don't

get you don't get it? What don't you get? You know, there's been a lot of things lately, like we've been overwhelmed with police brutality and you know, and losing lives at the hands of police, and just so many differ front disparities that black and brown people are dealing with in this community, in the world period. And to see black leaders and you know, politicians actually say that America is not a racist country is some ship that I don't get at all. How do you build the found

when you build something on racism? It was built this America was built on racist slaves were brought here and built this country enslaved people. People were enslaved and brought here, and those people built this country brick by bricka. So the foundation of America is racist, right, And then you look right now, we still have a structure of white

supremacy that functions and profits off racism. It profits of keeping marginalized communities more arginalized, the profits on the backs of imprisoned black and brown people who are the people who they's enslaved in this country. So when you have black people who I've actually and obviously know that, to utilize their voices and platforms to say that America is not a racist country, I just don't get it. It's not even genuine, it's not real. What happens is you

make our people lose faith in you. And that's just a fact. And no matter how much you want to support and how much you respect some of the things that people have done, when you say things like that, you lose credibility. It's hard enough for us to get people to buy into this system at all. You know, it's hard, and you want and you want things. You want people to be successful. You want our vice president

to be successful. You you you love that they would actually be able to help our career, be able to help out community. So we don't want them to fail. So exactly America is built on racis him. That's not something that the whitest white person can tell you that. You know, So when you, as a black man who've experienced a black woman who've experienced racism say that it's not it's just like, it's not even genuine if people experienced racist people, but they're not, they're they're they're they're

attempting to separate the country from them. Okay, but that's not true because what Kamala said was like actually oxymona because she's the country from the people. We'll listen to what she said. She said, I don't believe that America is a racist country, but we have to be honest about the history of racism in this country and then

talk about racism in this country now. But if you're honest about the history of racism in this country, then we realized that this country was built with both racism. And if we're honest about the present state of racism in this country, then we honestly know that racism still is one of the major factors of this country. So if it was built on it and it's still flourishing today,

then America is a racist country. But this is what I'm saying, what she is attempting to do, right, which is unfortunate because they're following someone like Tim Scott, who met exactly what she said and how he said it right, He ain't no uncle of mine, And I get that you're making a funny reference, but no, he's actually not, because while Tim Scott has actually been a part of a few very progressive things like mass incarceration, dealing with

trying to end mass incarceration, he's been involved in opportunity zones and a few other things that have been sort of I just I've never seen. My thing is this Tim Scott is one of those black people, right who just tipped the icebergs point. Let me just finish my point. When I say involved, I'm saying that there are he's at tables as a part of a group of people, a group of Republicans and others who have sat down together with Democrats and said we're gonna work on these things.

And so my point is that he tries to use that as a way of showing that I'm in solidarity with my community, when in fact he supports a party and is used often as a token to speak against what black people the majority of us feel and say and think and what we are experiencing. So I don't play around with him. He usually guts most of the major things that we need in our community. He tries. That's his major focuses every time. He said, yeah, we'll give you this, but you's you don't need the parts

that are actually the most powerful. And so of course, and and my point wasn't that he's done anything great. I'm saying that he's been a part of a number of caucuses, if you will, have addressed certain issues, but yet and still none of it it's operating in the ways that it needs to. Because if you don't believe that America is racist, you can't possibly pass legislation that addresses institutional and systemic racism in this nation. So Tim Scott,

I don't even talk about him much. That's my only thing I have to say about that. I voted for Kamala Harris. So that's why I want to talk about right, and that's why I voted so I can have the right to talk about all the time. When you vote for somebody, then you get the call them out and said, oh no, this is bullshit. So and we love you, but this is a bullshit and we're gonna make sure

you get it right. We're gonna shoot you down because we voted for you, and my vote counts, and I need you to hear what I'm saying, because you can't get this vote again if you don't hear what I'm saying. As Vice President, you know, I have a great deal of respect for Kamala Harris, for Vice President Kamala Harris, but I still know and understand that she and Congressman Jim Clive Born, who I also have a great amount

of respect for, they are part of the institution. They are a part of a group of people who would like to believe that they can, which makes me so angry. And it's one of the biggest things that I was upset about with Congressman Clyburne in terms of defunding the police, when they try to make it seem as if because certain candidates even support or or even cool with people who support defunding the police, that that's why they were they either lost their election or why they were struggling.

And we know that it's not accurate because look at someone like Corey Bush, who Congresswoman Corey Bush, who won based upon the fact that she was down ten toes down defund the police. Same with AOC, same with ilhan Omar,

and the list goes on and on and on. Okay, so it's not true because the problem is again, being a part of the institution is that they want and and of course you can't really become vice president without supporting and being a part of this, you know, the system, this this whole thing, and and and what they are trying to do, what they are attempting to do, is to win over people who do not like us. They don't work with us, they don't care about our issues,

They are not they don't support you. They don't, they do not. And I understand the whole like, well, there are other black and brown progressives who also don't like the language defund the police. They may not, but I tell you one thing, they will not vote against you because of it. Those people will not. They the ones who will vote against you are the same people who've

been voting against you. But those who say, well, I am progressive and I support the movement, they might say they don't like the language defund the police, but they are not about to say, well, that's a deal breaker, and I don't support you as a result of it. So when you sit and try to equivocate or you know, you try to find a way to maneuver certain things, and we've all been in those situations when you get asked questions that require you to speak to things that

you know can be problematic. The next day you know it and you're trying to maneuver your response. What happens is you lose so many people. And the reason why we know this is because there are other elected officials who will one hundred percent say that this is a racist country. To your point, when the institutions are racists, the country is racist unless because now the representation of our country that's Joe Biden, President Biden and Vice President Harris.

You can change it. That's right. You have the opportunity to change it. And I say all the time you must change it. Like you have to be low to your constituents, you have to be loyal to the voters, the people who got you in. You know this trying to play the middle, it's not really going to work. You know, when you ask questions that you know are going to negatively affect your base, the people who actually support you, and you sacrifice your base to try to

get support from people who never supported you. It's not a winning strategy. It has never worked. It's not going to work. It never will work. It is not a winning strategy. So what I say is this everybody who's on my on my Instagram saying, well, y'all voted for Yeah, yeah, this is what you get. Yes, you're a hundred percent right. I voted for her, And when I voted, I told you I was gonna call everybody out every time they didn't do something that made sense to our communities because

we voted them in. And everybody who voted this administration and has the right to challenge them to tell them that they're wrong, to call them out every time. So that's why that's why we voted for them, because we want them to understand that they have to be loyal to us. Nobody is perfect. There's no such thing as a perfec leader. I know that the last administration had to get the hell out of it. They were actual

white supremacists. People were running up the side of the wall, killing people and hanging nooses on the state capital property.

So you know, you pick your poison. Of course, we understand that these people are not perfect, Like you said, we understand that the structure of this country is exactly the racist structure that that I'm sure Vice President Harris is working within and learning even more at When she was a senator, she knew it, but now that she's vice president, she damn sure knows that this country is dangerously oppressive and it's it's racist at the core, and

maybe for whatever reason. And I understand the hope and vision of well the country meaning that all the people here are not racist, but that nobody was talking about the people. People are talking about the country and the

the institution. That's what we're talking about. And if you want to make the distinction, what she should have said, in my opinion is that American the American people are not overall racist, but America's institutions are definitely racist and must be changed and listen, would be and that she would have said that with people, I'm gonna go when you say that, I'm gonna go to war with you, man, Listen. The bottom line for me is if you tell the truth,

you're gonna shame the devil. And with that said, I'm not gonna always be right. Tamikad Mallory is not gonna always be wrong. Most of the time. She probably will and I'll be right, but we both always and I mean always be authentic. We got a few days go. Pre ordered my book, Shameless Plug, State of Emergency, State of Emergency, Salute number one Podcast. Thanks for joining stuff. Let us know if you've got something you want to head. You've got some topics we hit. We hit number one,

We number one, We number one. Dude good. That's how we owed it. That's how we owed it. That's how we owned it. That's how we ow That's how we owed it.