Episodes

  • Office-Hours-Black-Facts

    Office-Hours-Black-Facts
    Oct 17 2024
    In addition to our regularly scheduled class, we’re adding office hours. These office hours will feature election-specific content. Sometimes, it’ll be just me, and sometimes, I’ll invite thoughtful people who also care about and spend time working to understand, defend, and expand democracy to join me. The goal is to cut through some of the dis-information, misinformation, and straight-up BS (that’s the technical term) to ensure that we all have fact-based information to use as those of us who can exercise our right to vote and empower and support others in doing the same. We kick off our Teach The Babies office hours by reviewing crucial facts about Black-eligible voters.
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    14 mins
  • Decolonizing the Genius Black Mind

    Decolonizing the Genius Black Mind
    Oct 15 2024
    There is something powerful about educators who are committed to introducing children to the genius in them. Dr. Chris Emdin is a genius personified, and this intellectual cipher between two intellectual powerhouses who love Black people, teach the babies, and defend democracy is anchored by the freedom to dream and the importance of having safe and supportive spaces to nurture our dreams.

    Dr. Emdin earned his PhD in urban education with a concentration in Mathematics, Science, and Technology to birth the #HipHopEd social media movement, wrote books for “White For White Folks Who Teach In the Hood, and the Rest of Yall, too,” (yup, that’s the book title, get into it), and helps all of us get closer to freedom, faster.

    As Dr. Emdin says, “Science is the ultimate, hybridized knowledge,” and he breaks down why. This conversation between colleagues and friends celebrates the best part of Afro-Futuristic dreaming and system design, the trappings of white supremacy in public schools and policy-making, and the critical role that words and affirmation play in surviving white supremacy.

    Emdin, Christopher. For White folks who teach in the hood... and the rest of y'all too: Reality pedagogy and urban education. Beacon Press, 2016.

    Emdin, Christopher. Ratchetdemic: Reimagining academic success. Beacon Press, 2021.

    Givens, Jarvis R. Fugitive pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the art of Black teaching. Harvard University Press, 2021.
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Afro-Futuristic Dreaming in the Key of Barbara Johns

    Afro-Futuristic Dreaming in the Key of Barbara Johns
    Oct 8 2024
    This episode features the story of Barbara Johns–no relation–the 16-year-old high school student who organized a student-led protest when her teachers dismissed her concerns about poor facilities and shabby equipment.
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    6 mins
  • Season One Recap

    Season One Recap
    Oct 2 2024
    Host Dr. David J. Johns reflects upon the inaugural season of this podcast and the lessons learned in producing it. He discusses the best parts of teaching in this medium, which include the community that’s been cultivated, the conversations had both those recorded and inspired by what’s aired, and the Afro-futuristic anchored freedom dreams that are strengthening schools, communities, and democracy. He thanks the community created through this virtual class offering, which includes YOU, the listening audience, the faculty, the co-teachers who graced the class with their wisdom and administration, and co-producers Thomas Cunningham and Emily Leugers.
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    32 mins
  • Reimagining Education

    Reimagining Education
    Sep 24 2024
    Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an educator, activist, writer, award-winning podcaster, leader, mother, and friend. She is an NBC News and MSNBC Political Analyst and host of UNDISTRACTED, a news and justice podcast with an intersectional lens on the world. This series concluding episode of the inaugural season of this podcast invites listeners to the freedom dream with one of our generation’s most sought-after thought leaders, policy advisors, and public speakers. Brittany and Dr. Johns discuss how the game of politics is played, how to stand on business while building Black futures where all Black students thrive, and that there are no lay people in the work of defending democracy and getting everyone to freedom.

    Listen to Brittany Packnett Cunningham's Undisdtracted podcast.
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    55 mins
  • Education-A Colonizers Tool

    Education-A Colonizers Tool
    Sep 17 2024
    Can you imagine walking out of fourth grade in protest against white supremacy and racism? Dr. John B. Diamond did exactly that before becoming a sociologist studying race and education. He’s not alone, did you know about Barbara Johns and the 1951 student walkout in Farmville, VA? In this episode, we break down the relationship between social inequality and educational opportunity, revisit what DuBois described as the color line, and Derrick A. Bell noted as the permanence of white supremacy and anti-Blackness, describe what Brown and the NAACP got wrong, unpack the consequences of distortions and failures (including Black educators losing the ability to teach), discuss the cost of integrating Black students into hostile environments, and the value of what Dr. Jarvis Giving termed “Fugitive Pedagogy” and libratory spaces that are supportive of Black and other non-white, non-privileged students thriving. Educators, system leaders, policymakers, and legal-activist/scholars will want to bookmark this episode.

    • Despite the Best Intentions: How Inequality Thrives in Good Schools
    • 2022 Brown Lecture in Education Research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqAC4GoBBww
    • Distributed Leadership in Practice (Critical Issues in Educational Leadership Series) by John B. Diamond and James P. Spillane (Editor), John B. Diamond (Editor), & 1 more
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    39 mins
  • #TeachTheBabies To Show Up As You Are (in conversation with a high school student and their mom)

    #TeachTheBabies To Show Up As You Are (in conversation with a high school student and their mom)
    Sep 10 2024
    This would only be a Dr. David J. Johns production if the perspective and experiences of a student were centered. This episode features Oceanne–a brilliant non-binary/gender fluid middle school student who talks about the reality of being othered and what it really means to be “normal,” the (un)learning unspoken school and societal rules, and finding your purpose and passion. Their mother, Christine Ruiz, an entrepreneur, business owner, and fierce defender of her babies' ability to thrive, talks about the importance of finding support, working through the desire to control, and allowing your children to challenge you to stretch and grow. This episode celebrates the power of Black women and their nurturing love, the importance of good therapy, and unschooling as a decolonizing movement.
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    40 mins
  • Dolls & Dreams

    Dolls & Dreams
    Sep 3 2024
    In this bonus episode, we dive into two significant stories that illuminate the complexities of race, identity, and possibilities for Black children. Our journey takes us back to the 1940s and then forward to the present, where we will explore the groundbreaking work of psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark, as well as the narrative of Black Barbie, brought to life by director Ava DuVernay. The experiences of Black children, both in the 1940s and today, are shaped by societal views of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression. We must continue to engage in conversations about racism, anti-Blackness, identity, orientation, and expression, and the importance of representation in all aspects of life—from education to play. Acknowledging this not only empowers children today but also sets the stage for a more equitable future. Let’s all get free!

    Credit: Emily Leugers and Niko Feliciano, with production support.
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    13 mins