Black Wellness is Healing
As a New Orleans native who attended New Orleans Public Schools and graduated from the historic McDonogh #35 High School in 1998, I am very clear about the special role quality Black educators play in preparing thriving Black learners. I am equally clear that the desire of Black people to shape what Black children learn has been under constant threat from the systemic and structural forces of racism since the very inception of public education. Then, as now, Black children, Black educators and Black schools continue to be marginalized, under-funded and under-supported.
This year, as we commemorated the 15th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we did so alongside the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 and a racial reckoning with anti-Black violence in our policing, our COVID response, and our voting booths. 15 years ago, Katrina offered a similar flashpoint. Then, as now, the crises we were facing were never simply a matter of individual choice, action or responsibility (i.e. who chose to evacuate, who didn’t; who obeys the officer, who doesn’t; who is a good teacher, who isn’t; who wears a mask, who won’t.) Instead, as Black education scholar Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, originator of the concept “culturally relevant pedagogy,” observes: the crises of COVID-19, systemic racism, the coming economic pandemic, and the climate catastrophe help us see that what we need right now is “a hard reset” in the inequitable systems underlying these challenges.
In the education space it means a realignment of values, a reconstruction of institutions. It means asking why is it that 140 years into public education in New Orleans (and 15 years into post-Katrina reform) the majority of Black third graders in New Orleans are unable to read on a grade level? And while it would be easy to blame these challenges on individual leaders, teachers or schools, we did that already, and the wholesale reconstitution of our education system that followed still hasn’t yielded the educational progress that was hoped for. So where do we go from here?
At Black Education For New Orleans (BE NOLA), we believe Black Brilliance offers an answer to this question. If it’s true - as the research has established - that Black educators help Black children thrive, then it stands to reason that we need to support quality Black educators to do their best work on behalf of New Orleans children.
Adrinda Kelly is the Executive Director of Black Education For New Orleans (BE NOLA) which she co-leads alongside Stevona Elem-Rogers, BE NOLA’s Director of Programming Partnerships.
This month, we released our Black Brilliance report, which offers some insights from the field on what that will take. Ultimately, we believe that’s what is needed is a transformation of systems, values, and practices. We all need to be more intentional about the education ideologies with which we align ourselves, which point to different visions for democracy, citizenship, labor, education as a public good, the free market, and more. At the same time, we must continue to work diligently to support children and families who are in school right now, practicing the changes we long for as we go.
At BE NOLA, we know it is a gift to be grounded in Blackness. For over a century, brilliant Black educators have fought for students in New Orleans to have representation, resources, stability, joy, excellence and justice in their schools. We must be more strength-based and curious about the efforts that preceded us and allow the voices and experiences of those most impacted to lead us forward.
To learn more about BE NOLA, visit our website and follow us on Instagram.
