Rise Up For Students
198 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThe Rise Up For Students podcast features conversations about race and equity in education in Seattle and across Washington State.
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Episodes
Black History Today: Danny Cage, Jr., leading through loving example
February 09, 2021 00:26By Marcus Harden Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Danny Cage, Jr., who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Mrs. Doris Baptist Hickman, shaping generations of Seattle minds
February 08, 2021 06:43By Marcus Harden Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Mrs. Doris Baptist Hickman who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Reagan Jackson, wise wordsmith and gentle mentor in Seattle's South End
February 07, 2021 04:26Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Reagan Jackson who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Baionne Coleman, courageous educator and school leader
February 05, 2021 13:01Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Baionne Coleman who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Proofntheplay, living in tireless support of the greater good
February 04, 2021 23:26Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Proofntheplay who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Aaron Walker, in humble servitude of big dreams
February 03, 2021 13:00Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Aaron Walker who are shaping the future.
Black History Today: Randi Jones-Gratton
February 02, 2021 13:00Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Randi Jones-Gratton who continue to shape the future.
Black History Today: Dawn Mason, Elder of Distinction in her beloved community
February 01, 2021 14:00Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Dawn Mason who are shaping the future.
Black History Today 2021: Honoring the everyday heroes in our community
February 01, 2021 06:51The Black History Today series began as a way to honor the everyday heroes in our communities who live selflessly serving others without the fanfare they deserve. Please join me in celebrating these wonderful people by commenting, sharing your stories of them and sharing in the love of those who are indeed making Black History Today!
Eden Mack has resigned from the Seattle School Board, saying she 'can no longer enable the broken system'
January 08, 2021 04:49Eden Mack has resigned from the Seattle School Board. Mack posted her letter of resignation on Facebook today, saying she could no longer represent District IV because she could “no longer participate in the ongoing systemic dysfunction that is not serving the students and families of Seattle.”
Is it time to boycott Seattle Public Schools? Is there another answer?
December 09, 2020 01:33We’ve had seven superintendents in Seattle Public Schools since 2000. We’ve proven to ourselves exhaustively that the next person (doesn’t matter who it is) will not be the one to save us. We have to right this ship ourselves. And so when I think about what that line in the sand would look like for myself and my kids — when I consider how I could throw everything I have behind this, once and for all — I have a question of my own: Is it time to boycott Seattle Public Schools?
The entire education system is the culprit, and Denise Juneau is part of it. So, what do we do?
December 06, 2020 23:43By Matt Halvorson I’m not sure we need to retain Juneau, and I’m not sure we need to let her go. I just feel that it only makes sense to let Juneau go if we are fully committed to being this hard on every part of the System — only if we are finally we are committed to transforming everything — right now.
Seattle Public Schools are a mess, to be sure, but do we really think Superintendent Denise Juneau is to blame?
December 03, 2020 03:32The Seattle School Board will decide soon whether or not to extend Superintendent Denise Juneau’s contract, which is set to expire next year, and the process has given rise to a storm of unexpected questions and controversy around a leader who had previously been seen as strong and under-appreciated.
Moving forward in revolutionary faith rather than fear of the unknown
October 06, 2020 23:46This is such a strange time. Such a strange time, in fact, that it’s already a cliche to even call this a strange time. And the problem with calling it strange, I suppose, is that strange doesn’t even begin to describe 2020 — not to mention what might come next.
A short quarantine reading list for parents: "Dumbing Us Down," by John Taylor Gatto
August 18, 2020 19:20A common misconception exists that tells us our school system is “broken.” The idea is that inequity in our schools — whether that’s racial inequity, gender inequity, or any other sort — can be “fixed,” and that our public schools are inherently good and well-intentioned.
A short quarantine reading list for parents: "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"
August 16, 2020 23:20In a time of uprising and upheaval, an education that is truly honest, culturally compentent and child-centered is itself an act of revolution. The foundation for this journey is the revolution within each of our selves. Remember, if things as violently inequitable as we know they are — in our schools, in our cities, in our world — the solution might seem radical at first. We might not fully understand it yet, and it might feel uncomfortable. It might even sound like something our schoo...
A short list of books and ideas for parents to consider as we plan for another COVID-impacted school year
August 15, 2020 23:20How do we educate our kids during a pandemic? How do we educate our kids during an uprising? How do we educate our kids without conditioning them? It will require new and unfamiliar ways of thinking, living and parenting. More Zoom calls for kids and remote learning through a historically inequitable public school system are not the answer… but what is? It is becoming more clear every day that we will have to create it ourselves. Here are a handful of books and ideas that have influence...
Join Racial Equity Education in driving mass change in our schools
July 03, 2020 22:44Advocacy takes on many forms. As leaders within communities fight to have equitable representation for all children in schools, we have the power to stand behind them and demand authentic response and actions from school district leaders.
Seattle Public Schools 'Just Say No' to police
July 01, 2020 00:17In case you missed it, there will be no police presence in Seattle Public Schools moving forward. Following the lead of student activists, SPS ended the practice of having police officers — known as “school emphasis officers” — stationed in five middle schools. This announcement came days after Seattle Police used a middle school parking lot as a staging area for anti-protest response without permission
With Little League officially canceled, we spent the day in the CHAZ — on the first baseball field liberated from the Empire
June 14, 2020 19:16It’s been one of the great joys of my life to share so much time with my son doing something we both love. Deep down, I think we had both known that this Little League baseball season was already lost, but still. It was a sad moment when we finally had to feel and acknowledge it. What better place to be than on the first baseball field liberated from the Empire?
All parents were summoned when George Floyd cried out for his Momma
June 09, 2020 19:42If you are a parent, George Floyd named you by name. We are on a path toward abolition. Consider that it took a Civil War to end chattel slavery, and that the Montgomery Bus Boycott alone lasted 382 days. How committed are you to this? What will you do? And what will you keep doing?
One question as we look to the future of our schools
May 20, 2020 22:31As we consider how and when formal education will resume after this period of quarantine, we must ask ourselves: is what we are doing liberatory? Or is it oppressive?
As we mourn the loss of 'normal,' the time has come to envision a bold new future for our schools
May 15, 2020 19:24We may have experienced the Last Class in the world we once knew, but from adversity always comes opportunity. I hope we use this time to create a new world of opportunities and access for students of color and the educators that continue to support them.
Seattle presses pause on gatekeeping by giving every student an 'A' for effort
April 23, 2020 22:51By Matt Halvorson Seattle Public Schools announced that all high school students will receive an “A” in every class for the spring semester, a move that quietly eliminates — for the time being — one of the primary ways an unjust education system sorts and tracks our kids.
Seattle presses pause on gatekeeping by giving every student an 'A'
April 23, 2020 22:51Seattle Public Schools announced that all high school students will receive an “A” in every class for the spring semester, a move that quietly eliminates — for the time being — one of the primary ways an unjust education system sorts and tracks our kids.
A middle school teacher finds hope and silver linings in his students: 'They are learning about themselves and what is important in life.'
April 22, 2020 17:46In the early weeks of online learning, a Portland middle-school teacher finds that his students’ personal growth is inspiring hope for the future and offering certainty during unsteady times. Through this necessary period of solitude, of living simply in shared sacrifice, people young and old “are learning about themselves and what is important in life.”
As illusions and excuses crumble under the weight of COVID-19, we find a moment of truth: What new world will we create for our kids?
April 08, 2020 18:36What new world will we create for students and families in the wake of a pandemic that, for now, has only just begun? What are we learning as COVID-19 brings tumbling down the illusions and excuses that propped up the old system? How will our system of education change? How will we move forward as parents and teachers, school administrators and students? Who will we choose to be now?
It’s time to get creative as COVID-19 homeschool parents
March 20, 2020 00:55It’s been 10 days since my kids were last in school here in Seattle, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its systematic shutdown of, well, the entire system, it’s time for us parents to get creative. That’s why I’m glad to be helping my son and his buddies produce a sports-talk podcast about their own youth baseball league.
Let's get your kids writing during the Coronavirus Quarantine
March 17, 2020 00:47I have so many thoughts to share amid all of this, and I will be posting as often as I can find the time to write amidst the many quarantined kids in my house. For today, with schools closed in so many states, let’s talk about the fact that so many of us parents are suddenly homeschooling our kids.
Black History Today: Monika Mathews, mentoring and empowering Young Queens
February 26, 2020 06:01Monika Mathews is the founder of QueenCare in Columbia City, but QueenCare is more than just a skin-care shop. It is a training ground for future entrepreneurs. They are the Young Queens, trained and mentored by Monika as part of a personal development program. The program teaches middle and high school students of color about self-care, entrepreneurship, and a variety of life skills. The girls participate in a series of business workshops aimed at building economic empowerment, and the...
Black History Today: Abiola Akanni, certified yoga instructor, wellness influencer and Trap Vinyasa™ founder
February 18, 2020 04:49Abiola Akanni, certified yoga instructor, wellness influencer and Trap Vinyasa™ founder, has been sharing her gifts as a yoga teacher for more than 10 years, offering studio and community classes in the Seattle-Tacoma area and leading yoga and wellness retreats nationally.
Black History Today: Melba Ayco, artistic director and mentor
February 14, 2020 19:26The longer you serve children in a community, the smaller the world seems to become. Eventually you start to hear certain people mentioned over and over — the after-school counselors, the coaches, the neighborhood-parents. The mentors who’ve made an impact connecting with those around them. Ms. Melba Ayco is one of those people.
Black History Today: Ashley Burns Nascimento, brilliant communicator for social change
February 14, 2020 07:11Ashley is a riveting storyteller, community convenor, researcher, and media guru for organizations committed to social change. As a leader capable of compelling both the head and the heart, she bridges divides, and she has deep experience shaping perceptions within ambivalent or disconnected audiences. If you are looking for a badass communications and campaign leader, with a refined social justice lens, Ashley is your person.
Black History Today: Dr. Derrick Bell, the law professor whose "radical" ideas are still shaping our understanding of race in America
February 09, 2020 14:00A frequent critique of the way that Black History Month is celebrated is the manner by which school teachers, librarians, corporate advertisers and others will use their platforms to narrowly focus on only a few African-American history makers during February, selectively promoting a one-sided and self-serving narrative and erasing a rich history of African American activism and dissent.
Black History Today: Melanie Granger, creating space for play
February 08, 2020 18:05When you’re a parent to Black children, finding a place for them to run free is about more than just a place where they can get their wiggles out. It is about finding a space where they are free to be young. To be loud, messy, silly and energetic, safe from judgment and bias. Melanie Granger of We Free Hearts has provided an environment for just that.
Black History Today: Ada Williams Prince, courageously leading philanthropy toward a more equitable future
February 07, 2020 05:53As a fellow Black woman in philanthropy, Ada is an important part of my support system; a co-conspirator and collaborator. She has taken on the burden that many of us have, supporting Pivotal’s work on diversity, equity and inclusion on top of her other job responsibilities. Her courageous leadership is helping to push our sector’s work forward as we call on our organizations and colleagues to more explicitly center racial equity and social justice.
Black History Today: Marcus Harden, community superhero
February 06, 2020 00:20Superheroes are a dime a dozen on the big screen these days, but they can be easy to miss in real life. Like the caped crusaders with otherworldly powers, the real superheroes around us often seem to masquerade behind a secret identity, rarely getting the recognition and thanks they so deeply deserve. Marcus Harden is one of those heroes for not only the South Seattle community where he grew up, but for every life he has touched as an educator and a school founder, as a student and as ...
Black History Today: Juniper Moon, nurturing the next generation of Black history one family at a time
February 04, 2020 20:13As a midwife, Juniper provides prenatal, birth and post-partum care for families in the Seattle and Tacoma area. Research has shown that the quality of prenatal care has an impact on child development, and Juniper has cultivated a stellar reputation for the nurturing and attentive care she provided for her clients and their families. Her midwifery practice is focused on providing a model of care that is evidence-based, equitable and accessible for marginalized groups, especially people...
Black History Today: Randy Green, authentic servant leader
February 02, 2020 17:11Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Randy Green who are actively shaping the future.
Black History Today: Yalonda Gill-Masundire, an angel amoung us
February 01, 2020 20:10‘We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.’ -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
The 5 most popular posts of 2019 from Rise Up for Students
January 21, 2020 23:13Here we are, basking in the first fresh days of not only a new year, but a new decade. So, what better time than now to take a peek in the rearview mirror? Hindsight is 2020, after all. Let’s revisit 2019 by taking a look back at the most widely read posts from the last year on the Rise Up for Students blog.
Hindsight is 2020 when it comes to Dr. King's legacy
January 20, 2020 18:31Love is not always “nice.” Sometimes love requires us to be honest when others don’t want to hear the truth. As parents, our love for our children demands that we both hug them and discipline them. As citizens, our love can be displayed both by the flying of a flag and by calling our nation to account when she misses the mark or fails to meet the needs of her citizens.
The importance of raising our kids to be global citizens
January 11, 2020 17:49Erin Jones discusses the idea of global citizenship and shares resources for raising our own globally conscious kids.
Seattle's HCC program, designed to attract white families, is a thinly veiled form of segregation
December 18, 2019 15:13 - 13.3 MBThe Highly Capable Cohort (or HCC) program in Seattle Public Schools was created decades ago in an attempt to limit white flight from the district. It has been a driver of inequity in our school system ever since. This year, for instance, in 2019, Seattle’s HCC program is roughly 65 percent white. Less than 2 percent of HCC students are Black. This has been relatively common knowledge for a long time now, but the subtle segregation, systemic bias and overt discrimination have been allowed to...
Progress? Maybe. But we lost the only Seattle School Board race we couldn't afford to lose.
November 30, 2019 00:02By far the most important race of the four school board seats up for election was the seat that current board president Leslie Harris won over Molly Mitchell. I can’t overstate how much more important this specific race was than any of the other three, nor can I possibly exaggerate how disappointing it is that Mitchell didn’t win.
Podcast: Stephan Blanford talks with Brandon Hersey about what it means to serve on the Seattle School Board
October 26, 2019 22:30 - 63 MBFormer Seattle school board member Stephan Blanford chats with Brandon Hersey, newly appointed school board member representing Southeast Seattle.
A student in Garfield High School's HCC program takes a hard look at Danny Westneat's 'racially insensitive editorial'
October 19, 2019 19:51Earlier this week, the Seattle Times’ columnist, Danny Westneat, wrote a racially insensitive editorial about the high school that both his son and I attend. We don’t need dismissal and condescending advocation. We need people who are actually ready to listen, engage, and do the work to change the system, not write patronizing articles.
How Do We Create Spaces for Healing as Educators of Color?
October 16, 2019 22:06Education tends to make the most rational people seem crazy. So, it begs the question, how do we heal in these sick environments? My go-to answer is to typically just burn it all down and start anew, but we know that those efforts usually just end up looking like a new emperor in the same old clothes. So, where does our healing come from? It starts with acknowledging the hurt that has been caused by systems of oppression -- and the equal importance of finding healing for the students ...
Combatting ‘Passive Progressiveness’ in Seattle Public Schools
October 13, 2019 02:42A couple years ago, near the end of my term on the Seattle School Board, I used the term, “passive progressivism” to answer a question about why our racial achievement gaps actually got larger every year of my board service. I noted that nearly every person I engaged with while campaigning strongly agreed with my platform, but once in office, I faced stiff resistance from many of these same stakeholders, anytime we were grappling with a racial equity issue.
Brandon Hersey is our new school board rep in Southeast Seattle
September 19, 2019 19:36The Seattle School Board appointed Brandon Hersey as the new representative for District VII in Southeast Seattle. Whether or not Hersey was a good choice, what I expected to happen is exactly what ended up happening: rather than listening to the people, the board chose the candidate they wanted. In other words, the candidate who would have been elected was not the candidate who was chosen. That’s tough to grapple with.