- Who is the founder of Black History Month?
- Who is the creator of Culturally Relevant Teaching?
- Who literally wrote the book on anti-racism?
- Who was the first Black female principal?
- Who teaches us about Cultivating Genius?
- Who is “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow”?
- Who wonders why all the Black kids sit together in the cafeteria?
- Who is known as “The Handshake Teacher?”
- Who founded the first school for Black children in Augusta, GA?
- Who was the first African-American to earn a doctoral degree?
- Who shows us how to teach when the world is on
? - Who opened a preparatory school in their Chicago home?
- Who was an activist that lied about their age in order to teach?
- Who has a best-selling book titled “How the Word Is Passed”?
- Who teaches us about learning in a burning house?
- Who is “The Father of African Studies?”
- Who founded a school that set the standards for today’s HBCUs?
- Who is the 9th wonder of Duke, NCCU, and Harvard?
- Who was the first Black woman to earn a bachelor’s degree?
- Who founded a prestigious institute in Alabama?
- Who is an expert in culturally responsive leadership?
- Who was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard?
- Who was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D.?
- Who is a proponent of #HipHopEd and Ratchetdemics?
- Who specializes in the literacy development of African American boys?
- Who was the first Black woman to attend law school in the US?
- Who is the Harvard professor helped us explore famous African American Lives?
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Who is a Black educator you know of that is making history right now?
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Dr. Carter G. Woodson |
The son of former enslaved Africans, Dr. Carter G. Woodson pioneered the celebration of Black history by creating Negro History Week in 1926.
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Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings |
Former Professor of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and pioneer of culturally relevant pedagogy, Gloria Ladson-Billings’s work has informed our instructional framework, GLEAM™.
We were very lucky to have Dr. Ladson-Billings keynote our Summer 2020 Virtual Summit!
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Dr. Ibram X. Kendi |
#1 New York Times Bestselling author, scholar on racism and antiracism, director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is living history.
It was our pleasure and honor to welcome Dr. Kendi as the keynote speaker for our Summer 2019 Standards Institute. Click here to watch the full video of his address.
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Fanny Jackson Coppin |
Fanny Jackson Coppin recognized that education was the key to upward mobility. A former enslaved African, Coppin became the first Black female principal at the Institute for Colored Youth, a Quaker school in Philadelphia, in 1869.
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Dr. Gholdy Muhammad |
Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is the author of “Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.”
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Charles Hamilton Houston |
“I made up my mind that if I got through this war I would study law and use my time fighting for men who could not strike back.” Charles Hamilton Houston graduated from Harvard Law and did just that, helping to abolish school segregation. He also served as the vice-dean and dean of Howard University from 1929 to 1935.
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Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum |
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum is president emerita of Spelman College after serving as president from 2002 to 2015. She is celebrated for her expertise on race relations and is the author of several books, including the best-seller, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”
Dr. Tatum and our President and CEO, Lacey Robinson, held a live Fireside Chat at our 2022 Standards Institute in Las Vegas.
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Barry White Jr. |
Barry White Jr. was teaching 5th grade when his daily ritual of greeting each of his students with a unique handshake made international headlines.
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Lucy Craft Laney |
Lucy Craft Laney founded the first school for Black children in Augusta, Georgia, in 1883 called the Haines Institute for Industrial and Normal Education. She was the principal for 50 years!
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Dr. Edward A. Bouchet |
The first African American to earn a doctoral degree from an American university was Edward A. Bouchet, who earned his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University in 1876. He then taught chemistry and physics for twenty-six years at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.
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Dr. Lisa Delpit |
For over four decades, education researcher Lisa Delpit, Harvard Ed.M.’80, Ed.D.’84, has promoted anti-oppressive teaching practices and reforms to language and literary education. A prolific writer, her latest work is titled “Teaching When the World Is on Fire.”
We were fortunate to have Dr. Delpit keynote our Winter 2021 Virtual Summit.
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Marva Collins |
Marva Collins opened Westside Preparatory School in 1975 on the second floor of her home. There, she instituted “the Marva Collins Way,” a philosophy that focused on shifting power dynamics and mindsets in classrooms. In a 1981 interview, Collins explained, “I felt that there were far too many children being recruited for failure, far too many excuses for not educating.” Her approach informs the UnboundEd GLEAM™ (Grade-Level, Engaging, Affirming, Meaningful) instructional framework.
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Ida B. Wells |
Ida B. Wells was an enslaved African until the Reconstruction era. At 16, she lost both parents and convinced a nearby school administrator that she was 18 in order to teach and take care of her siblings. She later became a journalist, civil rights pioneer, and suffragist about whom it was once said: “She has plenty of nerve; she is as smart as a steel trap, and she has no sympathy with humbug.”
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Dr. Clint Smith |
He began his career as a high school English teacher, received his Ph.D. from Harvard, and is now a staff writer for The Atlantic. Dr. Clint Smith is a multifaceted author and poet with two best-selling books, including “How the Word Is Passed,” which topped The New York Times Best Seller list in June 2021.
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Dr. Sonya Douglass Horsford |
A Professor of Education Leadership in the Teachers College at Columbia University, Dr. Sonya Douglass Horsford examines the problem of racial inequality in K-12 schools. She is the author of “Learning in a Burning House: Educational Inequality, Ideology, and (Dis)Integration.”
We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Horsford’s contributions to our final episode of The Complexion of Teaching & Learning podcast, “Reform or Transform?“
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William Leo Hansberry |
Known as The Father of African Studies, William Leo Hansberry laid the foundation for the systematic study of African history, culture, and politics. A historian and anthropologist, Hansberry devoted much of his work to studying the sophisticated civilizations that had existed in Africa prior to the rise of the Greeks and Romans.
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Mary McLeod Bethune |
The daughter of former enslaved Africans, Mary McLeod Bethune became the highest-ranking Black woman in government under FDR’s administration. A philanthropist, businesswoman, and champion of racial and gender equity, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls. In 1923, the school was merged with the Cookman Institute for Men to form Bethune-Cookman College and was president for the next 19 years.
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Patrick Douthit |
Patrick Douthit, aka – 9th Wonder, is a hip-hop producer, record executive, DJ, rapper, and lecturer. He began his career as the producer for Little Brother and has also worked with Mary J. Blige, Wale, Jay-Z, Drake, Beyonce, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and more.
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Mary Jane Patterson |
The child of former enslaved Africans, Mary Jane Patterson is the first Black woman to earn a Bachelor’s degree. Patterson obtained her B.A. from Oberlin College, then became a teacher, administrator, and advocate for women’s rights who founded the Colored Women’s League of Washington, D.C.
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Dr. Booker T. Washington |
An ardent civil rights activist, educator, author, and orator, Booker Taliaferro Washington founded and led the Tuskegee Institute, an institution of higher learning for African Americans. Born into slavery, Washington became one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, an advisor to presidents Roosevelt and Taft, and a successful business owner. For his contributions to American society, Washington was granted an honorary master’s degree from Harvard University in 1896, followed by an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College.
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Dr. Muhammad Khalifa |
Dr. Muhammad Khalifa is a professor of Educational Administration and the Executive Director of Urban and Rural Initiatives at The Ohio State University. His research examines how urban school leaders enact culturally responsive leadership and anti-oppressive schooling practices.
Dr. Khalifa delivered the keynote address for the Spring 2022 Standards Institute leadership pathway!
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Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois |
Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). A prolific author, his collection of essays, “The Souls of Black Folk,” is a seminal work in Black literature.
Thank you to the Carl Van Vechten Trust and Yale University for the complimentary use of this extraordinary photo!
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Georgiana Rose Simpson |
The first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, Georgiana Rose Simpson, received her doctoral degree in German from the University of Chicago in 1921. Simpson was a lifelong educator and reinvested in her community by teaching high school and college.
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Dr. Christopher Emdin |
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Dr. Alfred Tatum |
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Mary Ann Shadd Cary |
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Henry Louis Gates Jr. |
Reverend, academic, filmmaker, literary critic, and intellectual Henry Louis Gates Jr. played a vital role in integrating African American literature into the Western canon. Presently, Gates’ illustrious career spans numerous disciplines. This includes his work as writer and producer of the hit PBS series, “African American Lives,” the first documentary to use genealogy and genetic science to understand African American history.
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You Tell Us! |
Who is a Black educator who has made an indelible impression on your life?