Teaching While Black (TWB)
Note to Readers : Courageous Conversation protocols are used in this reflection. By Don Allen (Journal of A Black Teacher) REAL-LIFE FICTION In my second year teaching 7th-grade English to a predominantly Black middle school, I was making a difference. My classroom hummed with purpose as students turned ideas into action. They put out a monthly newspaper filled with their voice, stories, and dreams. We organized clothing drives to give back to the community, teaching the value of service and empathy. They knew their voices counted, not just with me but with the middle school. Many of them, for the first time, felt seen. By the end of that year, I was asked to move up with my students to teach 8th-grade English. The decision of the administration felt like a validation of the relational trust and curricular rigor I had established. However, the optimism I carried into my new role was quickly tempered when a new White teacher took over my 7th-grade classroom. Fresh out of a special...