- Dr. Tameka McGlawn

“We've been thinking about Teacher Truth and how to be supportive of teachers and educators who are navigating tremendous dynamics of oppression, pain, trauma, loss, grief. Centering human-centered design thinking and liberatory design practices in our work with Teacher Truth was a way to really try and examine how Black educators were experiencing race and racism in the workplace, both inside of the schoolhouse and the district, or in the context of education at large. And most importantly, it created a way to engage in learning about their experiences that would simultaneously honor their experiences. We really centered on elevating voices as we were also exploring how educators—how the teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, or those who serve in different ways—are navigating. How do they protect themselves while also trying to center self-care and then even move into healing? So much of what we experience as Black educators—those of us who have been in service to other people's children—there's so many dimensions of the cost and the impact of what it means to be in this space. We have been humbled by the lessons we've been learning on so many different levels because of the deep pain that many are experiencing.”