center for black educator development

Resident Baba Dr. Greg Carr, Associate Professor at Howard University and host of "In Class with Carr," brings us a lesson on "
"Black August," a time that celebrates “the struggle”, and “the rebellion."

Dr. Carr gives us a history lesson on rebellions and revolutions and shares important historical rebellions that we should all know. He also describes the origins and history off Black August, and addresses the idea that it is an alternative to Black history Month.

Host Shayna Terrell and Dr. Carr discuss how teachers can make sure our youth are educated with an accurate depiction of what rebellion and resistance are. They list recommended books for English and history teachers to teach and talk about rebellion with their students?

Finally, Shayna And Dr. Carr discuss the commercialization of other movements and how we can avoid the same thing happening to "Black August."

Had you heard of Black August before today?

Christian Sabree and Maleah Thomas-Thornton, future black educators and servant leader apprentices at the Center for Black Educator Development join the Building the Black Educator Pipeline Podcast to discuss the journey to becoming an educator. 

Christian and Maleah share with host Shayna Terrell about their inspiration to become educators and their experience with freedom schools. They also discuss working as servant leader apprentices at the Center for Black Educator Development and the impact it has had on them. 

Finally, the conversation touches on the overall importance of recruiting more Black educators, the impact that they have on students, and why we desperately need more of them. 

Sharif El-Mekki is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. The Center exists to ensure there will be equity in the recruiting, training, hiring, and retention of quality educators that reflect the cultural backgrounds and share common socio-political interests of the students they serve. The Center is developing a nationally relevant model to measurably increase teacher diversity and support Black educators through four pillars: Professional Learning, Pipeline, Policies, and Pedagogy. So far, the Center has developed ongoing and direct professional learning, mentoring, and coaching opportunities for Black teachers and other educators serving students of color. 

The Center also carries forth the freedom or liberation school legacy by hosting Freedom School sites that incorporates research-based curricula and exposes high school and college students to the teaching profession to help fuel a pipeline of Black educators. 

Prior to founding the Center, El-Mekki served as a nationally recognized principal and U.S. Department of Education Principal Ambassador Fellow. His school, Mastery Charter Shoemaker, was recognized by President Obama and Oprah Winfrey, and was awarded the prestigious EPIC award for three consecutive years as being amongst the top three schools in the country for accelerating students’ achievement levels. The Shoemaker Campus was also recognized as one of the top ten middle school and top ten high schools in the state of Pennsylvania for accelerating the achievement levels of African-American students. 

In 2014, El-Mekki founded The Fellowship – Black Male Educators for Social Justice, an organization dedicated to recruiting, retaining, and developing Black male teachers. El-Mekki blogs on Phillys7thWard, is a member of the 8 Black Hands podcast and serves on several boards and committees focused on educational and racial justice.