School gave me peace, because I knew how to play the game.

  • I went above and beyond on my school projects because I wanted to be seen.

  • I learned to bury my curiosity because my constant “why” made my first grade teachers brow furrow.

  • I learned to read faster than everyone else because I craved the attention that came with moving up a level.

  • I stayed back to help my teachers clean up because I wanted to feel valuable.I paid very close attention in class so I could be the first one with my hand in the air because I wanted to be heard. 

  • I learned to swallow the constant anxiety questioning if my mom was okay at home, the fear one of my siblings was going to get in trouble and I was going to be embarrassingly pulled out of class. 

I buried the anxiety, the fear, and the sadness.

And as silly, and in your face, as I was. I felt empty and invisible. 

I was born in Rockland, NY, but I did a whole lot of moving between kindergarten and 7th grade (like 7 different schools worth of moving). I was always the new girl but by the end of week 1, I had a new set of friends and teachers that loved me; a new set of people to help me escape.

School as flawed as it was, was my safe haven. I knew the rules; when to be quiet, that teachers liked when you raised your hand and like even more when you got the answer correct. I knew I could make a teachers face light up when I brought them a flower I picked during recess and I always pick the perfect gift around the holidays.

I have 7 schools worth of practice. School was predictable I knew what I was going to get out of it everyday if I play my part. That felt like peace compared to what was going on at home.

I am the oldest sibling of four and was prepared to be a care taker from the time my sister first sister was born. For most of my childhood my mom battled a substance abuse issue and a bi-polar disorder diagnosis. I had to navigate coming home and having no idea what I was talking into. 

I became a teacher because I never wanted any student to feel how I felt, not to put content or curriculum before the young people standing in front of me. I walked into the classroom ready to disrupt that school is just about learning arbitrary facts, and preparing to be a complaint work. 

I didn’t want my students to believe they had to check their trauma at the door and endure the battles they were fighting alone. 

But it all didn’t come together for me until 2018, when I fell into teaching at an alternative sentencing program in Brooklyn through a fellowship. That I fell so madly in love with my version of teaching, that I applied early decision to Teach for America so I could get into the classroom as soon as possible. 

Then I started a podcast to learn from veteran Black teachers, leaders, and consultants, to get really good at this teaching thing. Then a little less than two years later I started teaching full time at a transfer high school in the Bronx. 

Yup that 2020!

I became an educator out of a deep desire to support students in fostering a lifelong love of learning. But I quickly felt the crushing weight of navigating a system that did not share that goal, which is why I founded Black on Black Education and started my mission to help educators fight the harm caused by the education system from the inside, using rigor and joy as tools of resistance, without burning out. 

Three years in I was leading the social studies department at one school, and serving as model teacher for the entire humanities team, at another. I got my masters degree at Relay Graduate School of Education and started leading events, panels, and books clubs online and around the country.

I am now a 6th grade middle school history teacher, curriculum writer, and instructional coach.

What started a whole lot of trial and error in my classroom, eventually extended my mission far beyond my own classroom. I’ve coached 100+ educators nationally and co-designed, with students of course, The Student Action Board curriculum and facilitated it from NYC to Cape Town with Logan and Friends. 

Since then I’ve hosted over 150+ podcast episodes and delivered workshops from the Hip Hop Education Conference to the Center for Black Educator Developments annual Black Men in Education Convening, all in service of providing educators with practical tools and responsive coaching to help them navigate this intentionally broken system and I can’t wait to work with you too.