What is Equity and Why Do Our Children Deserve it? | Rodney Robinson | TEDxCharlottesville

[Applause] what do all children need to be successful they need equity see I learned this lesson growing up in King William County Virginia it was taught to me by my mother my mother she was the best teacher I had even though she only had a sixth grade education the majority of her life and I remember she told me these lessons of equity every day going growing up she would always tell us that we could be whatever we wanted and she always treated us with that equity and that love that we needed but the most important lesson she taught me I remember was September 9th 1993 see we grew up in rural Virginia King William County and there wasn't much to do in King Leon County however when you turns 15 you could go to the local teen club one town over and so I remember that day September 9th I woke up I pressed my cross colors outfit and I told my brothers I was like I'm going to the club with you all tonight and my brother you rolling I'm rolling and so we went out we were headed out the door and my mother said hey where you guys going I said going to the cloud mom and my I said okay Rodney you're not going what do you mean then her voice changed and she said it again and at that point I kind of realized I wasn't going to the club that night so I mumbled off into the room teenager and let me do nothing but then two weeks later my mother went out of town so you know what I did woke up press that outfit again told my brother's we going to the club now my brother gave me a warning he said you sure I said yeah I'm going to the club and so I left and we went to the club and quite honestly worst experience of my life these were going on that I wasn't ready for fight broke out I got punched in the eye it was just an overall bad experience and so about Wednesday of the next week started to feel a little guilty and so I went tomorrow who's sitting at the kitchen table I say mom I got something to tell you and my was like I was wondering we used to tell me about your eye but go ahead and so I told her I said the other night I went to the club and then my mother just looked at me and shook her head and she said mm-hmm now see if you have a mother like mine when you hear that phrase like that you don't know whether to run hide call nine-one-one go give her a hug but my mother she looked at me and I was expecting to get blasted and she told me I'm not gonna punish you because I feel you learned your lesson and so I asked her a question I said mom why couldn't I go to the club my brothers were 15 and they went to the club why wasn't I allowed to go to the club at 15 and then she gave me the piece of advice that changed my life and made me what I am today she said a good parent knows her children and what they're ready for and not ready for at 15 your brothers were ready for that club environment at 15 you need to grow and mature before you went into that environment that's why he got punched in the eye but you see that turned out to be my first lesson on equity you know equality said I was 15 and that I could go to this club equity said I need to grow and mature enough more before I could enter that environment and see that's what our school needs we need equity we need to understand that not every child in America comes to your school with the same abilities and that we have to provide them the resources that they need to achieve not what is equal effect and so two types of equity the first type is economic equity economic equity is about resources making sure kids have the resources they need when they need them to be successful and when I won National Teacher of the Year I began to tour this country and I began to see the economic inequities that our students face I went to one school it was a 21st century building the students were using robots to fetch sustainable agriculture I went 30 miles down the school down the road and I went to a building that was a hundred years old no no heater air conditioning no high-speed Internet and no textbooks how do we expect the students at the second school to compete with the students at the first school if these inequities is this it's not fair and therefore we must provide economic equity to our students the second type of equity is one that people don't like to discuss much but that's cultural equity it's not we know 50% of the students in the United States are students of color but 80% of the teachers in America are white we need teachers who look like our students and who value them and the gifts they bring all students deserve teachers role models nurses paraprofessionals who look like them and value their gifts no matter their race religion gender sexual orientation or citizenship status see a recent US Department of Education survey said that when teachers are proud of color or present all students benefit teachers of color serve as role models and cultural liaisons for their students but there's a specific benefit to ethnic and minority students they're represented in fewer numbers interception allege there's a decrease in absenteeism and parents and the community are more involved in schools that have teachers of color so if we truly want to tackle the issues of the achievement gap culturally relevant education toxic masculinity we need more teachers of color in the classroom seeing this is really important the students who look like me a recent John Hopkins study said student black students who get a black teacher in elementary school are 39 percent less likely to drop out of high school and 19 percent more likely to go to college these problems also consider excuse me contribute to other problems we had such as the teacher shortage the hardest areas to staff for teachers of color it's not a coincidence that these are the students who had the worst experience in school no one wants to return to the scene of their trauma as a career field we need more teachers of color and education because everybody and I mean everybody benefits from diversity but also this is really important to my students I work at Virgin benefit education center at school inside the Richmond juvenile jail my students have made mistakes and they're paying for those mistakes but America is a country of second chances and the best way to take advantage of a second chance is a high quality education my students have succumbed to the pressures of urban living and they're made mistakes but they persevere and they strive for success no matter what so I need everybody in this room to do me a favor I want you to close your eyes think back to when you're a teenager now I wake because I know some of us guys think a little longer than others now think of the worst thing you did during your teenage years now imagine if everyone knew your teachers principals administrators peers counselors everybody knew about your moment of weakness would you be where you are today would you have been given the opportunities that you have been given in life my students face this every single day yet they still persevere and fight for an education and my job is to provide them the equitable resources they need and I will fight to my last breath to make sure that my students have what they deserve so I'm going to tell you a story about two of my students first student is a young man named John John was caught up in some gang life some gang activities and he came to our detention center an extremely angry young man I remember the first time I talked to John his first two words with me to me one started with a F and the other one was you but I didn't take that personally because I knew John was hurt John had never had a positive black role model in his life John was angry that's why he gravitated toward the gang John had not had good experiences with schools he was two years behind however we gave John look we showed him what he could do and we provided him academic resources to boost his educational skills and John graduated not only did John graduate but the judge gave him special permission to walk with his graduating class at his high school along with his twin sister it was a great moment for us we live streamed it for the kids it was just a really inspiring moment however John had four months to go before he was released and he still did not truly believe in himself so we gave him intensive love we mentored him we exposed them to things that he would never have gotten exposed to we took him into art programs we took him on field trips he even got a chance to go to Washington DC and meet with presidential candidates Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and it really had an effect on him and I remember when we left that meeting he said to me he said mr. wall first time in my life I feel like an American and so when he was released from the detention center he went join the army because of that inspiring feeling but more importantly he told me when he first got there about a childhood dream he had of jumping out of airplanes and right now he's an Airborne School jumping out of airplanes the next story is a young lady named Miko Shameka was caught up in sex trafficking as a means to provide for her family you know she was didn't believe in herself she had no view of herself as just an object or a toy to be used and so she didn't believe in herself and she committed a serious assault of what she served in three years in jail right now however our goal with her wasn't academic our goal was to get her to believe in herself we not only provided her with academic lessons but we just gave her love and support we told her she was so much more than she could have ever imagined and eventually she began to believe in herself and she graduated and that her graduation she gave us a speech and I'll never forget this speech because it's seared into my memory she said I appreciate every teacher and staff that is dess in this building I will not only take the classroom lessons that you have taught me but I would take the life lessons that we've had that you've taught me every day and without a doubt I'm going to pass it on others and just mark my words one day you were here about me you were here about the positive things I'm doing and you're gonna remember teaching me Abraham Lincoln once said the best way to predict the future is to create it for yourself and that's what I'm going to do so this isn't a graduation speech this is more of a thank-you note for what you've done for me and what I would do for the world and so that's been ingrained in my heart you know don't get a little choked up thinking about it but we take the most vulnerable kids in society and we are successful at my school and people acts all the time they said what are you why are you guys so successful with at-risk students and I'll give them two responses first thing I do is correct that question I said there's no such thing as an at-risk student all students are promising that potential if the proper supports are there and the love is there to give them what they need but then but then I give them some advice that I got from Hall of Fame educator Ben Talley who lives in Bristol Virginia he said there's no secret to teaching a difficult child you just got lovely keep loving them when they make mistakes keep loving when they don't love themselves just keep loving them and see that's what we did to Krypto John and Shamika we loved them and we made them believe in themselves then the second reason we're successful is it's not hard we are fully funded school we have equitable resources for our students we have a 10 to 1 student a teacher ratio we have a licensed psychologist and school counselor in the building we have literacy and math coaches to help our students and give them the individual attention they need but I have a question why does a kid have to be thrown in jail to get the resources they need to be successful it's not right it's not right and it's time to call our legislators to test for these inequities and time that acts a moral question in the words of dr. Martin Luther King what Judgment Day comes what is your life's blueprint when it comes to the children of America see I know the blueprint of every teacher I work with because they are on the front lines every day despite being underfunded under supported and under resourced by those who claim the value of education we have hit a point of national emergency and teachers are standing up and we need people to stay end up with us and the worlds of Martin Luther King we need leaders a wise judgment and sound integrity leaders not love with money but leaders in love with humanity leaders not in love with saying they care about kids but leaders who provide the resources that our kids need we need equity in education and so the quote Civil Rights icon John Lewis if we come together in a mission and it's grounded in love and and we can make the impossible possible and so we need equity we need equity to ensure that students suffering from multi-generational poverty and the rural mountains in the cities of Virginia receives the same education as those in Silicon Valley we need equity to ensure that our Native American students get the resources they have been denied as the original inhabitants of this country we need acting the economic equity to make sure teachers do not have to work a second job to make ends meet we need equity and we need equity to make sure our immigrant students feel welcome and we build bridges of trust not walls of hate we need equity to recruit retain and train the best of the best for the students of the United States and we need cultural equity to make sure our students have teachers and administrators who look like them and value what they bring to the table so once again I ask that question what is your life's blueprint when it comes to the children of America if I ask what's the evidence right now our sisters will get a giant F and so it's time to ask yourself another question do we stay with the status quo or do we rise up and give our kids the equitable resources they need trust me thousands of teachers parents students everybody is standing up and saying enough is enough and we need leaders who are willing to stand with us and trust me their judgement day will not be their final day on this earth but on an election day where millions of people led by everybody in this room go to the polls kick down the doors vote them out of office and say all children deserve equity you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 75,491

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Education, Compassion, Education reform, Humanity, Race, Schools, Teaching

Id: 1lg3MytDC-Y

Length: 16min 38sec (998 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 07 2020