Making Us Matter Inc

Here’s The Problem 

Last summer, we interviewed 10 Black high school and college students to determine the effect Black educators have had on their education.  While their answers varied, one thread remained consistent; when asked about the number of Black teachers they’ve had from K-12, they all had to pause and take inventory of the years.  Two critical areas of concern surfaced from their responses: (1) the number of Black educators in K-12 was comparatively low and (2)  the higher up in grade students went, the fewer Black teachers students experienced. Black teachers make up 7%  of the teaching force while their White counterparts make up roughly 80%.  This ratio remains consistent even in schools where Black students are the majority demographic.  

School systems cultivate and maintain a normative white-centered status quo that upholds whiteness as the bar to be met.  Unless they adopt respectability politics, Black students and teachers struggle to achieve academic and professional success in traditional school settings. This creates a severe lack of representation.  Undoubtedly, this correlates with Black student’s comparatively low advanced course enrollment and college graduation rates.  This is also reflected in the comparative rates of suspension, arrest, and high school dropout between Black students and their white or non-Black POC counterparts.  Lastly, the scarcity of longitudinal studies makes it difficult to explore the full scope of these correlations. 

Who Is This For?

Black Educators

The intersection of being Black and a new educator create a unique set of experiences that are rarely addressed in teacher education programs.  Making Us Matter helps to prepare Black educators in skillfully navigating school climates. Members of our teacher cohort work one-on-one with our co-founders to sharpen or develop skills in curriculum development and best practices in the classroom (virtual and face-to-face).  

Black Students

Making Us Matter’s curriculum provides a mirror that Black students (and students from other marginalized identities) can see themselves through. Further, we deliver a holistic view of Black History that doesn’t begin with slavery in the United States and end with the American Civil Rights Movements. In this way we empower Black students providing them with visibility, an improved sense of self, and a means for articulating and unpacking their experiences. 

Students who are not Black 

For students who do not identify as Black, we provide the possibility for perspective.  We challenge the vestiges of colonialism that often become ingrained into BIPOC cultures. In doing so, we aim to empower our scholars to make changes within their communities.   Additionally, we aim to enrich the lives of our White-identifying students by exposing them to the history of White abolitionists and co-conspirators that are often unrecognized.   

What Will This Produce?

Beyond the direct benefits, our programming provides to our targeted stakeholders, Making Us Matter is also a site for educational research.  Continued community engagement allows for the opportunity to record longitudinal data on (1) the retention of Black educators, (2) high school and college graduation rates, (3) Black student recruitment and enrollment in advanced courses, and (4) the interruption of the school-to-prison pipeline. 

Past & Current Services 

• Session One: The Criminalization of Black Bodies (April 6th - May 7th 2020) 

• Session Two: Unpacking Internalized Racism (May 18th - June 19th 2020) 

• Summer 2020 Session (July 6th - August 13th 2020) 

• Fall 2020 Session (September 19th - November 7th 2020) 

• Spring 2021: Which Way Is Up? (February 27th - May 1st 2021)