{"id":1076,"date":"2020-10-05T04:54:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T04:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/essa\/?p=803737"},"modified":"2023-05-29T15:05:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T19:05:03","slug":"profile-in-education-equity-sharif-el-mekki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/education\/2020\/10\/05\/profile-in-education-equity-sharif-el-mekki\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading <\/strong>with Equity and Justice<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This time last year, Sharif El-Mekki, former principal of Mastery Charter School\u2019s Shoemaker campus in West Philadelphia, was welcoming the school\u2019s nearly 900 students and staff back to school and back to \u201cnation building.\u201d It was a charge for students to do more than just get an education, but to lead and serve in their communities. And for teachers and school leaders to make sure students have what they need to do so.<\/p>\n

This back to school season, El-Mekki is answering his own \u201cnation building\u201d call. In May, he\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that after 11 years as Shoemaker\u2019s principal and 26 years of being inside schools as a teacher or administrator, he was devoting his full attention and time to launching a new Center for Black Educator Development to help address the urgent need to bring more Black educators into Philadelphia\u2019s classrooms and across the nation. \u201cIf I\u2019m going to be serious about trying to change the lives of Black educators and hence the lives of Black children, then it just can\u2019t be my night and weekend job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

El-Mekki can already count a few successes in this area. In 2014, he founded\u00a0The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice<\/a>, an organization dedicated to recruiting, retaining, and developing Black male teachers. It started as a small support group of fewer than 20 Black men. They met over dinner to share stories, help each other solve problems, and to build a community. The group has grown exponentially over the years. It now hosts a number of meetings throughout the year for Black educators (and those who supervise or support them) to learn from each other. The hallmark event is the\u00a0annual convening<\/a>, which last year drew over 1,000 participants to Philadelphia. The Fellowship\u2019s big goal is to triple the number of Black male educators in Philadelphia by 2025.<\/p>\n

But the new Center will have a heightened focus on professional development for Black teachers (providing ongoing and direct mentoring support and coaching), pedagogy curated from the traditions of highly effective Black teachers, pipelines to the classroom, and policies that can support new and aspiring Black teachers.<\/p>\n

It will also provide culturally responsive training for educators. Considering that the vast majority of educators are White (e.g., 96% of Pennsylvania\u2019s teachers), making sure all educators are culturally competent and responsive is an essential piece, El-Mekki said. \u201cI\u2019m always thinking that as we recruit\/retain more Black teachers, a huge intervention needs to be far more White teachers learning how to be anti-racists. That would impact Black teachers\u2019 retention numbers and likely change the experience of Black children in schools so they would strongly consider becoming teachers. \u2026 I believe nothing undermines the number of Black teachers more than the school-based experiences of Black students and teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Mekki is speaking from first-hand experience. Under his team\u2019s leadership, Shoemaker transformed from one of the most violent schools in the Philadelphia school district to a place where Black students say they feel supported, motivated, safe and culturally affirmed. \u201cIt\u2019s just like the sense of community I get when I walk in these doors is just amazing. I feel like I won\u2019t ever get that feeling anywhere else,\u201d said one 10th grader. \u201cIt\u2019s a safe house,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

Teachers too cite an environment that\u2019s supportive and welcoming. This is contrary to what many Black teachers, in particular, say\u00a0about their experiences<\/a>\u00a0in schools. \u201cWhen I come into this building, I think it\u2019s my house. I\u2019m home. I\u2019m taking a trip from home to home,\u201d said one teacher. \u201cThe reason I\u2019ve been here so long is because of the family here at Shoemaker,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

That family or extended community is better known as the \u201cShoeCrew.\u201d And the emphasis on the collective is a reminder that there is no one individual to credit. As in all families, each member contributes. But, teachers and students point to El-Mekki\u2019s leadership as essential to nurturing a space where Black students and Black educators feel they belong and have the opportunity to thrive.<\/p>\n

Last school year, Ed Trust traveled to Shoemaker to talk with students and teachers about El-Mekki\u2019s leadership and what it takes to create and nurture a school where relationship building, community engagement, and social justice are at the core.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we learned:<\/p>\n

Bringing Back Freedom School<\/strong><\/p>\n

El-Mekki\u2019s leadership is marked by his own cultural pride, a\u00a0personal record<\/a>\u00a0of activism, and an unapologetic commitment to making sure Black students have the supports and tools to do the nation-building their community requires them to do. As such, he said, \u201cI\u2019m always talking and walking on social justice issues, and I\u2019m going to lead with that. \u00a0I\u2019m trying to lead with equity and justice in thought and action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equity and justice are popular terms among today\u2019s education advocates, and especially among those fighting to overturn systemic inequities and historical disadvantages. But what does it mean to lead with equity and justice? What does it look like in action?<\/p>\n

For El-Mekki, whose parents were Black Panther Party members and activists, it looks a lot like what he remembers from his experience at Nidhamu Sasa, a Pan African school in Philadelphia\u2019s Germantown neighborhood. In the 1960s and \u201970s, leaders in the Civil Rights, Black Panther, and Pan African movements founded freedom or liberation schools to counter the reality that the curriculum being taught in majority White educational settings often rendered African American history, literature, and culture invisible. Black teachers taught Black students the importance of centering one\u2019s racial identity, knowing one\u2019s history, being a part of a community, and having a purpose \u2014 all with the broader goal of achieving social justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cNidhamu Sasa was an option for families who were really looking to ensure their children\u2019s whole self was honored, respected, celebrated, loved deeply by every adult in the building, from the secretary staff to the custodial to the teachers and the principals. I remember the staff and families coining it as an alternative learning experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

El-Mekki admits that how he speaks to students today is influenced by his experience as a child. \u201cAlmost every day, I have freedom songs playing in my head when I\u2019m engaging with students.\u201d He remembers this one especially about identity, community, and purpose \u2014 key tenets of the freedom or liberation school model:<\/p>\n

I went to a meeting last night, and my feeling just wasn\u2019t right.<\/em><\/p>\n

You know I thought that stuff about\u00a0<\/em>B<\/em>lackness just wasn\u2019t for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

And when I found out it was for me, I joined in the unity.<\/em><\/p>\n

And now I\u2019m dow<\/em>n for the struggle for liberation.<\/em><\/p>\n

He also remembers songs about historic Black leaders, such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Sojourner Truth. But, as important, students at Nidhamu Sasa learned about and from contemporary activists \u2014 those making history at the time. Sonia Sanchez, whose child was one of El-Mekki\u2019s schoolmates, would recite her revolutionary poetry for students. Angela Davis also visited the school and spent time with students. \u201cWe were at their feet learning right after math class or right after literature class. \u2026 learning from folks who were using activism to try to change society,\u201d El-Mekki said.<\/p>\n

At Nidhamu Sasa, the teachers were not just teachers but activists, and they saw themselves as raising activists, said El-Mekki. They looked at the idea of loving Black children as revolutionary \u2014 not that they really believed it was revolutionary, he explains, but in contrast to what was happening in the world, it was.<\/p>\n

Decades later, Black children still encounter a world where accessing a high-quality education is a revolutionary act, and where the images they see daily and the lessons they are taught about their history and communities are too often more likely to demean than affirm.<\/p>\n

But at Shoemaker, the photographs on the walls are primarily those of Black scholars, activists, and influencers. The books on the shelves are those of Black authors. And the inspirational quotes that line the concrete block walls feature those of Black leaders. Students see mirrors, instead of just windows, said El-Mekki, referring to the idea that Black students rarely see people who look like them in positions of leadership or as examples of intellectual excellence. White students, on the other hand, often\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0see people who look like them in such roles.<\/p>\n

And instead of the message Black students hear so often growing up in impoverished neighborhoods, i.e., to get a degree and get out, at Shoemaker the prevailing message is to \u201clift as you climb.\u201d It\u2019s another phrase that El-Mekki remembers from his own freedom schooling, and you\u2019ll see it displayed prominently around the halls of Shoemaker \u2014 a reminder to students (and staff) of the responsibility to lead and serve their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bringing back freedom school,\u201d El-Mekki said.<\/p>\n

Lift\u00a0<\/strong>as You Climb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Others on Shoemaker\u2019s staff had either attended schools that were built on the freedom or liberation school model or had taught in one. They too know the legacy first-hand and worked with El-Mekki and the entire team to infuse elements of the model into the school\u2019s curriculum, culture, and overall foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts with identity,\u201d said literature teacher Njemele Tamala Anderson. Before joining the Shoemaker team, she taught writing at an African-centered charter school and a service-learning focused school based on the freedom school model, both in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Anderson started off last school year having students read sections from noted Black scholar Na\u2019im Akbar\u2019s book,\u00a0Know Thy Self<\/em>. Akbar helped pioneer an African-centered approach to psychology. The excerpts provide a foundational framework for her class, linking education to a broader purpose in students\u2019 lives. \u201cYou should learn your identity through your education, and your education should also equip you with power to control your resources, so that you can get your basic needs met and then also that you can help meet the needs of the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Seventh-grade writing teacher, Ansharaye Hines, (who is Anderson\u2019s daughter) started the year weaving a lesson of identity, history, purpose, and community. On the first day of school last year, she told Shoemaker\u2019s newest cohort what to expect: \u201cYou will read and write each day. You will use your voices to inspire others.\u201d Writing, she explained, is an extension of ourselves: \u201cWe live in connection to a lot of other things. And every time we put a pencil to a paper, we are thinking about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

But writing too serves a greater purpose. Authors influence those who come after them, \u201caffect[ing] and echo[ing] throughout history for the rest of eternity, depending on how long their books last, and their words last,\u201d she said. The assignment that day was for them to reflect on what helped them make it to seventh grade and to write a letter to younger classmates, giving them advice on how to do the same, essentially lifting as they climb.<\/p>\n

Shoemaker\u2019s students have internalized the \u201clift as you climb\u201d motto. Juniors and seniors mentioned feeling a sense of responsibility and talked of careers in fields where they can serve. Twelfth grader Armanie, for example, planned to be an early childhood educator focusing on mental health. \u201cIf I had the right people at the time being, I would be in a better place \u2014 not saying I\u2019m not now, but I think my journey would have been a little smoother,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Aspiring psychiatrist and 12-grader Jaya shared a similar goal, narrowing her focus on students of color: \u201cI think mental health is really important to serving the youth that need it most, which I think is marginalized youth, especially of color,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to be able to serve youth like I would have liked to be served.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenth grader Kymarr wanted to help eliminate the dearth of Black male educators and become a teacher. He\u2019s following the path of one of his deans, who he said inspired him: \u201cSeeing how much an educator inspired and influenced other kids to do good and be their best selves, I want to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social Justice at Its Core<\/strong><\/p>\n

El-Mekki was taught early on that education and racial and social justice cannot be separated. So, it\u2019s natural for him to use that as a guiding principle. But his legacy, as he sees it, is leading a school that does the same, one that focuses on social justice as one of \u201cthe main reasons for its existence.\u201d Shoemaker\u2019s staff \u201ctends to it \u2026 nurtures it \u2026 spends time thinking about it as part of its school improvement plan, not separate from it,\u201d El-Mekki said. \u201cWe are always talking about what social justice aspects do students need.\u201d<\/p>\n

All students are required to take the Social Justice course in the eighth grade. Gerald Dessus, who joined the staff three years ago, designed the course. It\u2019s one of the reasons he came to Shoemaker. In fact, he had accepted a job at his \u201cdream school,\u201d but, after a conversation with El-Mekki, turned it down.<\/p>\n

According to Dessus, El-Mekki came to talk to him and asked him to describe his dream classroom. \u201cI told him what my utopian classroom would look like, would feel like, the autonomy that would be involved, the freedom I would have to use different texts and also still ground the work in literature and in writing. And [El-Mekki] said, \u2018Why can\u2019t you do that at Shoemaker?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Dessus designed the class to follow Bobbie Harro\u2019s Cycle of Liberation. He described a process that starts with waking up. In class, he said, they call it \u201ccognitive dissonance,\u201d but students know it as \u201cgetting woke.\u201d The first unit is about identity, and on the first day he asks students to jot down definitions of identity, as well as factors that might shape it. \u201cIn eighth grade, you\u2019re not going to have the strongest sense of identity, but making sure that they\u2019re aware of different social identity groups, where they fit in, what they\u2019re still trying to figure out about themselves, so when we get into the work of history and racial identity, that they\u2019re coming from a more aware place than just jumping straight into the content,\u201d Dessus said.<\/p>\n

Students go on to study the history of social movements \u2014 Civil Rights, Resistance to South African Apartheid, the Black Panther Party, LGBTQ rights. They discuss the wins, the losses, and challenges and use what they learn to help identify what they are passionate about and how they can get others to join their cause.<\/p>\n

The course culminates in a real-life exercise in activism, coalition-building, and making change. Each student identifies a problem they want to address, interviews at least 25 stakeholders and others directly affected by the issue, and teams up with other students with similar interests to design an activity that will involve and influence the community. Recent projects range from teaching younger classmates about the impact of colorism to hosting a school visit and conversation with local officers to improve school, community, and police relations.<\/p>\n

Focusing on social justice or just racial identity makes an immediate connection for many students, said Dessus. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about learning about the Civil Rights Movement or learning about the Black Panther Party but also like naming the struggles, naming the courage that it took \u2026 to defy a social system by yourself, and deal with the backlash, and feel like you lost all of your friends \u2026 and still stand firm like \u2018I made the right decision.\u2019 To me, that motivates our students \u2026 to speak up and do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just eighth graders who get the connection between social justice, racial identity, and their daily lives. It\u2019s visible to anyone who walks through Shoemaker\u2019s doors. Just steps away from the main entrance, a collage of recent victims of police brutality and gun violence looms. Some of the names are well known, such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Some of them are not. But all are shrouded in red, black, and green construction paper lined with a kente border, with #SayTheirNames! in bold letters.<\/p>\n

Even the youngest students at Shoemaker are encouraged to contemplate their role in the face of racial injustice. After a trip to see\u00a0T<\/em>he Hate U Give<\/em>, the film adaptation of the best-selling young adult novel about police brutality, seventh-graders easily connected the movie to real life. \u201cThis is actually going on,\u201d said Christopher. \u201cI\u2019ve seen it on the news and stuff. How people are protesting and the cops just abusing their power. This is real. This actually hits you really hard, like wow.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they considered their role as young activists, putting themselves in the scene: \u201cThe policeman don\u2019t get consequences. They don\u2019t get nothing. But when we stand up for our rights, then we get bombs thrown at us, get shot, get beat. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s right,\u201d said Tyjai.<\/p>\n

In all, the movie made them feel sad, and then upset and angry, they said. But they also felt empowered. \u201cI feel like it was to tell us to never give up and stand up for our rights because the girl who really saved everyone was Black. She was the one who stood up. She was the only girl. She was smaller than everybody else, and she was the only one that stands up,\u201d said Oriana.<\/p>\n

\u2018We See This School as a Community\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of this gives Shoemaker\u2019s students the chance to have hard conversations about race and racism, something many adults even have a hard time doing. But what bolsters students, they say, is the supportive school environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of racial injustice in the world,\u201d said seventh-grader Oriana, but \u201cin this school \u2026. We\u2019re trying to find new ways to \u2026 end it. And it\u2019s really cool because like here, we don\u2019t get judged by our race. \u2026 We keep all that outside, and we just come here and act like we\u2019re a whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dynamic exists at Shoemaker where personal relationships are a source for the teaching and learning. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of love, a lot of relationship building, and you can see that in student interactions, you can see that in student and teacher interactions. There\u2019s like a genuine investment in trying to understand where each person is coming from, their experiences. That\u2019s at the forefront of all of our interactions,\u201d said Dessus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see that your destinies are linked, then you\u2019re going to do whatever you can to make that child successful, not just to pass a test, but in life,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n

As a result, lines between school, family, and community are blurred. \u201cWe see this school as a community, not just peers and teachers teaching us what we\u2019re going to need when we grow up,\u201d said seventh-grader Tyjai. \u201cWe see this school as a community because whenever we need them, they\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the support, students say, is not just limited to coming from one or two individual teachers or just from El-Mekki, for that matter. As 12th-grader Armanie explained: \u201cWe all come from different walks of life. We may have the same skin color but we have different paths where we\u2019re going. But when we come here, we have the same goals, to do better and be better,\u201d she said. \u201cThe deans, the teachers, and the administrators, they make sure we get to where we\u2019re going. Once you come here, you feel that loving vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teaching Across Racial Lines<\/strong><\/p>\n

El-Mekki, Anderson, and Dessus are Black and grew up in Philadelphia. El-Mekki grew up just a few blocks from Shoemaker and, until a few years ago, still lived nearby. Anderson also lives just a few blocks over, citing the location as one of the reasons she chose to teach there. They know the neighborhood and the families within, and are themselves, very much a part of it.<\/p>\n

But many of Shoemaker\u2019s educators do not fit this profile. (Last school year, 40% of teachers were Black, and 50% of overall staff members were Black.) And yet, the school is still able to be a place where Black and Brown students say they feel supported, motivated, confident, culturally affirmed and safe. This means that the teachers who don\u2019t share racial or cultural experiences with the students must still be able to be accountable for carrying out the freedom school legacy of building confident Black students who are empowered to influence change. They too must know their racial identity, value the surrounding community, understand how history influences today\u2019s reality, believe in social justice, and champion an alternative narrative to that which Black and Brown students hear so often outside the school.<\/p>\n

Teaching across racial lines and building relationships with students across cultural lines requires self-reflection and self-work, said 11th-grade teacher Ellen Speake, who is White. It\u2019s something that she constantly thinks about, and still doesn\u2019t think about enough, she says. In the classroom, for instance, she has to ask herself, \u201cWould I expect the same of these kids if they were White?\u201d<\/p>\n

But one of the reasons why Speake has stayed with the school so long is the value put on building cultural competency within the staff. Art teacher Jessica Oxenberg, who is also White, agreed. She had just relocated, and one of the things that brought her to the school was the intentional professional development around building relationships with students across cultural lines. \u201cI\u2019ve been at a lot of schools that talk about it, but don\u2019t have a plan in place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, Shoemaker staff hold professional learning communities, or PLCs, where teachers are encouraged to talk openly and candidly about their own biases related to race, class, and privilege. They talk about implicit bias, micro-aggressions, intersectionality, etc. Notably, the sessions are led by teachers and not by an outside facilitator or even by El-Mekki. Although, teachers do credit El-Mekki for empowering them to lead the discussions and for setting an example with his own willingness to talk openly about race.<\/p>\n

And just like students, teachers say the supportive environment at Shoemaker creates a safe place for them to have hard conversations. \u201cTo be in a space that values [cultural competency professional development], to be among people that also value it, people who can push me, people that I can go to and feel safe going to in moments of vulnerability, knowing that I\u2019ve made a mistake \u2026 that was really important to me,\u201d said Speake.<\/p>\n

As difficult as such conversations are, prospective teachers must be willing to have them, said Speake. \u201cTheir willingness to have those conversations says a lot about how much they value that.\u201d El-Mekki\u00a0has written<\/a>about the interview questions that he and his leadership team ask to find the best teachers for Black students \u2013 those who (regardless of race) are aligned with Shoemaker\u2019s mission. Questions range from why they want to teach in a Black neighborhood to do they know their own implicit biases to how they feel about being led by a Black principal.<\/p>\n

Why Black Teachers Matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shoemaker students, however, still crave more Black educators. The Black teachers and administrators at the school have had such an impact, they say, that just having a handful on staff is not enough. They cite a \u201cdeep connection,\u201d the ability to relate to them in \u201cdeep ways that you don\u2019t even know about.\u201d They discuss the importance of having someone they can go to who they feel will understand them. And students who \u201cmight not be on the right path\u201d can see someone like them at the front of the classroom and say, \u201cOh, I can be like them, and I\u2019m still being myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students said they appreciate even small gestures of cultural affirmation, such as the way one teacher addresses students in her class: \u201cOh, the brother in the back has a question,\u201d or \u201cOh, sister right here in the front has a question.\u201d And how she used shared cultural experiences to create a welcoming classroom: \u201cOne time she was playing Lauryn Hill, and another time she was playing Drake. One time she was playing Fela Kuti.\u201d They value her displays of cultural history, wearing African fabrics and other such attire. One student described her as an \u201cinspiration to Black people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to underestimate what it means for some Black students to enter an educational setting and be welcomed, accepted, understood, and affirmed, which eliminates their fears and doubts and how all of it influences their ability to learn something new, grasp difficult concepts, think critically, i.e., perform academically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reassurance our teachers gives us means so much to me personally,\u201d said 10th-grader Bryce. \u201cSome days, coming from where I come from \u2026 I\u2019m going to school whether I\u2019m in good spirits mentally or not, and the fact that my teachers can so easily sense that without me having to say it. It makes me feel like I\u2019m at my second home. Like I\u2019m at my grandfather or uncle\u2019s house watching the game, just doing assignments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoemaker\u2019s Black teachers and leaders then are not only educators, but role-models \u2014 someone for students to see themselves in, to look up to, and to emulate. And like many\u00a0Black educators across the country<\/a>, their ability to connect with Black students through shared cultural experiences helps students feel connected to their school and their education more broadly. Black students who have at least one Black teacher in elementary school are less likely to drop out of high school and\u00a0more likely to enroll<\/a>\u00a0in college. And yet, Black teachers make up only 7% of the nation\u2019s teaching workforce.<\/p>\n

A New Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

El-Mekki\u2019s activist parents and teachers groomed him to be a revolutionary. But he struggled to know what that looked like for him, reaching adulthood years after the Civil Rights and Black Panther Party movements peaked. Yet, after being\u00a0shot on the football field<\/a>\u00a0by a young Black man and more than 12 surgeries to save his leg, he found the answer: \u201cMy revolution was to be a Black man by a blackboard in Southwest Philadelphia in that same part of town where that young man had shot me,\u201d he reveals on the\u00a0Moth Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And for the past 26 years, he has acted just steps away from blackboards \u2014 as a teacher and administrator at Turner and Shaw middle schools in Southwest Philadelphia, and then principal at Shoemaker. His new endeavor as founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development is just a new iteration of that same revolution \u2014 one that his personal and professional experiences have more than adequately prepared him to take on.<\/p>\n

The Center, for instance, will carry forth the freedom or liberation school legacy. In August it\u00a0celebrated<\/a>\u00a0the completion of its first Freedom School program. Philadelphia already has\u00a0several sites<\/a>\u00a0where college students\/servant leaders spend six to eight weeks teaching and mentoring elementary school students\/scholars. A priority for the center\u2019s Freedom School is to incorporate research-based curricula. Another priority is to make sure high school students teaching alongside college students are being actively recruited to consider becoming teachers, El-Mekki said. The goal is to expose as many young people as possible to the teaching profession to help fuel a pipeline of Black educators.<\/p>\n

As El-Mekki starts this school year answering his own call for \u201cnation-building\u201d by bringing Black educators into the profession and providing them with the support they need to thrive, he is also helping to\u00a0build a movement toward educational justice<\/a>. Part of that movement is ensuring that the adults who work with students hold themselves accountable for what students are able to do, he said. \u201cIf we have that, and if we look at every child in our schools as our own children, and that we bring the love and commitment to outcomes, then we will radically transform educational spaces and schools in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Profile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki<\/a> appeared first on NNPA ESSA MEDIA CAMPAIGN<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Sharif<\/p>\n

El-Mekki is answering his own \u00e2\u0080\u009cnation building\u00e2\u0080\u009d call. In May, he announced that after 11 years as Shoemaker\u00e2\u0080\u0099s principal and 26 years of being inside schools as a teacher or administrator, he was devoting his full attention and time to launching a new Center for Black Educator Development to help address the urgent need to bring more Black educators into Philadelphia\u00e2\u0080\u0099s classrooms and across the nation. \u00e2\u0080\u009cIf I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m going to be serious about trying to change the lives of Black educators and hence the lives of Black children, then it just can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t be my night and weekend job,\u00e2\u0080\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

The post Profile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki<\/a> appeared first on NNPA ESSA MEDIA CAMPAIGN<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,219,223,27,28,30,31,36,39,203,204,4988],"tags":[72,4,257,258,259,260,261,262,263,264,265,266,267,268,269,270,254,96,271,3,9,272,273,274,275,75,276,277,76,77,78,79,278,279,280,80,281,282,283,285,84,286,87,255,88,287,288,256,289,292,293,294,295,296,297,298,299,300,301,20,302,303,304,10],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nnpanewswire","category-civil-rights","category-ed-trust","category-education","category-essa","category-every-student-succeeds-act-essa","category-featured","category-national","category-nnpa","category-nnpa-newswire","category-pennsylvania","category-pk-12-mathematics","tag-nnpanewswire","tag-about","tag-activism","tag-activists","tag-african-american-history","tag-angela-davis","tag-anti-racists","tag-black-authors","tag-black-children","tag-black-educators","tag-black-leaders","tag-black-male-teachers","tag-black-panther","tag-black-panther-party","tag-black-scholars","tag-center-for-black-educator-development","tag-charter-schools","tag-children","tag-civil-rights","tag-color","tag-content","tag-culturally-responsive-training-for-educators","tag-culture","tag-developing","tag-ed-trust","tag-education","tag-education-advocates","tag-equity","tag-essa","tag-every-student-succeeds-act","tag-every-student-succeeds-act-essa","tag-featured","tag-historical-disadvantages","tag-influencers","tag-justice","tag-k12-education","tag-literature","tag-malcolm-x","tag-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-nation-building","tag-national","tag-nidhamu-sasa","tag-nnpa","tag-nnpa-newswire","tag-nnpaessa","tag-overturn-systemic-inequities","tag-pan-african-school","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia-school-district","tag-professional-development","tag-racial-identity","tag-recruiting","tag-retaining","tag-revolutionary-poetry","tag-school-leaders","tag-sharif-el-mekki","tag-sojourner-truth","tag-sonia-sanchez","tag-teachers","tag-team","tag-the-fellowship-black-male-educators-for-social-justice","tag-their-communities","tag-west-philadelphia","tag-world"],"yoast_head":"\nProfile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki - NNPA Education Public Awareness Program<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/education\/2020\/10\/05\/profile-in-education-equity-sharif-el-mekki\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Profile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki - NNPA Education Public Awareness Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"El-Mekki is answering his own \u00e2\u0080\u009cnation building\u00e2\u0080\u009d call. 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