Equity Now

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “We are faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. There is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.“ It has been over 50 years since King made this powerful speech and its contents still remain true today.

A very bright light has been shed on the racial disparities in this country, from our health care systems as we see drastic differences in outcomes of individuals who suffered from the COVID-19 virus to our criminal justice system where we have repeatedly observed and felt the lives of Black men and women taken indiscriminately. We know that the white dominant culture ideology that drives our healthcare and criminal justice system also influences our educational system.

Like Dr. King, I too feel as if the time to act on the wellbeing of not just our children, but the future they’ll curate, is now! I am charging all with a call to action, a call for EQUITY NOW! The U-Bridge Project has a clear goal in mind, to close the diversity gap within public schools by developing influential, unbiased, and culturally proficient leaders and creating schools of promise. This would be inconceivable without the intense comprehension of equity and knowing exactly what equity looks like.

What is educational equity?

I have come to recognize equity as the active work of giving children what they need in order to be successful, regardless of their social identities. While the country has moved past the Brown vs. Board of Education case (allowing for the desegregation of black students into “white” schools hence declaring equal access to school means equal opportunities for all), there are still flaws within our public school system that are crippling black, indigenous, and other students of color from achieving an education that will yield character development and prove useful post-graduation. As mentioned in my previous blog post, the educator force has been stagnant in changing its institutional and cultural practices which act as a blueprint for the inner workings of most public schools today. The result, an environment lacking in providing adequate and effective resources readily available to its diverse student population.

Now how does equity play a role in all of this?

The logic that everyone who has access to school correlates with equal opportunities of success, including success in the classroom, is completely false. Public schools in high poverty areas don’t receive nearly as much funding or support as schools in more affluent communities. For example, public schools in these impoverished areas often receive textbooks that are not up to date, have fewer guidance counselors, fewer extra- curricular activities, and fewer technological resources that are needed to compete in today’s digital world. Not to mention the majority of residents in impoverished neighborhoods are people of color. By taking on the charge of “Equity Now”, institutions and its leaders can focus on making sure all of these critical factors are taken into consideration when providing resources to public schools in resilient, at-promise communities, giving all students a more equitable opportunity for success. I could go more into depth about this country’s history and intentions behind current practices in the school systems, but the bottom line of it all is systemic racism, a system set up for black, indigenous, and people of color to fail. It still exists and despite newfound support and awareness of dismantling the said system, it will take leaders with an equity mindset actively making change in order to end racism in the education system.

This is why the U-Bridge Project’s main goal is closing the diversity gap within schools. Oftentimes barriers are created due to a limited leadership mindset. It’s what determines the systems we put in place and ultimately the messages that students internalize about whether they belong in your school. A lack of understanding for both culture and experience between teachers and leaders with their students, as well as ignoring precedent issues such as racism’s role in education and the classroom, can create a bigger barrier than the student’s efforts to achieve in school.

So, what is the next step?

How can we expound on what Dr. King spoke of over five decades ago? How can we act on equity now? The U-Bridge Project was specifically founded with an equitable morale in mind. Our objective is to develop great leadership skills that leaders within the education system can use to create a conducive learning environment for its students, staff, and teachers. The U-Bridge team would like to think that we are the bridge to close that diversity gap as my many years of experience in educational leadership roles as well as our personal experiences as being Black students and students from resilient communities can offer constructive insight into problems and solutions.

We have identified the problem, now for the solution. U-Bridge Consulting Group provides scientifically proven programs and services that allow for a culture of equity and excellence. One of the many services we offer is equity audits which are created in partnership with school districts to help determine gaps within their systems that foster the necessary change to achieve a culture of equity and excellence for all students. U-Bridge has also developed the ADD Equity Framework, an adulting learning process that develops an equity mindset. This framework guides that work that we do with leaders.

AWAKENING

Where Equity Knowledge is Gained on the Individual level

DEVELOPING

Where Equity Awareness, Sensitivity & Competence are Developed on the Individual and Interpersonal levels

DEEPENING

Where Equity Mindset Manifests into Systematic Changes

As leaders, our call to action is not only to be anti-racist, but to lead antiracist schools. We must take on the responsibility of removing every barrier that stands in the way of our students’ ability to learn. With an explicit focus on leading for racial equity and justice, you will gain skills for using equity-centered tools and processes to:

Explore tools to begin reflecting on your personal antiracist leadership journey.
Gain an understanding of what an antiracist school looks like.
Identify the barriers to antiracism operating in your school
Create and receive feedback on an action plan towards steps to dismantle each barrier.

Can we create anti-racist schools?

Absolutely. Will it be the hardest work we have ever done? Of course, it will. Do our students deserve it? If you believe the answer is yes, The U-Bridge Consulting Group is ready to work with you!

Click here to sign up for the Equity Now Leadership Summit that will catapult you into your journey to equity now.