02/01/2026
Today, we highlight educators in our community.
Tag an educator who made a difference for you — because for many of us, they were the system when the system wasn’t working.
Black History Month is a time not only to celebrate milestones, but to relearn the patterns in American history.
Public education has produced incredible teachers who change lives. At the same time, it has operated within systems and policies that have not always supported the whole child, particularly melanin-rich children.
Brown v. Board of Education challenged legal segregation, but showed that laws alone don’t change lived experience. During integration, tens of thousands of Black teachers and principals lost their jobs — weakening the very support systems students relied on.
What’s often overlooked is this: education in our communities did not begin with public schools.
It began with churches, mutual aid societies, private community-run schools, and community-funded learning spaces. When public systems excluded our children, we built our own pathways to learning. One early example is the African Free School, founded in 1787 by free Black communities.
Even later, in segregated and underfunded schools, many students succeeded — not because the system worked, but because educators and community structures carried them. Expectations were high. Care was present. Education was treated as survival.
That matters.
Student success in underfunded, segregated schools was driven largely by our educators and our communities — not by the system itself.
That pattern still has something to teach us.
As a people, it’s imperative to give our children the best we can provide — whether through public school, homeschool, private education, community-based learning, or something we build ourselves. Education should support the whole child, not just outcomes on paper.
👇🏾 Tag an educator who carried students when systems didn’t. That impact deserves to be named.
Happy Black History Month.
