The Shoulders of Giants

Dr. Lisa Delpit

For over four decades, education researcher Lisa Delpit, Harvard Ed.M.'80, Ed.D.'84, has promoted anti-oppressive teaching practices and reforms to language and literary education. A prolific writer, her latest work is titled, “Teaching When the World Is on Fire.”

We were fortunate to have Dr. Delpit keynote our Winter 2021 Virtual Summit. You definitely won’t want to miss this year’s Winter 2022 Virtual Summit. Registration is closing soon!

Marva Collins

Marva Collins opened Westside Preparatory School in 1975 on the second floor of her home. There, she instituted “the Marva Collins Way,” a philosophy that focused on shifting power dynamics and mindsets in classrooms. In a 1981 interview, Collins explained, “I felt that there were far too many children being recruited for failure, far too many excuses for not educating.” Her approach informs the UnboundEd GLEAM™ (Grade-Level, Engaging, Affirming, Meaningful) instructional framework.

Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was an enslaved African until the Reconstruction era. At 16, she lost both parents and convinced a nearby school administrator that she was 18 in order to teach and take care of her siblings. She later became a journalist, civil rights pioneer, and suffragist about whom it was once said: “She has plenty of nerve; she is as smart as a steel trap, and she has no sympathy with humbug.”

Dr. Clint Smith

He began his career as a high school English teacher, received his Ph.D. from Harvard, and is now a staff writer for The Atlantic. Dr. Clint Smith is a multifaceted author and poet with two best-selling books, including “How the Word Is Passed,” which topped The New York Times Best Seller list in June 2021.

We'd LOVE for you to hear Dr. Smith keynote our upcoming Spring 2022 Standards Institute in Las Vegas from March 28 through April 1. Register today!

Dr. Sonya Douglass Horsford

Professor of Education Leadership in the Teachers College at Columbia University, Dr. Sonya Douglass Horsford examines the problem of racial inequality in K-12 schools. She is the author of "Learning in a Burning House: Educational Inequality, Ideology, and (Dis)Integration."

We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Horsford's contributions on our final episode of the Complexion of Teaching & Learning podcast, "Reform or Transform?" It's available NOW on iTunes and SoundCloud.

William Leo Hansberry

Known as The Father of African Studies, William Leo Hansberry laid the foundation for the systematic study of African history, culture, and politics. A historian and anthropologist, Hansberry devoted much of his work to studying the sophisticated civilizations that had existed in Africa prior to the rise of the Greeks and Romans.

Mary McLeod Bethune

The daughter of former enslaved Africans, Mary McLeod Bethune became the highest-ranking Black woman in government under FDR’s administration. A philanthropist, businesswoman, and champion of racial and gender equity, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls. In 1923, the school was merged with the Cookman Institute for Men to form Bethune-Cookman College and was president for the next 19 years.

Patrick Douthit

Patrick Douthit, aka - 9th Wonder, is a hip-hop producer, record executive, DJ, rapper, and lecturer. He began his career as the producer for Little Brother and has also worked with Mary J. Blige, Wale, Jay-Z, Drake, Beyonce, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and more. Presently, Douthit is an adjunct professor at Duke University, a Harvard Fellow, and Artist In Residence at NCCU.

Mary Jane Patterson

Child of former enslaved Africans, Mary Jane Patterson is the first Black woman to earn a Bachelor’s degree. Patterson obtained her B.A. from Oberlin College, then became a teacher, administrator, and advocate for women’s rights who founded the Colored Women’s League of Washington, D.C.

Dr. Booker T. Washington

An ardent civil rights activist, educator, author, and orator, Booker Taliaferro Washington founded and led the Tuskegee Institute, an institution of higher learning for African Americans. Born into slavery, Washington became one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, an advisor to presidents Roosevelt and Taft, and a successful business owner. For his contributions to American society, Washington was granted an honorary master's degree from Harvard University in 1896, followed by an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Muhammad Khalifa

Dr. Muhammad Khalifa is a professor of Educational Administration and the Executive Director of Urban and Rural Initiatives at Ohio State University. His research examines how urban school leaders enact culturally responsive leadership and anti-oppressive schooling practices.

Dr. Khalifa will deliver the keynote address for the Spring 2022 Standards Institute leadership pathway! Registration is closing soon, and you won't want to miss it!

Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois

Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). A prolific author, his collection of essays, "The Souls of Black Folk," is a seminal work in Black literature.

Thank you to the Carl Van Vechten Trust and Yale University for the complimentary use of this extraordinary photo!

Georgiana Rose Simpson

The first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, Georgiana Rose Simpson, received her doctoral degree in German from the University of Chicago in 1921. Simpson was a lifelong educator and reinvested in her community by teaching high school and college.

Dr. Christopher Emdin

UnboundEd is proud to have hosted Dr. Emdin as a Standards Institute keynoter AND on our latest episode of The Complexion of Teaching & Learning podcast. Click here to check it out!

 

Dr. Alfred Tatum

Dr. Alfred Tatum is a leading expert on the literacy development of African American boys. Dr. Tatum is the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the Metropolitan State University of Denver and vice president of the Literacy Research Association. We were very lucky to have Dr. Tatum as a keynote speaker at our Summer 2021 Virtual Summit AND as a special, exclusive guest on our podcast, The Complexion of Teaching & Learning.

 

Mary Ann Shadd Cary

A dedicated abolitionist, lawyer, teacher, and writer, Mary Ann Shadd Cary opened a school for children of all races in the 1850s. Cary wrote and lectured about the importance of freedom and became the first Black female newspaper editor in North American history when she published Canada’s antislavery newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. She was also the first Black woman to attend law school in the US, starting in Howard University's inaugural law school class in 1869.

 

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Reverend, academic, filmmaker, literary critic, and intellectual, Henry Louis Gates Jr. played a vital role in integrating African American literature into Western canon. Presently, Gates is director of the Center for African and African American Research at Harvard, but his illustrious career spans numerous disciplines. This includes his work as writer and producer of the hit PBS series, "African American Lives," the first documentary to use genealogy and genetic science to understand African American history.

 

You Tell Us!

Visit the complete Facebook photo album of Black education giants to learn about them all and to leave a comment tagging a Black educator who has made an indelible impression on your life!