Because of Black People
“Everything you love about New Orleans is because of Black people.”
- Ryan “phlegm” Gilbert
BE NOLA’s work is centered on the belief that “teaching and the shaping of character is one of our great strengths.” That statement from world-renowned Pan-Africanist educator Asa Hillard highlights the fact that African people have “thousands of years of well-recorded deep thought” on fostering educational brilliance. So when womanist writer, educator (and BE NOLA co-leader) Stevona “Stevie” Elem-Rogers developed the Black is Brilliant Summit and Institute, the words became more than a tagline, they became our mantra.
Our Black is Brilliant programs help educators tap into the deep reservoir of knowledge from our earliest teachers who persevered in little shacks converted to schools using second hand books. Yet the joy of our work at Black Education for New Orleans (BE NOLA) is juxtaposed with the reality of recent court rulings that have gutted affirmative action and targeted investments designed specifically to ignite the Black brilliance that exists in our community.
July is a time of massive celebration in New Orleans as we welcome the ESSENCE Music Festival for its 30th anniversary. And though it’s not always reflected, Black New Orleanians' culture, practices and knowledge are the foundation of what so many visitors to our city enjoy. So what if this year we centered Black New Orleans, as we celebrate? What if we elevate, value, and love on Black brilliance while we party instead of sanitizing our streets from the culture and indigenous keepers of the land?
Elevate
When we don’t center Black brilliance we extract from Black people, specifically Black women, without compensation or credit. All too often in education, our ideas, innovations, and practices are stolen, sanitized and emptied of its radical content before being commercialized as something new or different. (A perfect example of this is the work of Harriet Ball.) Then there are the narratives that follow the work of Black women educators, often posthumously. We see praise for their tenacity and recognition for their fortitude - the very things that are weaponized against them as they lead. What would happen if we acknowledged the fullness of their contributions in real time? How would our retention numbers be affected if their impact was better supported? The elevation of Black educational thought and leadership takes loud mouth courage and community action to make it so. We’re here for it.
Value
Value is a critical issue when it comes to Black education, internally and externally. We have been stripped of resources for so long that some folks have gotten confused about our track record of educational brilliance and innovation. As a result, it can become tempting to internalize the propaganda that Black education is inferior. It’s quite the opposite. There is immense, unrealized value in supporting Black brilliance in New Orleans education. A 2017 study by the Institute of Labor Economics found that Black students who had at least one Black teacher between grades three and five were more likely to succeed in high school and college. Black male students were 39% less likely to drop out of high school and Black students of all genders were more likely to aspire to attend a four-year college if they had a Black teacher. (Source) Yet, Black-governed, Black-led schools in New Orleans—institutions that are full of culturally-wise Black educators and innovative Black education approaches—have experienced racial bias in accessing financial resources and other supports that would maximize their positive impact on Black children. Our 2020 Black is Brilliant Report highlighted their value in the face of persistent underfunding and marginalization. Our 2023 Case Study doubled down on the data.
Love
Stevie penned the cover story for this year’s July/August issue of ESSENCE - A Love Letter to New Orleans. In it she describes her soulful connection to a city where “you never walk alone.” The loving illustrations of Black joy, culture, creativity, and resistance shared in the article offer a methodology for love in Black education. Love causes us to show up for ourselves and others. Love implores us to persist. Love reminds us not to forget. We must return to the love, celebration, and inextinguishable pride that fueled the earliest visions and efforts of our ancestors. We must return to the love of Black education and educators. We must embrace where we’ve been and love where we’re headed. As Stevie reminds us, this kind of "love is not just a feeling but a sacred responsibility—a love that deserves investment and reciprocity.“
BE NOLA has unapologetically answered the call to elevate, value, and love Black education, schools and educators. Our school support programming grows the brilliant work being led by Black-governed educational spaces centering our children. We offer them resources, moments of rest and gatherings of joy. We uplift their successes and share their progress. We provide educators a community of care and space for their continued development where their curiosity can unlock new layers of brilliance. That valued nourishment comes in the form of our Black is Brilliant Institute, a six month paid fellowship for New Orleans' Black educators that Stevie, its founder, describes as a space of "wellness, learning and doing." And our love for all things Black education is demonstrated during our annual Black is Brilliant Summit, now in its 5th year. On July 4, 2024, a mini version of the Black is Brilliant Summit is popping up at ESSENCE Fest. It's a taste of what's to come as we kick off the road to our first-ever national Black Is Brilliant Summit in 2025 dedicated to celebrating the resilience of Black education 20 years post Hurricane Katrina.
We invite you to join us as a partner in this work. Your contributions help us elevate, value, and express love to the foundation of Black education that rests in New Orleans. Everything people love about New Orleans is because of Black people, even education. Especially education.
Adrinda Kelly is the Founding Executive Director of Black Education For New Orleans (BE NOLA). Click here to explore the work BE NOLA is doing to ignite the Black brilliance that exists in schools and neighborhoods through initiatives like the Black Is Brilliant Summit and Black Is Brilliant Institute founded by BE NOLA's Chief of Community Programs and Partnerships, Stevona Elem-Rogers.
