TFA DFW Honorary Alumna
Teach For America – Dallas Fort Worth named me their Honorary Alumna for 2021. This news caught me ALL the way off guard because mainstream TFA ain’t fux witcha girl for the longest 
. I done pissed a LOT of people off in my time of affiliation, but I appreciate this award and formal acknowledgement of my impact. Nuggets I’m holding:
DON’T LOOK TO BE LIKED. LOOK TO BE LEGENDARY.
Sometimes, we just be ahead of the times and folks ain’t in a place to understand us yet. I get that now. Truth telling, trailblazing, trouble makers proudly color outside of the lines. So, we piss A LOT of people off, just by being ourselves. Dominance wants, no… it *needs* everyone to do the exact same thing… BE OBEDIENT. Not only that, dominance needs us to 
expect obedience from everyone else as well, on some “one right way” type shit…. Some “paternalism” type shit… That white supremacy culture type shit. And I ain’t with it. 
Mainstream ain’t never been a fan of folks who buck the system. But freedom lovers are. 
Time has a way of teaching us that radical love ain’t always nice and sweet, but will always be transformative. I’m proud to be bout that, and to be recognized for it. And I’m even prouder to say: if you’re a disruptive, explosive, buck-the-system-radical-ass being, keep on knuckin and buckin. The world needs more of you.
PEOPLE BE PEEPIN.
Just cuz we’re the ones who are willing to speak up, that doesn’t mean that we’re the only ones feeling the way we feel. Dominance doesn’t hold its position of power because of simple popularity. Dominance holds control because it manipulates minds and facilitates fear. Dominance threatens lives and reputations. Dominance institutionalizes propaganda and prods us into a culture of hierarchies that uphold singular ideologies as absolute truths. Thus, it’s dangerous to speak out against the mainstream. But for those of us who are bold enough to do it, we have the esteemed privilege of being a clarion call and mirror to those who secretly want to. Sometimes we just need to witness courage to build the courage to stand. Folks may not be ready to stand with us, but one day, all of those witnesses will break through the fear that binds them and fight back. And dominance dies just like that – one by one.
CELEBRATE & KEEP ON PUSHING.
I’m thankful for this award, because of the progress that it symbolizes. I am in many ways philosophically and politically different from the honorees that preceded me: Michael Sorrell, President of Paul Quinn College (2017); Michelle Kinder, Founder of the Momentus Institute (2018); Jacinto Ramos, Board President for Fort Worth ISD (2019) and others. I have publicly and privately criticized TFA, demanding that it do better by us and our children. And I have made more than a few enemies in the ed reform realm. But unlike the others, I also went to the schools TFA-DFW works in. This is home for me. Our students’ journeys are like mine. So I will always call us to center and uplift the genius of our children and our people, first and foremost. I will always call us to be accountable to the values of love, justice and freedom if we claim to hold them. I will always walk with a demanding, indignant, don’t-try-me-bout-my-folk, freedom-obsessed radical love even when it stings and conjures them damned white tears that get me black-balled from umpteen spaces . And the fact that TFA-DFW knows this about me and decided to award me anyway says to me, “We’re listening. We’re learning. And today, we’re looking at leadership differently.” I celebrate this evolution, Teach For America- Dallas Fort Worth. Thank you. 
And now that I’m no longer seen as problematic, it’s time to go blow up the next thing 
.
TFA DFW Honorary Alumna
Teach For America – Dallas Fort Worth named me their Honorary Alumna for 2021. This news caught me ALL the way off guard because mainstream TFA ain’t fux witcha girl for the longest . I done pissed a LOT of people off in my time of affiliation, but I appreciate this award and formal acknowledgement of my impact. Nuggets I’m holding:
wardrobe & hair: j leshaé
DON’T LOOK TO BE LIKED. LOOK TO BE LEGENDARY.
Sometimes, we just be ahead of the times and folks ain’t in a place to understand us yet. I get that now. Truth telling, trailblazing, trouble makers proudly color outside of the lines. So, we piss A LOT of people off, just by being ourselves. Dominance wants, no… it *needs* everyone to do the exact same thing… BE OBEDIENT. Not only that, dominance needs us to expect obedience from everyone else as well, on some “one right way” type shit…. Some “paternalism” type shit… That white supremacy culture type shit. And I ain’t with it. Mainstream ain’t never been a fan of folks who buck the system. But freedom lovers are. Time has a way of teaching us that radical love ain’t always nice and sweet, but will always be transformative. I’m proud to be bout that, and to be recognized for it. And I’m even prouder to say: if you’re a disruptive, explosive, buck-the-system-radical-ass being, keep on knuckin and buckin. The world needs more of you.
PEOPLE BE PEEPIN.
Just cuz we’re the ones who are willing to speak up, that doesn’t mean that we’re the only ones feeling the way we feel. Dominance doesn’t hold its position of power because of simple popularity. Dominance holds control because it manipulates minds and facilitates fear. Dominance threatens lives and reputations. Dominance institutionalizes propaganda and prods us into a culture of hierarchies that uphold singular ideologies as absolute truths. Thus, it’s dangerous to speak out against the mainstream. But for those of us who are bold enough to do it, we have the esteemed privilege of being a clarion call and mirror to those who secretly want to. Sometimes we just need to witness courage to build the courage to stand. Folks may not be ready to stand with us, but one day, all of those witnesses will break through the fear that binds them and fight back. And dominance dies just like that – one by one.
CELEBRATE & KEEP ON PUSHING
