value of disruption because for me for
me for me disruption has been motivating
me continuously particularly in the last
year because i’m actually a person who
loves a good plan i’m a former teacher
and i am used to making lesson plans and
creating very detailed schedules i love
to know when something’s supposed to
happen and how it’s supposed to happen
but this last year has taught me some
lessons around the value of disruption
I’ve had a lot of time to think about
national changes some local changes and
for me some very personal changes that
completely disrupted and derailed my
plans and so the value of disruption for
me even though we typically think of it
as a word that means the problem or the
issue are the obstacle for me disruption
became a moment to build awareness it
became a chance to get some clarity and
also became a chance to move that
awareness into action and so for me
disruption became one of the most
valuable things to help me understand
how I could position myself to fight for
what I know is right and to live in my
truth so I want to tell you a story
about some disruptions that I’ve had and
then I want to think about how we can
start to disrupt your education they
don’t express them a lot of the wrong
buttons here oh look there we go I don’t
know if there’s some magical person back
there handling that for me but I
appreciate you so many years ago I
worked at a museum and I was the lead
educator and it was my job to take every
eighth grader in CMS through the history
of Charlotte from 1865 to the
present and so I would meet a group just
like you are and I would welcome them to
the museum shout out to Levine Museum
they’re great people their staff over
there is courageous and creative but as
we would take the students through I
would notice every single time I did the
tour that the students didn’t
necessarily make the connection between
the history and what they were living
today and so each day I take a group
through and after about an hour on the
tour we get to a section i would say now
we’re going to learn about civil rights
and just before I would take them right
in front of this picture which you can
clearly see is labeled white for one
water-fountain colored for another water
fountain this was common the white water
fountain is well refrigerated clean
looks like something you would see today
and the other one not so much but I
would take them into the tour and I’d
say all right guys before we talk about
any of this I just want to say I’ve
noticed something about you oh yes as
we’ve gone on this tour I’ve looked at
each and every one of you and I’ve
noticed something about you I’ve noticed
that some of you are excellent listeners
wow you’re so smart you make eye contact
with me you pay attention to your
friends you’re making connections you
all are the kind of students I want on
these tours thank you for coming and
because you’re so outrageously gifted
I’d actually like to give you a special
surprise because I money make the magic
happen thank you and around the corner
are some special gifts for you some
treats and gift cards from our sponsors
people’s eyes would light up
so here’s how I’m going to give you the
gifts for the exceptional children who’s
been on this tour with me take a look
down at your arms if you have on a
jacket like I do you are among the
exceptional you’re the ones that deserve
the treat you have guys obviously least
looked at the weather report this
morning you planned ahead you’re that
kind of student you deserve snacks now
those of you who don’t have on a coat if
you have one short sleeves especially
you clearly do not deserve so I’m just
going to actually stand here quietly
which a short sleeves on which are not
having a jacket on self you just stand
there quietly you don’t make a noise the
rest of you deserve snacks and I would
take that group and we come on and I’d
point out some of the things I was going
to give to them and they would walk with
me those kids with the jackets and we
stop stop you all know this isn’t right
this isn’t fair or equitable you know
you weren’t paying any more attention in
the other kids worth and I would do this
year after year day after day with
hundreds of students a day and do you
know that on that tour no one ever
stopped me all these children from all
these different schools when I told them
that they were gifted and bright and
deserving even if they knew it wasn’t
fair and they knew it wasn’t equitable
they would not disrupt me they wouldn’t
stop me just for the promise the promise
and so that actually made me think to
myself who’s going to invite you to this
wrote who’s going to invite you to
change the system in which you’re in
even if you know it’s unfair even if you
know it’s not equitable even if you know
that it has a myth of equality around it
who’s going to say to you oh come on I
want you to help me fix this just let’s
just change it up so everybody gets a
fair treatment because year after year
even though the students were lined up
and could obviously see that they one
group was directly in front of the white
water fountain and one group was
directly in front of the colored water
fountain they still would not stop me
year after year so right there they had
an opportunity to make the connection
and most students did they realize that
historic inequity wasn’t necessarily
solved today and even though they were
free it takes a lot more to claim your
freedom no one was going to question me
because I represent an authority on that
tour they didn’t feel like it was their
place to they didn’t feel like they had
the power to negotiate with me and to
disrupt me I represented a system a
system that we all understand I
represented education for them and they
weren’t sure of how they were supposed
to break in and interject until year
after year those who were receiving
benefits and privileges went ahead with
me sometimes they even rub their hands
in anticipation of doughnuts and year
after year the other side look down at
the carpet with lowered expectations
because they weren’t sure how they were
supposed to make it stop even if they
knew it wasn’t fair so I saw the
statistic recently and it made me think
there’s it said fifty-seven percent of
young people aged 18 to 30 believe that
we are in equitable times and that we
are under fraudulent leadership leading
us to follow fraudulent systems that
will not serve our entire community and
it made me think about other systems
that are in play in American society
today our infrastructure is actually not
built for fairness it hasn’t been
historically
here in the south or north carolina and
is not going to be across our country
unless we actually try to disrupt
because we know that statistics are
telling us and our lived experience are
telling us that it’s not equitable
anywhere so if we think about this
particular school system we have over a
hundred and forty five thousand students
in this district many of whom do not
have access to programs like advanced
and honors courses or even I be many of
whom can graduate and be functionally
illiterate many of them who are fighting
disparities and sometimes are being
funneled into systems that are going to
ultimately lead to incarceration how do
we disrupt that how do we change the
system how do we do it on behalf of our
own education and on behalf of the
education of those around us how do we
because I don’t believe this has to be
true in fact that no it’s not true I
believe that we’re all good people and
that if we see something that is
inherently unfair we could disrupt it we
could actually change it and I know this
to be true because I know that there’s
organizations right here in Charlotte
who are doing some of this work like
students for educational reform as fer
who I’ve seen personally present on
issues around immigration on advances in
sexual education here even things around
the racial discrimination and disparity
here in our school system I’ve seen
students in timeout youth advocate on
behalf of those who self identify as
LGBTQ and their allies work to try to
stretch into the educational experience
in our school system in fact I think I
even read an article yesterday about
somebody from east meck and she was
doing great work around the resources
that we utilize around food and how we
can make sure to preserve and share
those things I think that’s awesome
those students are connected and doing
good work and you may be sitting in your
seat right now thinking why I don’t have
time to do that I don’t even know how to
but the reality is all of us can think a
little bit outside the box if this
little guy can beat the system and I
know you can in fact i want to show you
another little guy that can beat the
system I meet my nephew big-time we call
him big time so big time stayed with me
last summer and I can tell you if
there’s one thing this kid knows how to
do is disrupt everywhere we went he was
disruptive the first time I notice it is
when I had a court date that I could not
miss and as soon as we went through the
doors of the charlotte-mecklenburg court
downtown or town he said hello really
loudly and then he demanded that every
sheriff but they’re bulletproof vest on
and their gun on their hip stop and
shake their hand every single one see he
wanted to be seen and he wanted them to
make eye contact with him and he would
stop and put his little hand out and
demand to be seen he wouldn’t stop there
so he would do it at museums finding new
people to connect with an imagined I was
a quite an experience he made lots of
new friends and it was unstoppable for
me running behind him trying to collect
him and he would make connections
between the places that we saw he would
link together the idea of the courthouse
and the library in the museum and the
playground he thought all these people
were connected because of his mind this
is how aren’t he lived in charlotte
everybody was connected and they must
have all known me and later in some of
the places i was familiar with they
asked me about him because yeah he was
disruptive but it was in the best way
possible see big time did something i
think all of us can do to take steps to
disrupt our education OOP only work
make reach link these are some of the
steps I think we can take because if the
if these little guys can do it I think
you all can do it too I actually know
you can do it too because the first
thing is is to make you got to make up
your decision that you’re going to stand
for something and that something is
going to be a more equitable world and
more equitable experience not just a
quality not just that we have access to
the water in the water fountains but
equity that then the experience looks
and feels the same for each of us and
once you make a decision like that you
can make eye contact with somebody and
start to make those connections and next
is reach now you might want to literally
do this you can just reach and tap
somebody look at them first them there
you go you can reach out to someone else
because making up your mind to do
something doesn’t mean that you can do
it it just means that you have an idea
but reaching means that you start to go
beyond yourself reaching might look like
an email that you send it might look
like kindly touching your neighbor when
they are in trouble or handing someone
at issue when they’re crying reaching is
the effort that you put into it and then
finally link because honestly making and
reaching doesn’t make a change but
linking actually making the connection
and being persistent until you do
there’s the thing see big time was
really good at linking and so here’s
what I’m going to ask you all to do
because today I know that you are
capable I know that you all are among
the smartest the most well researched
the most self-aware teenagers I’ve ever
met so I’m going to ask you to join me
because I really believe that you all
deserve equity I’ve never seen
educational equity in my lifetime but
i’m pretty sure i’m going to see it in
yours so i invite you to join me let’s
make a change in charlotte let’s reach
out past charlotte to the world
and let’s link together to make this
city in this country what we know it can be thank you