Teaching While Black: The highs & lows of a Black educator
- May 16, 2021
- 3 min read
Brandi Epps, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction at an Uncommon school in Brooklyn, NY, is a former Science teacher, currently teaching Mathematics to her middle school students. In addition to overseeing the curriculum and instruction at her school, she is also a grade level leader and instructional coach/leader for the Math and Science teachers at her campus.
Brandi has been teaching remotely since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in Spring 2020, and in-person hybrid learning since January 2021. Like many teachers, missing the joys of consistent and full in person classes is an understatement. Though teaching through a pandemic is a skill set that wasn’t taught while getting her Masters of Arts in Teaching, it is one that she is determined to conquer and help the teachers around her do the same.
Epps, born and raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, grew up with a village of support that consisted of family, close friends, and teachers. The village that surrounded Brandi motivated her to pursue teaching and become an active part of villages that support the future leaders of this world. When asked why being a member of the village for her students was so important to her she said,
“From early on, I knew that it takes more than just parents to fully develop a child. I can’t help to think of where I would be if it wasn’t for my family, close friends, and most importantly, my teachers. What would I be doing right now? Would I be where I am today? Would I have gone to college? What would my life be in this moment?”
The Stem education advocate teaches in Brownsville, Brooklyn at a charter school that services Black and Brown students. Brownsville is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that consists predominately of Black and Brown residents. The neighborhood has some of the highest rates of violence, incarceration, substance abuse, teen birth rates, and poverty and is amongst the lowest rates for higher education attainment. Knowing these facts too well, Brandi believes that it was destined for her to be an educator in Brownsville, for a greater purpose:
“The community I was raised in is no different than Brownsville. I see my younger self in my students. Working with them is my opportunity for me to give back the love, patience, and guidance that my teachers poured into me.”
As the global pandemic abruptly shut the world down in March 2020, Brandi was face to face with her purpose even more. The time away from students allowed her to better recognize the necessity of quality education for Black and Brown students, especially during the pandemic.
“Many students across the country were left without the proper resources for remote learning. On top of that, students were expected to learn, and deal with whatever domestic issues were at home. I had students being exposed to abuse, some lacking food because they weren’t in the school building, and many that were just mentally and emotionally checked out. These things hurt my heart. But they also inspired me to adjust my idea of giving 100%. A lot was and is on the line for my students. The only way my students will be able to get the education they deserve in this new world of remote and hybrid learning is for me to have a mindset of creative intentionality.”
Dealing with the pandemic was already a life adjustment that no one was truly prepared to face. As a Black educator, teaching Black and Brown students with the pandemic obstacles piled on top of the academic and socio-emotional hurdles they were already grappling with was its own labyrinth. Then came the release of the video that showed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man being murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The government imposed stay at home order left a lot of down time for Americans to re-watch, repost, and react to the viral footage. The killing of unarmed Black bodies didn’t start or end with George Floyd. But this murder along with everyone being in quarantine ignited a different type of energy as people protested, had difficult conversations, and spoke truth to the white supremacist powers upholding racist systems.
“We’ve seen police deaths like this before. It hit differently during the pandemic. As a Black woman and educator, processing this death and all the deaths that have come after is an ongoing thing. Sometimes I am still processing it as I am helping my students wrap their minds around it.”
Dean Epps is committed to candid conversations with her students that build awareness and optimism for the future. In the interview below, hear more about how the pandemic and the racial tension in America has impacted her, her students, and how she isn’t letting it defeat her or her students.
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