One White Teacher Jeannine White

Although this podcast never gained the group of concerned learners that I was hoping that it would, my gratitude for all the Black people who shared their insights, wisdom, and solutions-oriented thinking is immeasurable. My thinking about, my awareness of, and my respect for Black fellow Americans has grown in ways I never could have imagined without those 1-to-1 conversations... which I recommend for all White people who care about healing the racial divides in our country.

This most essential elements of this podcast will now be merged with my other podcast, the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast.  It might seem like an odd transfer, but it's logical and makes a great deal of good sense, because Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and well-rounded human development. 

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.


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According to Jason "Phatz" Kirkman, hip-hop has been misused and misappropriated. He’s written a book to shine a light on how the genre originated in the Bronx in the mid-60’s, as a peaceful, cultural alternative to crime. Phatz is on a mission to help youth understand hip-hop’s true purpose and to take it back.

Here's an article worth reading to understand some of Phatz' work:  Mentors and hip-hop combine in Virginia Beach

Here's a link to the Kindle edition of Phatz' book:   OFFSTAGE: The Culture of Hip Hop Before the Elements 

Here's a description of the book:  OFFSTAGE offers the reader a look at Hip-Hop from a historical perspective and a cultural perspective. The history of a people will give you people, places, times and things that culminate in their experiences. The culture of a people tell you who the people were in their heart and soul. It gives you insight on their walk, their talk and how their path formed and shaped them.

The original people of Hip-Hop accomplished way more than redefining the get down part of a song. Before anyone can begin expressing their artistic and musical capabilities (the elements) they must first present themselves to you. OFFSTAGE gives you the opportunity to get to know the original people of Hip-Hop before the party started.


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Here's the YouTube version of this episode, with lots of visuals:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5SRfbrD-kA&t=2s

Here's a link to SEL DAY info for the many ways you can help boost its success:  https://selday.org

#SELday Letter to the Editor Toolkit link:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/173T0MrbfuA4urQZvGYRp6ccRr45dKDDjMUTZeesWl94/edit

David Adams, the CEO of Urban Assembly, made time for this conversation because he places a premium on dialogue that is seen by both parties as an opportunity to actively listen to each other, to learn from each other and to connect with each other in order to achieve a meaningful exchange of understanding and perspectives.

From that point, David and I both agreed that dialogue at that level is ever-evolving, because in any relationship … between individuals, within a community, or between different cultures … people are always changing, circumstances are always changing, and so there is always more to learn from and with each other.

From there we focused on how the group of 23 schools over which he presides works to bring the most meaningful and enriching education to underserved youth. These schools would be any parents’ dream for their children’s development, not only because they nurture individual skills and even hidden talents, but because they are doing the active work of prioritizing social emotional learning for every person within each school’s community.

We talked about the challenges, specifically the challenges caused by this country’s long history and undeniable patterns of racial injustice, that gave rise to the powerful solutions manifesting everyday at the Urban Assembly schools.


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Assata Moore is that rare, gifted, and generous educator who is uncommonly successful at helping students (melanated or not) enjoy the power of mathematics to make life, in school and beyond, successful and rewarding.

Here is the link to Assata's BLACK MATH GENIUS online course. On sale in the month of February at a 62% savings. 

In 2017, Assata retired from her district-level position at the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute. Before that position, Assata spent five years as a high school principal. Assata has traveled the world teaching other teachers how to teach mathematics, physics, and engineering in ways that engage students of all ages.

In 2009, under the Obama Administration, Assata received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

My name is nini white, I was a teacher for over 20 years, and now I am the One White Teacher of this podcast, seeking out meaningful conversations with Black people, so that all of us can, little by little, know each other better, so that we can undo the miseducation that has separated with racist policies and systems, that really only hurt all of us. Thank you for sharing these learning experiences with me.


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YouTube of this conversation.

ThePocketUSA - includes excellent info about interacting with police when pulled over for a traffic stop.

ClippersandCops - effectively mending the gap between community and police: definitely a site worth checking out to see the positive community-level work being achieved.

Once in awhile, a problem is so pervasive it seems insurmountable, and then someone comes along with a solution so sensible and so simple that you can’t help but wonder why it took so long to show up.

Well, Brian Wilturner, a Black man and the loving father of a teenage boy had plenty of motivation to come up with a legitimate solution for traffic stops by police.

Our conversation is short and to the point, and, while acknowledging the tragic outcomes of far too many traffic stops by police involving Black people, what we focus on together is the many layered benefits for all of us, no matter the color of our skin, including benefits for police officers.

Thank you for joining us to learn about one more way in which a racially-based challenge is being creatively addressed in the most Win-Win of ways. Welcome to the One White Woman podcast. My name is Nini White and I’m truly grateful to you for being the person who is taking time to learn so that real change can happen and move all of us, all Americans, forward.

Oh, and this conversation, as all One White Woman conversations going forward, is viewable on YouTube if you’d like to see the actual item that Brian is talking about.


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Alvin Garrett is not interested in partial truths, and in this conversation we cover a broad range of topics, which several times circled back to the issue of real empathy, which Alvin affirmed, cannot be forced through a sense of guilt or in any other way.

If you, as a ‘white’ person, have ever felt uneasy about talking to a Black person, for fear of saying the wrong thing, or making the wrong move, Alvin helps to clarify the root cause of that frustration. And he follows that insight with a view from the Black person’s perspective. He explains that we need to stop trying to prove to each other what we are, and what we are not, let our ‘guards’ down, and start connecting from that place of openness.

We go on to talk about Braver Angels, a highly effective nonprofit organization to which he and I, independently, have found a home for engaging in the process of bringing Americans together to listen and learn from each other (rather than listening to the media’s inflammatory soundbites) in order to, with mutual respect, bridge the destructive partisan divides for the purpose of strengthening our democratic republic for everyone’s benefit.

Alvin’s viewpoint on the reason that George Floyd’s murder triggered a global response brings this conversation to a whole other level… and… if you’ve ever wondered, as I often have, how some Black people, in spite of all the challenges they live with, on a daily basis, just by being Black in America, how they only grow stronger - maintaining their freedom from the toxicity of negativity, you will definitely appreciate Alvin’s answer.

The part of our conversation about privilege and white privilege is pure gold… and just to give you a quick heads up: guilt has no value and no place in what he suggests we can do with our white privilege to make a positive difference.

And… we concluded with some of our combined thoughts on critical thinking: its importance, its obstacles, its challenges, and its rewards.


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