Let there be light

     Well, it's official, I am now a 1L law student at Michigan State University. When I look back and think about what God used in my life to set me up right where I am today, I am both awed and thankful. Read any of my blog posts from the past three years, and you will see how God used my time in the classroom to teach me to meet people where they are, and to teach me how to truly love unconditionally. God also used what I felt were extenuating circumstances to equip me to reach people that others so often ignore, write off, or overlook.
      This morning on my drive to church, I was talking with God about who I would be friends with this first semester of my law school journey. In the conversation God showed me a motley crew of people; those who stand on the side of the room in a big crowd, those who just don't quite fit in with the masses. I asked God why it was always these people that I ended up befriending in many spheres of my life; the response, "It is the sick who need a physician." Now for those reading this who are not familiar with this phrase, it is a bible verse found in the book of Luke 5:27-31. In this story, Jesus is at a banquet at the house of a tax collector when the Jewish (religious) leaders approach Jesus and his disciples and basically berate them for eating with "tax collectors and sinners." Now in our time, this might not make a lot of sense, you may be asking, what is the problem with eating with people who collect taxes? Why are these people associated with "sinners?" Well, during this time, the tax collectors were people who worked for the Roman army, and Rome had invaded the land and was unlawfully taxing the inhabitants. You can think about it kind of like how Europeans came to America and stole the land from the Native Americans, then they would force them to pay a tax to keep living in their own land or else face a penalty for not paying the tax. So, from this perspective it makes sense why the Jewish leaders were not too fond of the tax collectors- they were a part of the daily oppression they faced in their country.
      Now, the Bible does not directly say this, but it seems to me, from the text, that the tax collectors were not welcome in religious circles; they were another religiously ostracized group like women and individuals who were disabled. The tax collectors were people who were not welcome in the synagogue, and to whom the Jewish leaders would not reach out in an effort to share their faith. But these are EXACTLY the people to whom Jesus reached out; the people with whom Jesus chose to spend his time.
     I assume the tax collectors knew they were not well liked and likely felt unwelcome and unable to enter the synagogues to learn about the faith of the people around them. If you read the story of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector- a man of great wealth and short stature- who climbs a tree just to see Jesus, this religious leader about whom he has heard so much, it becomes apparent that although no one was reaching out to the tax collectors, they had a desire to know the Truth and be saved. The issue was, no one was willing to talk to them- no one was willing to step out of their own comfort zone, or their own ideas about who was worthy, or who had an acceptable line of work to tell this group of people about the faith.
      As I read these stories and reflect on the Message shared at City Life Church today, I can't help but see this not as a story of the past, but as a warning for the present- especially for those who claim to be followers of Christ.
     A poll from LifeWay Research found that over 61 percent of people living in America who claim to follow Christ have not shared their faith in the last six months. And to that, I would ask, of the 39 percent of Christians who have shared their faith, how many have done so with a person who our Christian circles so often ignore, or marginalize?
       The bible is full of commands for followers of Christ to reach out and love the broken and the hurting. In Matthew 5:13, Christians are called the "salt of the earth." Salt by itself performs no purpose; it is only when salt comes into contact with whatever it is being used on, that salt begins to serve a purpose. If we as followers of Christ insulate ourselves in our Christian bubbles, only living life with other salt, we serve absolutely no purpose, and the bible says the only thing useless salt is good for, is being thrown out.
      Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
       The very last command Jesus gave to his followers before he ascended was to GO and make disciples of ALL nations and to TEACH them. As followers of Christ, we should be eager and ready to step into contexts that make us uncomfortable, where the characteristics that we view as so salient to our own identities are in the minority and where we must consciously humble ourselves to understand the lives of those into whose context we have entered. And these contexts cannot be limited, Jesus said to make disciples of ALL nations, not just nations across the ocean, but that also means the nations right here at home; who is reaching out to the nations of gangs, the nations of extremists, the nations of erotic dancers, the nations of homosexuals, the nations of drug addicts, the nations of anything that we, in our flesh, find uncomfortable or find ourselves afraid to approach? These are the nations Christ called us to teach- notice, Christ did not call us to simply bring them to church, but he called each of us to TEACH the nations his commands. This means we are expected to do life with the people of the nations. In order to teach someone, you have to sit with them, talk with them, show them; you don't teach someone by simply handing them a bible or a flyer to come to your church's program, teaching is an act done in relationship and proximity.

      So, ask yourself, is your salt useless or is it serving its purpose.

God, help me to be salt that preserves, adds flavor, and where necessary melts those with whom I come in contact. Let me be bold and unafraid to go into the uncomfortable places and to love and pursue uncomfortable people. Father, humble me and remind me that my own sin is a stench before you just as those who I so often see through jaded and judgmental lenses. Father let me see the extent of my own depravity and to consider others better than myself. Father give me the strength and grace to risk relationship with those who are not like me in the ways I see myself. Be my foundation as I pursue living out your commands. Thank you.
Amen.

From the WORD

I shared at my home church on Sunday. Here is the message.

Speaking TRUTH

Check out my student Shaheem!

Raising up TODAY's Leaders

This summer I co-founded a summer program called "Empower Memphis." I plan to post about it soon, but until then, check out the waves we are creating in this great city.

In Other News

A reporter stopped by my classroom to learn about what makes my students learn to love learning.

Check out what she found: Here is the link to the full article

Why this Memphis teacher asks her students to create a mixtape every year

Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Caroline Bauman on April 7, 2017

How do teachers captivate their students? Here, in a feature we call How I Teach, we ask educators how they approach their jobs. You can see other pieces in this series here.

During her African-American history classes, Natasha Wilkins asks her high school students to answer this question in a “free writing” exercise: “Who is responsible for educating the public about injustice?”
The students type away while listening to R&B singer R. Kelly’s “The World’s Greatest,” which isn’t uncommon. Wilkins has made a point of integrating music into her classroom at GRAD Academy Memphis, a charter high school within Tennessee’s Achievement School District. Her class culminates with a “Hip Hot History” project, a mixtape produced by her students, who write the lyrics and record their songs in a studio to share their learning.
When asked how she answered the writing prompt, one student said that, thanks to Wilkins, she believes that she is responsible for educating the public about injustice. “I think understanding injustice has a lot to do with understanding history, real history,” the student said. “We can’t care about something we don’t know about.”
That’s the goal of Wilkins’ class:  To help her students, most of whom are black, understand the history of their ancestors and to have fun while doing it.
We asked Wilkins to explain more about her teaching style and how she helps her students “own” history.

Why did you become a teacher?

Of my friends from high school, none of my black male friends graduated from or even made it past their sophomore year of college. I was deeply frustrated by the realization that there was a system in place that left young black men feeling inadequate to pursue their educational goals, and I took the offense personally. I joined Teach For America with the desire to disrupt this cycle. 

PHOTO: Caroline Bauman

A mural hangs on the wall in Wilkins’ classroom.

What does your classroom look like?

My classroom is a space designed to inspire and affirm. There is student work that lines the walls and quotes designed to push my students to think beyond what is in a textbook. I think a big part of my classroom is also what is not present.  I very intentionally did not put up many images of people from the past. I want my students to view history as not just acts and individuals from the past, but an ever-evolving story of which they are a part.

How do you respond when a student doesn’t understand your lesson?

I tend to reframe it in terms of their lives. For example, I related the Civil War to gang warfare, and the division of the North and South leading up to the Civil War to a dating relationship gone bad. Putting the lesson in terms of things my students can relate to gives them confidence in the classroom and affirms that learning is for them, not just something that they do in a school, in a classroom.

How do you get to know your students and build relationships with them?

At the beginning of the year, I do a short unit exploring what history is and how what becomes defined as “history” is determined and recorded. My students explore their perceptions of history and then are given the opportunity to record a story from their lives (also available on SoundCloud) in a project called Our Stories, Our Voices.
I explain to my students that we are all a part of history and that each of us deserves the chance to tell our own stories in our own voices. In this project, I allow my students to tell their stories how they perceive them, in their dialect, in their reality. This is essential to building relationships because it gives my students the space to be themselves, but it also gives me insight into what makes them who they are and the joys and pains that they bring into the classroom.

Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.

In 2015, I was engaged in a heated discussion with my World History honors class about the inequalities in the education they were receiving versus what I received in my predominantly white high school in Illinois. I was explaining to them why I was giving them the assignments I did, and why I taught the way I did, because that’s what my teachers did and it worked for me.

PHOTO: Caroline Bauman

Wilkins says the goal of her class is to apply history to daily, lived experiences.

It was during this conversation that one of my more reserved students yelled out in frustration, “But this ain’t Springfield, Ms. Wilkins, and all of that Springfield stuff don’t work for us out here in Memphis. We’re different.”
This was a pivotal moment of realization in my teaching. It was in that moment that I finally heard my students and their frustrations and I realized that I needed to step back and learn from them just as they learned from me.

Describe Hip Hot History. Where did the idea come from, how do you implement it in your classroom, and why has it been a success for your students?

The idea for this project actually started as a joke. In class I would often play instrumentals and rap about history or getting back on task, to the amusement of my students. The students started asking me if I was going to drop a mixtape soon and I told them I would. One day, one of my students asked if the class could be on my mixtape and from there Hip Hot History was born.
This project is the capstone project my students complete at the end of the year. They are given the choice of writing a song, spoken-word piece, or creating a documentary film telling the story of blacks in history. They are given full creative license to create their piece with guidelines on how to choose the topic and the length of the piece.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Second Year Success

      Looking back, my second year of teaching was full of amazing opportunities to grow and develop not only as a teacher, but as an individual and a leader. I was presented with the amazing opportunity to teach African American History, a course for which I have developed a deep passion. Although challenges still arose and the work was unbelievably hard, I can honestly say I enjoyed my 2015-2016 school year. Much of this enjoyment was derived from the fact that I had the opportunity to teach many of the students I taught in my first year, and as any teacher in an urban setting knows, 90 percent fo the classroom battle is developing strong relationships with students. With this momentous challenge tackled, my classroom was able to flow in a way I have never before seen. The conversations in my classroom were real; they were authentic and my students were never afraid to ask questions, challenge society, or even challenge me. They thirsted for knowledge and hungered for truth. Almost daily, I would have students come to my room during lunch or a study hall to ask about something they had seen on the news, or to share a new hope, fear, or revelation. Given the media attention around the murders of unarmed African Americans that our nation finally chose to recognize after centuries of the same, my class became the lifeline to staying grounded amidst the upheaval of what it means to be Black in America.

       The goal of my facilitation in my course last year was to ensure that every child who completed my course would be empowered to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are powerful beyond measure, and that they can and must be the change they desire to see. As I watch the alum of my class in the hallways of the school and hear other teachers talk about the confidence and the willingness to challenge and dialogue that these students bring to every classroom, I find peace in preparing to step out of the classroom at the end of this year. My students are not afraid to disagree with a textbook and say that Abraham Lincoln, in fact, did NOT free the slaves. My student are not afraid to speak their truth, putting pen to paper and letting the world know that they will not stand for less. Watching my students, I too have gained a new confidence. I see the power of empowering others and the power of  allowing "love to cover a multitude of sins." I continued in the same vein as my first year and had my students create a mixtape as their capstone project for the end of the year. The stories shared below are nothing short of amazing. And while yes, this was a school project, it was also so much more. The songs were fully created by my students: the beats, the lyrics, the flow, it's all them. I gave them a task and a few guidelines, and asked them to tell the story of their history, their struggle, their victories, their truth. Enjoy.