Educating the Next Generation on Antiracism and Universal Design - Jennifer with Tesha Fritzgerald

Jennifer Malcolm interviews Tesha Fritzgerald, author of Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways for Success, about her journey to utilize education to reach students in the margins. She emphasizes how teachers can be advocates and allies for black and brown children to help them fight for their success.

Episode Transcript

Jennifer Malcolm (00:10):
Welcome to the Jennasis Speaks podcast, The
Transformative Power of Women'sStories, a platform that
empowers women storytelling topromote collective
vulnerability, acceptance andhealing. I am your host,
Jennifer Malcolm, self madeentrepreneur, women advocate and
life balance expert. Welcomeback to the next episode of

(00:31):
Jennasis Speaks podcast thetransformative power of women
stories, where every woman has astory and every story matters.
I'm your host, Jennifer Malcolm,and we're so excited to walk
them Tesha Fitzgerald to theshow today. teesha just released
her first book a couple weeksago, entitled, anti racism and
Universal Design for Learning,building expressways for

(00:53):
success. She is an educator andadministrator and a work
advocating for the success ofBlack and Brown students is
something to be admired andemulated. Welcome, Tesha, it's
so great to have you here todayon the podcast. All right. So
welcome. Today, you've been apart of Jennasis Speaks one form
or another for four or fiveyears, like I said, and we're

(01:15):
just taking this to the nextlevel.

Tesha Fritzgerald (01:18):
I'm so excited to be part of the
evolution of Jennasis.

Jennifer Malcolm (01:21):
I love it. And so for context with the
listeners, we have done twowomen's conferences, we
partnered with Western Reserve,a hospital down in the Akron
area. And Kathy romito, myfriend and colleague, she was
our host. And we just came in ontwo different one, two different

(01:41):
years, we came in and broughtdifferent women speakers.
Vantage, I think you were partof the second one. Yes, I was.
And I didn't really know you.
And I was amazed by your energy,your support, I think you had
like four tables in the backroom, your support groupback
there, but welcome, I'm reallyhonored to have you here today.

Tesha Fritzgerald (02:01):
It's such a great opportunity, you always
create create such great spacesfor women, to bring their
authentic selves, like we don'thave to have it all figured out.
We can have struggles, we canhave ideas, we can have nothing
at all and just come. So thankyou for creating spaces for
women, that allow us to just beour selves,

Jennifer Malcolm (02:19):
You are most welcome. So some entry will
start some introductory easyquestions of who you are. I know
that you live in the Clevelandarea now, but just a little bit
about your history upbringing,to get the audience up to speed
of who you are.

Tesha Fritzgerald (02:34):
So my name is Andratesha Fitzgerald, I have
two really creative parents. Iwas born in the 70s. So I guess
they just put a few namestogether, you know, and named me
after everyone. So, but I grewup in inner city, Cleveland,
near downtown. And, you know, inmy neighborhood, there were lots

(02:56):
of different distractions, lotsof different things. I remember
walking home from school oneday, and I used to take the bus
to school. And when I would getoff, sometimes now the rules
were, you don't take theshortcuts, you take the main
roads, and you come straighthome. And the shortcut was just

(03:17):
so annoying. So I remember thatthere was a path of footpath
through a field that connectedto the street. So I kind of cut
through the path and thought,What's the big deal, I cut
through the field there, and Imade it home and half the time.
And the next day on the news,there was a prostitute murdered
in that same little area. So itgave me a sense of urgency. It

(03:43):
gave me a sense of why the rulesexisted for me. And I think
sometimes for youth growing upin areas where there's a lot of
trouble and a lot ofdistractions, he can feel
normal. But that incident, Ijust remember realizing, okay,
there's some dangeroussituations around me. And I need
to be more aware of why I can dothis or can't do this or why the

(04:06):
rules are, what they are. Wehave some light sensors. I'll
fix those in a minute. But as asI grew and understood where I
was coming from, it became soimportant for me to succeed.
It's so important for me to takemy education seriously. And

(04:27):
important for me to always havea connection to where I'm from
not too many people when theyachieve a certain amount of
success. They feel like theyhave to disconnect from the
past. But I felt a very strongimpetus to stay connected to my
neighborhood to the strugglesthat I saw, to all of the things

(04:51):
that could have beendistractions. I needed to stay
connected some way and I foundthat that way was education. So
That's, that's where my love foreducation started.

Jennifer Malcolm (05:02):
That's awesome. And so you grew up in
the in Cleveland, your brothersand sisters tell us a little bit
more about growing up because Ilove the the shortcuts you know,
as a kid, you're like, I'm justgonna hit the shortcut. It's
faster parents worry too muchanyway, so let's just keep
going. And I'm better, faster,smarter than my parents anyway.
So let me just get them up tospeed. But what was your like

(05:24):
childhood growing up with yourparents, parents, family,
siblings,

Tesha Fritzgerald (05:28):
I grew up in inner city, Cleveland. And
mostly I live with my mom. Andthere are periods of time where
I live with my grandmother, andmy great grandmother. And I do
have brothers and sisters. Butwe have a blended family model,
which I actually really lovethat, you know, my sisters, from

(05:51):
my dad's side, we always have ajoke, like, Oh, we have our own
moms, but we share a dad andthen my sister on my mom's side,
we always joke that we, youknow, have our own dads, but we
share mom. So because of that,our family expands and all of us
get along. And we are all veryclose. And so growing up, we had

(06:14):
meeting places where sometimeswe will meet at my paternal
grandfather's grandmother'shome, and my sister from my
mom's side will also come andspend the weekend there. And so
our family structure really gaveme some insight to what a
support network looks like.
There was never a time as ayoung person that if I slipped,

(06:34):
or if I was off track, I knewthat there was a community
coming for me. And so it made methink really wisely about my
decisions. But it also gave me anumber of role models to see
resilience in action. My greatgrandmother on my mother's side,
I spent lots of time with her.

(06:58):
My mom and dad had me right atthe end of their senior year in
high school. So they had mereally young. And my dad went to
college, and then he went off tothe military. And my mom pursued
the workforce, and she didcollege as well. So during that
time, they left me to spend lotsof precious time with my great
grandmother, who was alive until2005, actually, and so in

(07:22):
spending time with her, shewould invest these rich stories
of our family heritage. And sheone day I was sitting on the
couch, I think I was maybe nineor 10 years old. And she emerged
from her room in the back. Andshe said, you have to promise me
that you will remember thesefamily stories. So as a 10 year

(07:43):
old, you kind of like Oh, sure,Yes, I remember the story,
Grandma, you would then tell methese stories. And I would think
you told me this one already.
But because she told them to meover and over again. My
assumption at that time was thateverybody knew those stories.
But in reality, she wasinvesting them in me. And so
there are many stories, and mygrandmother is still alive. So I

(08:05):
tell my grandmother stories thatmy great grandmother told me,
and she's like, I have neverheard this before. I'm like,
well, granny told me. And thenwhen I tell her the names of the
people in the place that she'slike, okay, that must be
correct, because this one isthis one's brother. And this one
is this one sister. And I didn'trealize at the time, how greatly

(08:27):
those stories would become atreasure to me, and also a
roadmap for my life. One storyin particular. And when she
taught, she taught me how toread, and she also taught my
sister, my younger sister how toread as well. And she shared
with us the importance ofknowing what's in front of you

(08:49):
and being able to distinguishthose words. And she shared with
us that her mother was thedaughter of slaves. And her
father went on to become one ofthe first professors at Tuskegee
Institute. Tuskegee Institutehas a rich history of investing
in the education of blackfarmers were sharecroppers at

(09:12):
the time. So when I went backand looked on the census records
as well, after my greatgrandmother passed, her father,
at the age of seven on hiscensus, was one of two people in
his household that could readand write. And so her mom,
totally illiterate, couldn'teven sign her name. She had to
put an X and just trust thatwhat was on the paper, was

(09:36):
whatever the people communicateit to her for her father, very
educated, knew math very wellknew the Bible, by heart could
read could communicate at themarketplace in ways that made
him the target of ridiculebecause his mind was so sharp.
And so she invested these kindsof stories in me to say if you

(09:56):
want to know what What it isthat you're signing, if you want
to be on the offensive to yourlife, then learn to read. And so
I took that to heart, andeverywhere we went, no matter
what we were doing,there was always a book, in my
grandmother's hand when she willride the public transportation

(10:21):
with me. She always had a book.
I remember she subscribed to thedouble de Book of the Month
Club. So she would get a bookevery month, some books, she was
thrilled by others, she wouldgive a scathing review. There,
they better be lucky, there wasno good reads when granny was
alive. But she was an avidreader. And I remember even

(10:45):
before I could read, I wouldalways get materials and turn
the pages just to be emulatingthe actions that she was doing.
Very smart woman. She, her nameis Amanda Smith. And I remember
her telling me that she had beentrained in so many different

(11:06):
areas. She was an artist. Herart was hung in the rotunda,
down at the courthouse. But she,when she had her children, she
learned to weld, she was awelder, trained as a welder.
Now, again, she was born in1916. So this was early on

(11:27):
welding was not a traditionalposition held by a woman, but
she was so good. They allowedher to do that. And because she
could not, they functioned on aswing shift. So she will have to
work days sometimes and nightssometimes, but with small
children, she couldn't do that.
So she left that job. And theonly work she could find the

(11:48):
only work other than that was toscrub floors on her hands and
knees. So she scrub floors forvery little money to make a way
for her family. So she's just apicture of resilience that I've
always just treasured. You know,

Jennifer Malcolm (12:08):
and, and the word that I jotted down, as
you're talking about her wasthat she was giving you legacy
deposits. So the Yes, three fromthe past of Don't, don't forget,
remember, you know, it's almostlike the scribes of history and,
and cultures of you know,writing down the stories and
making sure that that that isn'tlost from generation to

(12:30):
generation. And she's reachingback from behind in the history
that she was a part of, or evenpotentially before her time and
just a passing them into yourheart and your soul and your
memory and what a gift it is.
Now I'm sure to tell your momand your other people in your
family of those legacy deposits,that she just invested in you.
So that's powerful.

Tesha Fritzgerald (12:52):
I love to hear my children tell my great
grandmother stories back to me.
They can imitate her voice. Theyknow the things that she loved
the things that she can't stand.
And there are moments when mydaughter reminds me so much of
her. And my daughter was born ayear after my great grandmother
passed. So they never met. Butthere's some kind of transition

(13:15):
that happened becausetransaction, she reminds me so
much of my great grandmother.

Jennifer Malcolm (13:19):
Amazing. And I loved your comment about
Goodreads because my 15 year oldand I she got me on Goodreads,
and she is an avid reader. Shereads between 40 and 60 books a
year. So she just consumesconsumes and so I made a
commitment to 20 books in 2020.
So I was gonna read 20 books in2020. And so I got all on
Goodreads. And I will read topaint literally read two pages,

(13:40):
and I will do my update, likeupdate two pages. And she was
making fun of me this pastweekend of like, Mom, you don't
have to do it like everybookmark. And I was like, No, I
am because I'm very proudof myprogress,

Tesha Fritzgerald (13:53):
progress is progress.

Jennifer Malcolm (13:55):
I will take but I guess she gets
notifications. And she's like101 103 107, she's got 100. So
but but I love that yourgrandma, great grandma invested
in money and in a club to bringbooks in that she's investing in
you for that those legacydeposits. And it formulated your

(14:19):
DNA in such a way where you're ateacher now and an advocate for
youth. So why don't you sharewith the audience a little bit
of how you started your careerpath, and kind of your journey
up until recently and it kind ofyou're always working, you're
always reaching forward intolearning more and achieving
more. So what you share thatpart of your story?

Tesha Fritzgerald (14:39):
Sure. Well, I started off actually when I went
to college, I had been inprograms from seventh grade to
12th grade for engineering. Iwas pretty good at math and
science. I love science a lot. Ilove to learn how things work.
So I thought, well, I'm I'mgoing to be an engineer. So I
had Amazing internships at NASAwere shout out to the advanced

(15:05):
communication technologysatellite crew, we literally
navigated a satellite andacquired the telemetry and
learned lots of things tointegrate data and voice over
one platform. And I thought tomyself, at the end of that
summer, if I was supposed to bean engineer, then this would be
the coolest job ever. And whileI was there, it was fantastic

(15:28):
money for a college freshman.
Lots of money, yes. Fine summera bit. But it just, I found that
very early on that money was nota motivator for me. And so then
I said, Okay, well, perhaps theNASA position, there were lots
of things that happen at NASA. Iencountered this resistance to

(15:49):
my presence. And the funny thingis that, watching Hidden
Figures, I thought, wow, thatmovie was set in 1968. But in
1997, I had a very similarexperience. And I learned I
couldn't tell, when I was inengineering, if people were

(16:10):
against me, because I was black,or because I was young, or
because I was from America, orbecause I was a woman, or
perhaps all four, I was notsure. I just knew that the
environment for me at that time,while there were some super
supportive people at NASA, and Iconnected with other young black
engineers, or aspiringengineers, who to this day are

(16:30):
lifelong friends. I just knewthe career field for me.
Engineering was not it. Sure.
And because I wasn't certain Iwanted to make sure the next
summer, I did another internshipin the chemical engineering
department at Cleveland Stateand, and politic, it was a
minority owned engineering firmdowntown, really cool

(16:53):
experience. And I had a chanceto correct some of the drawings
for Windermere reputation, whichis right down the road from
where I work. And so greatexperience, but again, it just
didn't get to the core of thelove. So what I will just pause
and say, is, if women arelistening, and you're in a
career that feels like, you haveto make that choice, or you're

(17:14):
stuck in it, just explore whatit is that your heart naturally
leans toward. For me, I keptthinking about literature and
reading books and writingpoetry. And, wow, I'm interning
in the chemical engineeringdepartment. And so I said, you
know, I'm in chemicalengineering, this my major, I
have an engineering scholarship,but my heart is saying that this

(17:36):
is not the right decision forme. So I had the wonderful
luxury of having thisconversation with my parents
about, I really have to changemy major because my heart is
just not in it. And in my head,I had already carved out a
response that they were going togive me I thought they will be
angry with me, they had nothingbut support for me. And so my

(17:59):
mom and my dad, both were like,please do what makes your heart
happy. But do something justdon't drop out. So

Jennifer Malcolm (18:09):
that's really important, because I'm going to
pause and interrupt you just fora second. Because that support
of Okay, your age, you're goingyou're you're in college and
pursuing something, and you'renot passionate, like walking it
through, you know, I have aneight year old, seven year old,
we just took off to college. Andwe, you know, they both had
their intense of what theywanted to be, and we said it's

(18:30):
probably gonna change two tothree to four times over the
course of the next severalyears. And that's okay, as long
as you contribute to society.
You're not living in mybasement, self sufficient, you
know, the world, the world canbe whatever and to find those
passions in your heart and tohave your parents respond to you
in a positive manner that says,You know what, keep going, we

(18:51):
gotcha. Versus we hear the otherstories of, you know, you're
locked in and something thatyou're not passionate about. So

Tesha Fritzgerald (19:01):
I think the most powerful takeaway was that
in my head, I had alreadyscripted this dialogue that did
not exist. And so I had to becareful not to count out support
before even giving it a chanceto play out. And when I talked
with them very supportive, Ichanged my major to English. And

(19:22):
I remember my grandmother askingme, Well, what are you going to
do with that? I really, I reallydidn't have answers. And I
wasn't quite sure. But my senioryear, there was a program called
upper bound is a federal programfor either first generation
college student potentials orfor low income students, mostly

(19:45):
intercity, and be thecoordinator of the program asked
me to be their residentialcoordinator. So I lived in
residence with 100 teenagers 14to about 17 Are 18 I lived with
them 24 seven for six weeks. Wedid send them home on Saturday

(20:06):
on Friday nights. And then theycame back Sunday. And yes, all
day and all night. And thefunniest thing is that, you
know, chasing them around andtalking to them about school and
listen to their music and letthem make fun of me for learning
their new dances or whatever Ihad the time of my life. And I

(20:27):
realized that I wanted to workwith youth, I wanted to make an
impact on youth, I could do itforever. That summer, I didn't
get paid very much. Not at all,like the NASA summer owl. But I
enjoyed every minute of it, Ienjoyed the interactions, I
enjoy seeing the light bulb gooff for them, I enjoy talking

(20:49):
with them about their futureaspirations. And so I didn't
really know what to do with thatI thought maybe I want to be a
counselor of some sort or kindof work with the TRIO program. I
wasn't sure. And I was in theelevator going to class in the
fall. And I saw a flyer for aprogram called the master of
urban secondary teaching. And Itook the whole flyer with me.

(21:13):
And I thought, okay, so it was amaster's program, it was one
year. And it was mostly forpeople who were doing like a
career change. They evaluated mytranscript and they asked me,
Well, do you want to be ascience teacher because I have
so much science and math. And Iknow I didn't want to do that.
But I had a degree in English orI was pursuing a degree in

(21:34):
English at the time. And I said,Well, I would like to, you know,
try maybe teaching English. Andso I signed up for the program
got in, and my heart knew that Iwas exactly where I needed to
be. And so I did my studentteaching in East Cleveland
schools. And I have been in EastCleveland school since 2001. I

(22:00):
and when I tell you that thestudents that I've met here, the
connections, the investment thatthe district has made in me,
really confirmed thatengineering was not where I was
supposed to be. The good thingis that my engineering training
I bring with me to everything Ido. So I'm always solving

(22:20):
problems, looking for solutions,thinking about different ways to
do things. Even in theclassroom, I will say, Oh, well,
let's try this, or let's do itthis way. Or can we try this?
And for some people, they werelike, what is this all about?
We've done it this way forever.
And I just wanted to find waysto reach students, it didn't
have to be done before it couldfail miserably. It's okay. And I
found this tribe of teachers inthe district that were willing

(22:45):
to try anything with me. Andthey would have crazy stuff that
they were doing, like, well cometo my class, if you're if you're
not teaching this period, comeon in. And I will go in and see
just different methods,different ways to reach kids, I
would see teachers who wouldliterally show up in a kid's
classroom, because they had aconnection with the kid just to

(23:08):
say, Oh, I just, I'm justchecking in on you. And so those
things, that kind of tribearound me, I was able to try
different methods, try differentactivities. I turned everything
into a song or a dance. And oneof our professors, his name is
Christine Zen cough. He calledit dark power. So I would do

(23:29):
anything in front of the kids. Iremember one time in particular,
I was teaching a lesson aboutirony. And I was singing some
songs. And I was doing like therunning man in front of the
class. And you know how kids getthat look on their face, and you
kind of know somebody who'sbehind you. And I turned
slightly, and it was mysupervisor.

(23:52):
And he didn't mind but it wasjust the fact that I was caught
dancing by adults. Usually I'mfine dancing in front of the
kids. But so I've been in EastCleveland, I started as a
teacher, and then moved intoadministration at the building
level for curriculum. And thatgave me a chance to really rally

(24:13):
teachers around reachingstudents in the way that they
need us to. And that's socialemotionally, academically, with
restructuring, tradition, andlots of things and from there
moved into a district levelcurriculum position. And at the
district level, I've donecurriculum mixed with federal

(24:35):
program. So I oversee the grantsfor the district. And just
recently, I moved into the HumanResources position, but I bring
with me, you know, thecurriculum, I still love to get
in classrooms. And also, I founda new passion for really helping
teachers discover how to reachkids. So that's what I've been

(24:55):
up to.

Jennifer Malcolm (24:55):
It's great and I love I put a few notes down
again and it sounds like youYour, your engineering
background really gave youinnovation for creative problem
solving, that it gets yououtside the mindset that just
because it's been done one wayor this is, this is the the A, B
to C to D method doesn't meanit's the only way or the best

(25:20):
way. And I think that problemsolving, innovative mindset that
you can bring to the table,you're always pulling from the
past to bring it into thecurrent. And I was laughing
because when you're talkingabout your call for youth, like
you just knew, like, once youwere in there, and you're around
this, the students, my sisterand her husband have been youth
pastors for decades now and, andI won't disclose my brother in

(25:43):
law's age, he's Filipino, helooks a lot younger than he is.
Because he is aged very well.
And so. But we went to Lakesideabout a month ago, and every
evening, he is out on the sandvolleyball courts with these 14
1516 1820 he loves it. And Imade this comment to Chad and
said, you know, yeah, I love mythree teenagers, most days, most

(26:07):
days, most days,I don't have it in me to like go
on vacation, and then pour, youknow, my heart out again into
more youth and but I know thatwhen you have that calling for
youth, you see them everywhereyou see them in the classroom,
you're always connecting, youhave your dark power, and
probably your cape that goesinto I'm gonna sing and dance to

(26:29):
connect. And however, way topull down barriers and bring
that trust and, andvulnerability to that
conversation. And so hats off toyou because those who are called
to you, I love women women'sbroad category. When I say I
want to empower women, that's areally broad category. But
you're this it's a tough nutand, and that's hats off to you.

(26:50):
Because when you know, you know,and you were courageous enough
to continue to pursue that.

Tesha Fritzgerald (26:58):
Yeah, if I mean being able to impact you,
and to honor their storiesenough to intersect with them,
has been life giving for me, andI have two teenagers at home.
They don't think I'm as cool.
But every time we see mystudents out and or, you know,
like, well, we were atStarbucks, and one of my

(27:20):
students was the cashier. She'slike, almost richer. And they're
like, Oh, they think I'm likethe lamest person in the world.
But they do listen to mystudents say, Oh, she was so fun
in the classroom, and they havea little different experience to
share. But um, you know, I loveit. And I love that it's not

(27:41):
isolated, calling that when yourcall to you, or when you're
calling to women, you know, youfind people who just have that,
like mine that want to tacklethose issues that don't mind to
get in the sludge with you alittle bit. And those people I'm
telling you have been when Ilook back on the time in the

(28:02):
classroom or even my time inadministration in the district
is those people who walk withyou day by day, who take you as
your who listened to your rants,and then get you back on track.
Like they have been thedifference makers,

Jennifer Malcolm (28:16):
right? No, it's funny because I will be in
the same camp as you myteenagers do not think I'm cool
whatsoever. And I'll have theirfriends over. I'll put the music
on. I have my little dances thatI do around the home. And I
always tell them like you havethe coolest hippest mom around
and they're like, you are thebiggest dork ever. And I make
their friends laugh. I don'tusually make them laugh. They
usually you're you know, duckdown. But you're not the only

(28:39):
mom out there that yourteenagers don't think you're
cool. So

Tesha Fritzgerald (28:43):
they better they better recognize. We are
cool girls

Jennifer Malcolm (28:47):
We are we are very cool. And I know my kids
have been listening to girlsespecially I've been listening
on and off to the podcast andyou know, Paige and Reagan yo
yo, some people call mom here soyou don't don't forget that.

Tesha Fritzgerald (28:58):
Yes, that's right.

Jennifer Malcolm (29:01):
Over the last six to 12 months, you've been
very diligent about creatingwork and creating a create a
book. And through Facebook overthe last month you did the
countdown of days to the bigreveal. And then you did the big
reveal. And I want you to takesome time to tell the audience
about your book. And really thewhy behind your book. So yes,

(29:22):
you you you're a publishedauthor now, but really the the
why and the fire in your bellyof putting this book out.

Tesha Fritzgerald (29:29):
So the name of the book is anti racism and
Universal Design for Learning,building expressways to success.
And basically this is a book tohelp equip teachers to make
classrooms safe and honoringspaces for black and brown
children. I think the impetusbehind the book was looking at
the data. When I looked at thedata and I saw that black or

(29:53):
brown children were suspended ata rate of three times their
white counterparts and also Sawthat black and brown children
were over identified for specialeducation services. And at the
same time, denied spaces in APadvanced placement or gifted
programming. And I thought tomyself, you know, the students

(30:14):
that I've served in EastCleveland, in the greater
Cleveland area, are of the mostbright and talented, gifted
students. But we are not usingtools to access their
giftedness, or to pick up theirintelligence in a way that
broadcasts it to the world. Andso I wanted to write a book, to

(30:37):
give teachers tools andstrategies to really reach
children where they are toreally bring out their
giftedness, because many timeskids are diagnosed with a
disability, but it's really nota disability, there's just a
lack of good teaching or a lackof being reached. And to me,
that's an area where we're nothonoring who people are, we're

(31:00):
not honoring children for whatthey bring to us. But we're
penalizing them because theydon't think like a test maybe
points out, or we don't givethem other opportunities to
broadcast their brilliance in away that makes sense to them.
And so, I thought about for myown kids, I have a 12 year old

(31:20):
and a 13 year old, and they bothshine in really different ways.
And so my son, if you give himlines to memorize and a stage,
he will interpret them, he'llgive you the emotion, he'll give
you tears if you give them justa few moments, but he can bring
a character to life. If you putmy daughter on stage, she will

(31:41):
totally bomb. That's not the wayshe's wired. If you give her an
opportunity to design something,to shape something a little
differently, to do some trialand error to come up with ways
to improve a process. She willamaze you. And so I think about
for each child that's in anyschool or in any classroom, how

(32:04):
can we, as an educationalentity, make sure that all
children have the opportunity toshine in a way that they're
wired to. That is where honorand respect come in. That is
where the anti racism comes in.
Because black and brownchildren, many times are
penalized for nothing other thanthe color of their skin. And

(32:27):
that has to stop. There's noroom for racism in the world.
But there is really no room forracism in the schools. And so as
we build the next generation ofleaders and learners and
speakers and presidents andlawyers and doctors, every child
needs the opportunity to shinein the way that they were wired.
And that's really why I wrotethe book.

Jennifer Malcolm (32:48):
That's powerful. And for the audience
who is not from the Clevelandarea. What is the demographics
of your school, so you're atEast Cleveland, but for people
who aren't from Ohio, or fromthis area, that what is the
demographics of your schooldistrict.

Tesha Fritzgerald (33:03):
So East Cleveland is a inner ring suburb
of the Cleveland area. And it isabout three miles total. So it's
a very small district, we haveabout 99% African American, and
about 9995 to 99% at the free orreduced lunch eligibility rate.

(33:27):
Our city was named the fourthpoorest city in the country. And
that has no bearing on theexcellence that comes from here.
And what I really wish peopleknew is that zip code of skin
color and socio economic statushas no bearing on what children

(33:48):
can accomplish with the rightsupport with the right network.
We have kids have gone on to IvyLeague schools who go to college
and come back and invest in theneighborhood. At this time,
there's a group of our alumniwho are buying property right
here in the city. Great thingshappen in East Cleveland every

(34:10):
single day. Great things happenin urban schools around the
country every single day. It'sjust up to us to keep giving
students an opportunity to shinethe way that they're wired to.

Jennifer Malcolm (34:22):
And I love what you keep saying over and
over the gifts and talents arein children. The gifts and
talents as our God ordainedwithin children when they're
cultivated and they have theright environment. They can
become anything and so that'sgoing from white children brown
black, but the stigma alreadyagainst when you're poor, and

(34:44):
you're of color, then you you'reyou're not going to have as many
opportunities and I love thatyou are being a vocal piece and
advocate for youth. One of theteacher but to for black and
brown children. But your yourDoing your book targeted at the
teachers so that the, theteachers are now seeing their

(35:06):
influence and their ability tocall out future call out gifts.
And we all learn. And I mean,this is this is education 101 we
all learn in different manners,whether we are visual learners,
auditory learners, tactilelearners, we all learn in
different ways. And so we allinterpret data and, and give out

(35:26):
data in different ways, eventhough we're showing the same
data. And going even deeper thanthat, of, of giving opportunity.
So how has this book beenreceived so far,

Tesha Fritzgerald (35:37):
so far has been received really well got
lots of just great feedback andpeople reaching out to say that
the message really resonates.
And, you know, when I thinkabout learning, I think about
learning as an express way thatstudents get to choose the
destination. For many years,people have tried to force

(35:59):
students to college or forcethem to the military. And this
book really just puts thestudent in the driver's seat to
say, What is your destination?
And then what is the role of theeducator and helping you on that
road? So yes, there's on ramps,like you said, taking the day to
end and there are things that wecan do to eliminate our bias to

(36:22):
take away the barriers for everylearner. And then where are the
off ramps? Like, how do you wantto show the world what you've
learned, we have to give choicesand options. And then as you're
navigating on that road tosuccess, what does your vehicle
look like, and when learnerslearn how they learn, then their
vehicle keeps getting upgraded,because I'll know what to do for

(36:43):
my own learning. And those arethe things that are in the book,
those are the strategies that Ireally want teachers to take
home because they have to knowhow to empower learners to learn
how they learn, because thatway, that translates to the job
that translates to the military,that translates to their family
life, when they know what theyneed to do for themselves, then

(37:03):
they'll be able to communicate,they'll be able to advocate for
themselves. And ultimately, thedecision to get to success or
not, then lies with them. Butthey have the resources, the
network and the empowerment tomake the decision and understand
what that decision means no,

Jennifer Malcolm (37:20):
and that's powerful. And you and my husband
would have tons of talk aboutbecause He is a professor at bom
Wallace University, in the earlychildhood education. He's
teaching the next generation ofteachers how to teach and this
space of from, it's not justbook knowledge, it is not just
what your district says is themandated, let's get through this

(37:44):
curriculum is on even at thestate level, or what is
mandated, you have to getthrough this curriculum. We all
learn and grow in different wayswe are inspired by different
things, we're provoked bydifferent things, we feel
empowered to use our voice indifferent situations. And if you
have the ability to change theDNA, or the work that teachers

(38:06):
do, in order to not cookie cut acurriculum or outcomes, or teach
to a test, and you're reallyinvesting life, like I will go
back to the legacy deposits,you're putting legacy deposits
into the next generation, howpowerful that can be.

Tesha Fritzgerald (38:26):
I thought about pre service teachers a lot
when writing the book, because Ithought about the actual job
went to Cleveland StateUniversity, the master of urban
secondary teaching program. Anda lot of it talked about the
hard work of teaching and thescience, but it was about the
heart work. And our hearts haveto be in a position to mine for

(38:46):
brilliance to look for it toliterally blast away all the
rock until we find where kidsshine. And I think that mindset
is a lot different than preparethem to take a test or refer
them to special ed or they needto go over there for
intervention. It says whileyou're with me, I will look for
the jewel in you. I will findit. I will mind for I'll remind

(39:08):
you of it. There's nothing elsethat I'm looking for at this
deficit, but asset alwaysthere's something good in you.
And I will find it and then whenthey know you're serious about
the relationship that you havewith them and not just
relationship, but it's like therelationship for whatever your
endgame is. So I work for you.
You tell me where you want togo. And I just remember a kid I

(39:29):
met him in the office. I wasvisiting a school. He was in the
office and I just sat down nextto him. He had no idea who I was
or what I did for the district.
And I asked him so what's up?
Why are you here? He said, I amin here because I don't get
along with my teacher. Okay,well, you know, that's fine. I
asked him a couple morequestions. And then we got on

(39:49):
the topic of what His goal was,What did he want to do? He had
this idea that he wanted to havea barber shop next to a carwash
he wanted them together, not oneor the other, but they had to be
together. Because you can goover here and get your hair cut.
And then they'll take care ofyour car. You don't have to
waste time waiting on the car.

(40:10):
He had this all thought out, hewas in the fifth or sixth grade.
And this, he said, What have youshared this idea with anyone? He
said, I told one person, theytold me it was stupid. And I was
like, well, I disagree. And heand I began to form a
relationship. So he justrecently graduated maybe last

(40:31):
year or the year before last.
And I will ask them from time totime I do you still want to do
that. He's like, No, I don'twant to do that anymore. But he
still has an entrepreneuriallens. There's still something
about having his own businessand having two businesses in one
place that just really intrigueshim. And I think for him, what
if education wrapped around him?

(40:54):
What if the resources to realizethat dream by the time he was in
the 12th grade, we're actuallyavailable? What if we change the
way we listen to studentsaspirations, and then we shape
their educational experiencearound it, not pigeonholing them
to one dream, but literallypreparing them for a series of
dreams. And that's really what Italked about in the book, just

(41:14):
honoring students where they areempowering them to make
decisions for themselves andaccess a resource of a network
of resources, but then alsoreleasing them to do the things
that they would like to do andtry to fail to start over and to
be there for them at every stageof their progression.

Jennifer Malcolm (41:34):
And I love that because you know, I'm an
entrepreneur, I have mymarketing firm, it's going on 10
years of business. I'm involvedin eo which is an entrepreneurs
organization. It's a globalcommunity. But there's a chapter
here in Cleveland. And I thoughtthat was the smartest idea, like
to have a barber shop. And acarwash, because you're being
efficient with people's timeyou're being respectful of their

(41:56):
time, you stop for one, you gettwo services, and you're on your
way, like, to me, that'sbrilliant, because time is a
commodity that is so precious.
Like I'm like, that's reallysmart business thinking. So
whether he does that one orsomething similar, where you get
a twofer one time, you know,something, I think it's
outstanding.

Tesha Fritzgerald (42:18):
He's bri liant. And most times with chi
dren, black and brown cildren, they're brillia
t, is viewed as disrespect, thy end up in the office. So h
was out of the classroom,or having these ideas or assessi
g the situation and sayingwe don't have a relationship
And because he articulated tht it was viewed as negative.

(42:40):
nd so this book helps teacherswhether you're black or br
wn yourself, or you're whitemaybe you just have a differen
culture. Maybe there's someisconnect, this gives teachers
kind of like an on ramp to thinabout how do I design my c
assroom so that every single peson that enters feels heard

(43:00):
feel sane, and feels value. And then once you're safe,
hen we can talk about the cntent. We can't transmit c
ntent, when I'm afraid when I fel like there's a threat, when
I feel that you and I don'tike each other. There's no l
arning that can happen in thatnvironment. And so building t
ese expressways really starts wth hearing each other speaking

(43:22):
to one another, and teachingxplicitly those skills tha
translate into relationship, buthen move more

Jennifer Malcolm (43:28):
So and I know that you and my husband would
have so much to talk about inthis room, because the piece
that when you are sharing yourstory before about knowing your
students, you're talking aboutservant leadership you're
talking about I'm not getting mystudents to my outcomes, I am
serving them to pull out of themthe gold the treasures, and then
find that those tools to helpand to be a catalyst for what's

(43:54):
already in their heart to getthem from point A to point B or
to across the finish line. Sothat's powerful. So you had a
very significant person, writethe introduction to your book.
And can you share a little bitabout your connection with her?
the why behind that? And alittle bit of insight to that.

Tesha Fritzgerald (44:17):
So I'm still just thrilled at you know how
some stuff happens. And youcan't even believe that it
happened. But Somalia rice, themother of Tamir Rice and Tamir
Rice was murdered by policeofficers in Cleveland. He was 12
years old. And his mom sumeriawrote the foreword to my book.

(44:38):
And the reason why I'm just sograteful that she would lend her
voice to the book, but she wrotean article in Essence magazine
where she talked about Tamir,and she talked about his love of
the arts, and she is a championfor arts education also for
wraparound services. Sherecently started the Tamir Rice

(44:59):
fund And, you know, his storyhas impacted so many people. I
don't know if many people knowthis. But in Jordan, there is a
playground dedicated to TamirRice. And his story just gives
people the passion to continueto fight for rights pacifically
for juveniles. But what I loveabout sumeria is that she

(45:23):
definitely challenges educators,she speaks to educators about
the importance of incorporatingarts and movement into
education. And so I thought itwas a natural fit that someone
who fights for the rights ofblack and brown children every
single day, and, you know, she,there was that tragedy. And

(45:45):
there was this morning,Cleveland as a community mourned
with her. And now, she's afighter, and an activist, and
Cleveland as a community fightswith her, were activists with
her. So for us to partnertogether to really equip
teachers to learn how to workwith black and brown children

(46:05):
has been a great joy. I'veenjoyed every conversation I've
had with her. But mostly herresilience is a picture of what
all children need, we need toknow that. And adults too, that
we can grieve. And we can takethat time to grieve. And then we
can watch our grief, transformus into serving others. And

(46:28):
that's what she's done. And so Icouldn't think of a better
person to write the foreword.
It's good.

Jennifer Malcolm (46:33):
No, it's very owerful. So what's on the next c
apter of T Asia's future? Inow that you're always learnin
, always growing, alwaysbeing an advocate, for your c
mmunity, for your school disrict for women, for for teena
ers, and youth. But what's nexon your

Tesha Fritzgerald (46:52):
That's always a really, really tough question.
One of the things that, youknow, I've been teaching a
course on culturally responsiveteaching and universal design
for learning. And those are twoframeworks that I believe in at,
as an advocate for educators, Ibelieve in frameworks that give
them the freedom to designexperiences. So I know that I'll

(47:12):
be teaching a course based onanti racist education and
Universal Design for Learninghere soon. And so I'm just
trying to find ways to reachteachers, both pre service and
in the classroom, so thatthey'll understand the role that
each of us has, and designinglearning experiences for
students that are free from ourbiases, free from our barriers,

(47:35):
when we are the barrier, beingable to recognize it, and then
showcasing what those studentscan do when they have the right
supports in place. And so mydream is to help teachers tell
their students stories and helpstudents find ways to just
shine. Awesome.

Jennifer Malcolm (47:55):
Who or what inspires you?

Tesha Fritzgerald (48:00):
Oh, man. So I will tell you that my children
inspire me. I took my daughterto a conference that I was
speaking at in California. And Iasked her before I spoke, I
said, you know, they invited mehere to speak. But I would love
to share the platform with you.
And if there's something thatyou would like to share with

(48:21):
teachers who are listening,would you consider sharing, you
know, five minutes of yourexperience, she rocked it. And
so she shared just about a timewhen she felt like her voice was
shut down in the classroom. Andthen she also shared about a
time when she felt like hervoice was welcome in the
classroom. The funny thing isthat they invited me back to

(48:42):
speak this year, but they alsoinvited her to speak, and to
bring her friends. And so to seethat, that inspires me so
greatly, that she has nowunderstood what it took me so
long to understand that my voiceactually matters, that I
actually have something to say,and that when I say it, people
will listen. And I was an adultbefore I felt empowered that

(49:04):
way. She's 13. And same for myson, he has found such beautiful
ways to advocate for himself. Hebelieves and if there's
something that he'suncomfortable with, I've seen
him very respectfully. Andsometimes, like I said, though,
the way that he articulates itmay be viewed as disrespect, but
he has found a way to bothempower himself and to speak up

(49:27):
on the behalf of others. So whatwe birthed in our home, are
activists, and nothing inspiresme more. I am certain and I tell
them all the time, I am certainthat the world has to be better
because you will demand it. Andso they inspire me greatly to
keep doing what I'm doing. Theyremind me that my voice has
value and I forget when I getnervous when I get scared when I

(49:50):
feel like oh, I don't know if Ihave anything that will be
important. It's them who sitwith me and speak over me That
you have something to say, Mom,you can do this and to receive
that inspiration from them islife giving.

Jennifer Malcolm (50:09):
So go d. I got goosebumps on that. Bec
use, you know, those of yowho are continuing to list
n to our podcast, that is the fundation of what the purpo
e of the podcast, the Jennasisovement, the Jennasis Spe
ks it up women's empowermenteries is all about is findi
g voice. Every story, every woan has a story. And it could be

(50:33):
mall, it could be large, it coulbe self inflicted, it could be
omething that happened to us, itcould be just how I feel.
ut every person matters, and evry woman matters. And the the,
the goal is that we're reachingomen all across the globe,
ith this podcast, and with ourork that we're continuing to
uild out that there is activiss, there is voice, there is

(50:58):
courage, there is healing,there is purpose, it is life gi
ing, and to bring hope and heling and community. And we may
ot agree on every issue oon this podcast. But that'
not the point. It's not aboutone, you know, vision, and but i
's, it's pulling out the goldof women around the globe, to re

(51:21):
lly have that confidence that yur voice does matter. And I
ove that your children are caling that out. And you because
ou are a powerhouse. And to breal to say like, hey, somet
mes I do get nervous, or sometmes I do question, what I have
o say is important. But to relly call out that courage of No
you are called, you have a purose, you have a destiny, you
ave this voice and it matters.
And it's important. And it's bautiful, and that you have yo

(51:43):
ng youth calling that out. I canot wait to see what they're
doing in 10-20-30-40 yers. That'

Tesha Fritzgerald (51:53):
Yes, I think that once women understand that,
despite the thoughts and the thewrestling with the value, once
we find a place that we have tospeak up, that we have to
protest that we have to becomeactive in making change. Once we

(52:15):
find that place, whether it's inthe kitchen, or the courthouse,
where there's in the classroom,or at the church, wherever it
is, there is a compellingmovement that can't be stopped
is almost like you have to doit. And when you find that zone,
that area that you know thatwithout your voice, things will

(52:35):
just stay the same or peoplewill assume that things are
okay. I think that that is ourpower zone, that's when we have
to speak up, we have to standup, we have to move differently.
And that is a calling that it'sup to each woman, when they
accept it. When they step intothe role, no one can force us

(52:59):
into that no one can push usinto that. And when we make the
choice to step into it, nothingcan keep us from it. That's when
things begin doors begin toopen, things begin to shift and
change. And I found that when Istarted writing the book, there
were so many questions in myhead like what what qualifies me

(53:20):
to share this and what whatmakes me different on this
issue. And I had to really justtrust that there was a
difference that I had beenmaking in lives for years that
I've been keeping hiding under abushel so to speak. And that
this is a movement that teachersare asking for. And there's a

(53:40):
growing a growing contingency ofteachers that want to do better,
but don't know what to do. Thatwould be their condition. If I
didn't write my book, that wouldbe their condition if women
don't do what it is that theyare called to do. And so
wherever you are, whatever itis, whatever gift it is that

(54:01):
you've been hiding under abushel because of insecurity, or
just feeling like an imposter orfeeling disqualified, or feeling
like you don't know enough.
Those are all lies. We need yourvoice. We need your voice. We
need your actions. We need yourwords. We need your books, we
need your songs, we need yourdance moves, even if your kids

(54:23):
think they're dorky. We needthem. We need all of them. And
so as much as I want to empowerteachers, I have to empower
women as well. Because womenlike you, Jen, and women like
the teachers at my school, womenat home like my mom, my grandma,
my great grandma, they investedin me and with every investment
comes the push you push peopleto be more than what they

(54:48):
thought they could be. And thenyou turn around and you do that
for somebody else.

Jennifer Malcolm (54:52):
Powerful. Wow.
Well said and And to be clear,we love men so much Have men
move in at all, it's just aboutpositioning, the calling and
purpose of our lives. And ifthis podcast and other work that
we're doing shifts your heartone degree, even if you're not
ready to speak yet, even ifyou're like, I don't know, but

(55:15):
it gives you one ounce ofcourage to step into healing,
step into your calling, stepinto that book, the dance the
relationship and get out fromunder that bushel. Kelly is
going to love this on my team,because before we launched our
first one, she's saying thatwhole song, she's like, you've
been hiding your light under abushel, and it's time to let it
go Jen. And, and it's powerful.

(55:38):
And you are doing it a for yourstudents, the next generation,
your teachers and women, andit's powerful, any closing
remarks, and that was kind of anice closing, but any closing
remarks that you want to sharewith the audience, before we
wrap up?

Tesha Fritzgerald (55:57):
I will say that every voice needs a safe
zone, a safe space, find yoursafe space. And even in your
safe space. Some things happen,that bring back memories, or
that feel like they remind youof something bad has happened

(56:18):
before. We don't connect thedots and hurt. We let the doors
open and love. And I just wantevery woman listening to this
podcast to know that there's adream that is uniquely yours,
that you're not pigeonhole bytime or space, that you are not
confined or constricted bywhatever it is you believe
that's keeping you in that oneplace, that if you have dreams,

(56:42):
this is your season to explorethose dreams. This is your
permission slip. This is yourpermission slip, to dream big,
to imagine yourself victoriouslyand to move into the next season
of action. And so I hope thatyou're inspired to just explore
the dream, but that you'recompelled to move forward to

(57:06):
take some action to make thatdream come true.

Jennifer Malcolm (57:09):
powerful. And I'm inspired by this I'm
encouraged by this. As I'mstepping out in this space there
is that Who am I? What am Igoing to bring that's different
than someone else? Why me I havea you know some stuff in my past
that brings up shame and, anddisqualification and very

(57:29):
powerful. So I am receiving thatI am going to write myself a
permission slip to Yes, ma'am,to go into the fullness of my
calling and the destiny of mydreams, and to really allow
other women to have thatpermission slip as well. So
thank you so much for your timetoday. I am honored to call you,
my friend, and be alongside youin the work of supporting and

(57:54):
advocating for women and thevoices to heal and to grow. And
to find the courage and reallyhonored that you could share
this time with me today.

Tesha Fritzgerald (58:04):
Thank you so much for having me such a
blessing

Jennifer Malcolm (58:06):
You are most welcome. So thank you all for
tuning in today. We cannot waitto for you to receive the
resources here with T shirtswork and, and some of the things
that she's connected to here inCleveland. And we will catch you
on the next episode of JennasisSpeaks: The Transformative Power
of Women's Stories where everywoman has a story. And that

(58:28):
story matters. And that meansyou alright, have a good one.
Subscribe to the JennasisMovement to empower women's
voices and reclaim the powerover your own narrative.