February 9, 2022 | Dr. Christina M. Kishimoto
On Wednesday, January 5, 2022 I was honored to sit down with Dr. Luvelle Brown, friend and colleague, who is in his 11th year serving as Superintendent of the Ithaca City Public Schools in New York, to talk about receiving the 2022 Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award presented by AASA. Hear what he had to say about this honor and much more.
DR. KISHIMOTO
The Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award is a prestigious honor for the recipient. Dr. Jones believed in advancing the pathway and access for women and people of color to executive leadership positions in education. She was not just about access, but about how sitting leaders contribute to this mission to elevate others – to serve beyond self.
I was thrilled to hear that you – Dr. Luvelle Brown, are the 2022 recipient of this great award in honor of the namesake of a woman leader who contributed so much to the work of equity.
What does this award mean to you and how does Dr. Jones’ legacy speak to you?
DR. BROWN
This is the most important recognition I’ve received in my lifetime, both personally and professionally. It means so much to me coming at this moment in my life. When I read about and hear people talk about the legacy of Dr. Effie Jones, I think about, see and hear my mother! My mother, Lucille Brown, was also an educator. She was in the elementary classroom and she was in the system for 46 years. She is known by generations of young people in my home community, as an amazing educator, just like Dr. Effie Jones. My mother, just like Dr. Effie Jones was a connector of people. She was always validating and affirming, not only the young people that she was blessed to be with, but she validated and affirmed everyone that came into her presence. Particularly women and people of color who traditionally had grown up marginalized. My mother was a beacon of hope, she connected people, and was also the one that made sure everyone was seen and heard.
My mother passed away at the beginning of this awful pandemic and with her passing I felt myself going to a place I had not been, as an educator, as a professional and as a person. I wasn’t in a great space. I used to talk to my mother everyday about this work and she inspired me everyday to do something different and better. Every single day of my life. And all of a sudden that was gone. And when the work was at its toughest…the health pandemic shut down and not being able to be with students everyday, I needed my mama, and she was not there. So, I had to lean on her legacy and her words just as I now have learned to lean on the words and legacy of Dr. Effie Jones. My mother said to me right before she passed, the great equity warriors they don’t last for very long. We are not always going to be here because people are going to find reasons to discredit us or find reasons for us not to be in leadership roles but what we hope we have done is inspired people to take our places when we are gone. And I finally understand what that means. She reared me to be an equity leader, like she is, like she was, just like Dr. Effie Jones. Now it’s my time to take her place, now that she’s gone. You asked me what this honor means to me…it’s the most important honor that I have ever received and it is coming at the right time in my life personally and professionally.
DR. KISHIMOTO
I believe that things come into our life at the right time. Also, it sounds like you had a very powerful woman in your life in your mother and that is a beautiful blessing. I thank you for sharing your story because I think it is so important for others to hear the personal stories of leaders and what and who stands behind them, what painted your perspective as you now lead.
Dr. Effie Jones believed in social justice and the responsibility we have to leverage our power as leaders to create the space to support and prepare others to lead. How do you keep yourself from saying “I’ve arrived!” and instead saying “I’m just getting started!” Where does your motivation come from in this difficult climate today to keep advancing this important work and to bring others along?
DR. BROWN
I’m learning everyday and frankly I’m learning everyday from folks who have struggled to be seen and heard in this space. Women, minorities, folks that I work with, folks that I mentor, women that I worked with who are now colleague Superintendents. I learn from them how to better connect with people, how to be an instructional leader, how to inspire folks, how to teach reading, how to change policies. I am inspired everyday through the people that I have connected with. These are folks who have had to overcome barriers in order to lead. This is about supporting one another in this journey. I’ve had barriers I myself have had to overcome as an African-American male but I also bring some privileges to this space. I know nothing about what it is like to matriculate through this space as an African-American female or a Latinx. But I see what they struggle with and so when they speak I listen, and they inspire me, and I learn from their experiences and their work. We all need to be in that learning space right now because our schools are in a pivotal place where we need to transition. Who better to learn from than to look to those who struggle just to be seen and heard in this space. This makes us a first year educator every year.
DR. KISHIMOTO
That brings me to a question that requires you to assume how Dr. Jones might see the education world today. As I look at the percentage of women superintendents in this nation at 27%, and women of color within the groups of Black, Asian and Hispanic each in the single digits, it raises a lot of questions. It’s not moving very quickly. The pipeline is full of women, with the majority of teachers today still being women, yet something is happening there with women not gaining access to the top leadership seat. What do you think Dr. Jones would think today in 2022 about the progress made by women, and by all leaders of color, in accessing the Superintendent seat?
DR. BROWN
I am humbled in being asked to think about what such a brilliant mind would be thinking at this moment. I think she would go to policy. There has to be a policy shift and a policy change to significantly impact those unfortunate numbers. Is there a policy that we can implement that requires all board members nationally to go through implicit and unconscious bias training? Is there some kind of policy that we can implement that requires that our pools of candidates must be diverse? At this point, when we’ve been attempting to have horizontal accountability, and attempting to connect to the decision-maker’s understanding of the data that clearly shows that we must do something differently, this has not worked, and so now we need to focus on policy. Culture does not change until policy changes first. We need to change policies to force the change in mindsets, and ultimately the data hopefully will show that equity of access.
DR. KISHIMOTO
Dr. Brown, whether you intentionally choose to be a role model or not, as a black man in a public-facing executive level leadership position, you are being watched by children and youth who cross your path everyday. What do you hope they are observing and learning from watching you lead?
DR. BROWN
Thank you for asking that question! I haven’t chosen this, they have chosen me. I started mentoring programs, I still mentor, and I talk with students and they say what they see. They say they see grace. And I learned this from my mother. They also say they see people coming for me, making up things about me, lying about me [laughs], they see all of the things a typical public leader has to face, and they see me respond. They say, Dr. Brown, you always respond with grace. And yes, that is required. We need to be patient, we need to be forgiving, we need to be truthful and honest with folks, and we need to do that in a loving way. And young people who see me as a mentor, see me responding with love at all times. They also tell me they see what I wear [laughs], they see the car I drive…whatever it takes to inspire young people to read, to write, to do something after graduation! You want to wear a suit like Dr. Brown, boom, this is what it is going to take! Dr. Brown is reading and writing something every night, journing everyday, he’s always on time. You want to drive that car, you need to be nice to people, you need to connect with folks, you need to speak with people. Young people talk to me and they say they see those things in me and it has inspired them. I know that they are looking and some of them are always watching.
DR. KISHIMOTO
Folks outside of education often ask why we choose to do this work of public education today? Why do you choose to dedicate your career, your life, your passion to public education?
DR. BROWN
I watched my parents attempt to disrupt oppressive systems every single day. They’ve asked me to do the same. Why I do this? To disrupt oppressive systems. My industry, other industries have been built to perpetuate systems of exclusion. We, folks like me, need to disrupt that. That’s why I am doing it. I know with that active effort to disrupt that oppressive system I must also be prepared to give up privileges. My right to comfort, my right to safety…I have to give up some of those in order to disrupt the oppression. I know why I am doing this work and I also know the consequences for this work. And I have chosen to stay on this path.
DR. KISHIMOTO
Luvelle, you have a personally inspiring story. Thank you for your leadership and service to our nation’s children and youth! Again, congratulations!
DR. BROWN
Thank you for this opportunity to reflect in this way!
