The Radical Bureaucrat

We talk about the historic transition happening at the very top of the largest public school system in the nation. Chancellor Carranza has been a controversial figure at a pivotal moment in the history of NYC, and Sadye Campoamor and Zakiyah Ansari help us to make sense of this moment.

Renato Rosaldo is a world-renown anthropologist and the author of four books of poetry. He is also Sam's dad! On this episode he discusses grief and grieving, in the time of COVID-19 and after the death of his wife, and Sam's mother, in 1981. He ends by reading from his book, "The Day of Shelly's Death."

S2:E19—Tema Okun, @TemaOkun by Abram Guerra and Sam Rosaldo

S2:E18--Colin Seale, @ColinESeale by Abram Guerra and Sam Rosaldo

We talk with Jose Luis Vilson, Nationally recognized Harlem educator and all around good guy. He helps us make sense of this moment, and highlights the importance of "grace."

Sam and Abram make space to talk about some of the loss that we are all facing, from the death of dear loved ones, to the more trivial losses of work, momentum, or just routine. What does it look like to intentionally dig in on an emotion that we pretty much avoid unless we absolutely have to?

We talk with Sam's wife about healthcare, the hospital industrial complex, the importance of asking for help, planning, and preparing for birthing, and how things have changes since the COVID shut us down.

We have a sprawling conversation with Dan Honig, who helps us understand what's happening in West Africa and at his temporary Comfy COVID Country Cottage in Madison, Virginia. What does it take to not only make space for bureaucrats to want to rock the boat for the sake of the people, but to also reform and reimagine institution that keep the boat headed on the right course: justice.

Abram and Sam chat about two stories of folks who Rocked the Boat and fell out. Who went 'all in' to use a phrase from the Texas Hold-em fad, and lost their job in order to better serve the people that were counting on them.

S1:E12--Janelle Scott, UC Berkeley by Abram Guerra and Sam Rosaldo

We talk with Harlem educator Ruben Brosbe, on Twitter @brosbe, about the impact of the pandemic, remote learning, tired pedagogies of test prep and 'business as usual,' and the real work of holding space with communities striving to learn and grow together.

Sam and Abram share media (books, articles, music) that has been giving them life over the last few weeks. Happy Friday!

Dr. Rebecca Tarlou shares with us how life has changed for her at Penn State, how she is working locally to organize her neighbors to respond to the crisis, and what we might reimagine in our education and social systems given the current disruption.

We hear from David Kirkland (@davidekirkland), who leads a community of education justice innovators and movement builders at NYU's "Metro Center" (@metronyu): The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.

S2:E7--Brian Salter, Seattle by Abram Guerra and Sam Rosaldo

We talk with Jaekun Cho in Seoul about living day by day through the coronavirus pandemic. We appreciated Jaekun's willingness to share his reflections, and how he is understanding his part in the interconnected global whole.

We hear from Takissa Lloyd, who shares with us some of the ways her heart is heavy reckoning with (and calling people to reckon with) the ways that they are modeling things right now that are teaching our kids what it means to cope in a crisis. Takissa blew us away with her visionary call for collectivism in this critical chapter of human history.

We hear from Seth Hanlon, a veteran wonk and bureaucrat in the seat of the Federal Government. We discuss the challenges of working from home, the 'all hands on deck' environment in DC right now, and what our elected representatives from both parties are coalescing on in terms of economic recovery programming.

We chat with educator, artist, and instructional leader Genevieve DeBose about making time for collective and self care, the social costs of isolation and physical distancing (socially we are still practicing solidarity and love!), and how schools and workplaces are important sources of belonging for students AND workers (AND managers AND leaders).

Sam and Abram chat with Toni Smith-Thompson, who is working from her NYC apartment as a Community Organizer for the NY Civil Liberties Union (NY State branch of the ACLU). The lockdown won't stop the movement, because we move from a place of purpose. There will be change, mistakes, losses, and grief (which we must take time to process), but there is also our purpose. The decisions we make, the leaders we become at this time of crisis, and the ways that we take action to live out our values—these are the stories our grandchildren will tell about us.

Season 2 of The Radical Bureaucrat: Now with less editing and polishing, but still made with love. Join us as we try to make sense of living through this unprecedented moment. Questions and Comments via Twitter @RadBureau

For the last episode of the season, Sam and Abram invited some friends to watch and discuss Brazil, a surreal film that takes on themes of bureaucracy and alienation. Sam and Abram are joined by Patrick G. Williamson, who works for the NYC Department of Education and produces the podcast 3 Educated Brothas, and Toni Smith-Thompson, who is an organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union. In Brazil, protagonist Sam Lowry works for a massive bureaucracy called Central Services, but fantasizes about becoming a “lone wolf” hero who rescues a damsel in distress. It inspires a conversation addressing questions like: What is normalcy, and what can we learn by observing who accepts it and who doesn't? How do we balance individual ambition with the call to be of service to other people? How does the dystopia in Brazil mirror the real world? And, should we work to change unjust systems by trying to become revolutionary heroes, or can we build community to work for incremental change? Further reading: Brazil (1985 film), directed by Terry Gilliam. Sorry to Bother You (2018 film), directed by Boots Riley. 3 Educated Brothas podcast (http://www.3educatedbrothas.com/). Jay Smooth – “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdxeFcQtaU) The Coup – “Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last night” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr1JLoYLW4) Killer Mike – “Reagan” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU) Ill Doctrine, a video blog by Jay Smooth (http://illdoctrine.com/)

In this episode, Sam and Abram chat with Paul Forbes while he drives one of his Expanded Success Initiative students to college. The Expanded Success Initiative, which Paul runs, is a New York City Department of Education program that works with Black and Latino boys in high schools to make sure they graduate ready for college and career. Paul's approach has a strong emphasis on community- and relationship-building. Process vs. policy is a major theme in this conversation as Paul shares how he works at the school level to build trust in the program among educators and students. The group revisits the metaphor of a jigsaw puzzle, with its messy curves that combine to create a whole picture, as a stand-in for effective collaboration. They talk about how to reconcile that messiness with policy-making, which tends to have a stronger emphasis on control and order. The conversation—and Paul's work—is guided by the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, you should go alone. But if you want to go far, you should go together.”

A special tribute to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior.

"The Radical Bureaucrat: Love" When a co-worker cried after a tense phone conversation, Sam started thinking about accountability and human relationships within bureaucracy. Inspired by this incident and by the closeness they've built while working on The Radical Bureaucrat, Abram and Sam spend this episode exploring the intersection of love with the bureaucratic workplace. Join a conversation framed around bell hooks' All About Love in which the guys unpack what love is (and isn't), what a workplace characterized by love would look like, why the concept of love is taboo, and how that taboo is baked into the systems that organize our workplaces. Along the way, they discuss issues like gender, race, class, capitalism, and the “junk food” version of care in modern workplaces rich in amenities but poor in work/life balance. Tune in and get inspired to build a more collaborative, loving community in your professional relationships, personal life, and the global community. Further reading: hooks, bell. All About Love: New Visions. 2000. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1968. Darder, Antonia. Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love. 2002. Marx, Karl (editor: Robert C. Tucker). The Marx-Engels Reader. Published 1972. Nossa Chape. 2018 film. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983678/]"

The Radical Bureaucrat: Noliwe Rooks At the beginning of her most recent book, Dr. Noliwe Rooks shares a conversation she had over and over with her white, affluent students at Princeton. They called education “the civil rights issue of our time,” and seemed eager and committed to eradicating educational inequity. Rooks quickly noticed that for all their enthusiasm, few of her students had actually visited the underserved schools and neighborhoods they wanted to help or talked to the parents, students, and educators there. When Rooks brought up this type of engagement, they seemed dismissive of the idea that it was even necessary. In today's conversation, Dr. Rooks shares how these repetitive conversations reflect broad rhetoric in the education reform movement and historical patterns in the racialized history of education in the U.S. She shares the concept of "segrenomics," economic and business models that require segregation to produce profits. She describes the great lengths that formerly-enslaved people in the rural south took to build schools in their communities, why white philanthropists took all the credit, and how similar patterns echo in today's education politics. Rooks explores all the reasons why, if we ever hope to serve our most marginalized communities as bureaucrats, we need to engage meaningfully and continuously with community members who've been organizing, teaching, and fighting for education resources for decades. Further reading: · Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education by Noliwe M. Rooks. 2017. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34196066-cutting-school · Comparative and International Education Society https://www.cies.us/ Referenced in this episode: · Waiting for “Superman,” David Guggenheim, 2010. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1566648/ · Dangerous Minds, John N. Smith, 1995. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112792/ · Stand and Deliver, Ramón Menéndez, 1988. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/ · Race to the Top: 2009 U.S. Department of Education initiative that awarded grants to education reform initiatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_Top · EduColor Collective: http://www.educolor.org/about/ · Teach for America: https://www.teachforamerica.org/ Show notes by Hannah E. Brown; “Aquarela” do Brasil by Ary Barroso, Performed by Peter Markowski, Luke Maurer, and Abram Guerra; Thanks to Chris Martinie for logo and all of you for your love and support.

“Is there any way to rock the boat without falling out of it?,” is the central question of Debra Meyerson's article “Radical Change, the Quiet Way,” which Sam and Abram spend this episode discussing. Meyerson's article resonates because it addresses those “tempered radicals” who work to steer institutions toward justice from the middle – meaning without positional power. It's a topic that forces us to contend with the racist and otherwise oppressive foundations upon which these public institutions, which we perceive as equitable and necessary, were built. Sam and Abram discuss this question of whether to work toward incremental change or to give into our frustrated impulse to “burn it down!” They also raise the issue of the aftermath of a generation of tempered radicals. That is, imagine a generation of marginalized people (for example, people of color) learns to advance in their institutions by quietly biding their time and absorbing bigotry until they access positional power. What happens once they're in power, but have only accessed it by keeping quiet? Next, Sam and Abram break down the four strategies for organizational change in Meyerson's article: disruptive self-expression, verbal Jiu-jitsu, variable term opportunism, and strategic alliance-building. Pulling out examples like wearing a dashiki to work or asking who's going to take notes in a meeting, they explain and expand on each strategy. Further reading: “Radical Change, the Quiet Way” by Debra Meyerson. Harvard Business Review. October 2001. https://hbr.org/2001/10/radical-change-the-quiet-way The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson. "

In today's episode, Sam and Abram chat with Vinny Schiraldi, who oversaw radical changes running Juvenile Corrective Services in Washington, DC. Listen to Vinny explain how, guided by his approach of “acting incrementally while dreaming boldly,” he vastly cut down on institutionalization, abuse, and corruption. The story includes a steady stream of trauma and a lot of patient collaboration. Topics of conversation include the advocates and bureaucrats with whom Vinny painstakingly reformed the system; how to work with staff who are traumatized by, but also propagate, a toxic status quo; myths and facts about juvenile justice; and how an institution that is a site of abuse and violence can become a place of healing. Vinnie also shares how he went from working at a group home to running a major juvenile justice system – and how he arrived at his conclusion that “mass incarceration is going to end.” Content warning: This episode may not be suitable for children, and includes some brief descriptions of violence and abuse (including sexual violence) in juvenile justice settings. Additional Reading: Beyond the Bars Conference, Center for Justice at Columbia University Florida should shut down youth-detention centers where ‘fight clubs' thrive by Candice Jones, Patrick McCarthy and Vincent Schiraldi (October 18, 2017) How New York City Has Shown that “Less is More” When It Comes to Probation Supervision, by Vincent Schiraldi, HuffPost (October 10, 2017) KEYNOTE ADDRESS: 2017 NTCOSS Conference; Darwin, NT, Australia (September 28, 2017) “Juvenile Prisons: It's Time to Close ‘Factories of Failure,'” by Vincent Schiraldi on The Crime Report (September 26, 2017) FB Live discussion between Vincent Schiraldi and CSSW Interim Dean Irwin Garfinkel on youth criminal justice (November 15, 2017) Show notes by Hannah E. Brown; “Aquarela” do Brasil by Ary Barroso, Performed by Peter Markowski, Luke Maurer, and Abram Guerra; Thanks to Chris Martinie for logo and all of you for your love and support.

What can a viral video of a teacher ripping up an elementary schooler's book tell us about government regulation and management? In this inaugural recording, Sam and Abram try to unpack some of the arguments and assumptions in Elizabeth Green's January 2018 article in The Atlantic: “The Charter School Crusader” about Eva Moskowitz and the school system she founded and now leads: Success Academy Charter Schools. First, we explore the context of the education reform movement in NYC and restructuring of public schools during the Bloomberg era. This gives way to a discussion of the terms revolutionary and radical—which we define as an effort to change the underlying structures and systems. Moskowitz positions herself as a revolutionary because she is changing the school system with entrepreneurial leadership and top-down authority, all while operating as a private citizen. Sam and Abram ask whether revolutionary change must include activating the power of a mass movement of the people, and holding oneself accountable to the public. This leads to a discussion about end goals, efficiency, and accountability. Moskowitz believes she can most effectively make change as a private citizen, but uses public funds in the process. Sam and Abram untangle this puzzle and raise more questions, like: Is efficiency more important than making schools equitable, accountable, and parent-friendly? How do we, as bureaucrats, hold ourselves accountable to the services we need to provide in real-time while also asking ourselves deeper question about our goals and measures? How do race and school segregation play into this debate? Additional reading: · The Charter School Crusader by Elizabeth Green, The Atlantic, January/February 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/success-academy-charter-schools-eva-moskowitz/546554/ · CREAD: Culturally Responsive Educators of the African Diaspora. https://creadnyc.com/ · Reinventing America's Schools: Creating a 21t Century Education System by David E. Osborne. September 2017. · She Breaks Rules While Expecting Students to Follow Them by Lisa Miller, New York Times book review of Eva Moskowitz' memoir. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/books/review/education-of-eva-moskowitz-memoir.html · The Education of Eva Moskowitz by Eva Moskowitz. September 2017. · Success Academy's Radical Educational Experiment by Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, December 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/success-academys-radical-educational-experiment

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, described a scenario in which a person rescues a baby drowning in a river--then another one, then another. How many babies would you have to rescue before walking upstream to address the root cause? How do you continue rescuing babies downstream while you walk upstream? Fleshing out this and other metaphors, Sam and Abram lay out key concepts and themes they'll explore in this first reason of The Radical Bureaucrat. Through discussion of articles and books, and interviews with thinkers and changemakers, they'll explore many questions that follow from the premise of somehow creating fundamental change within a system that sets you up to do narrow, everyday tasks. In this episode, Sam and Abram discuss the meaning of the terms “radical” and “bureaucracy,” share a bit about their own backgrounds, and list issues they'll tackle this season, including: leadership, organizing communities, changemaking “from the middle,” democracy, what we want institutions to do vs. what they're actually for, and imagining what institutions could be while continuing to serve the populations who rely on them. If fascism is, as Hannah Arendt wrote, “organized loneliness,” then affirmation that other people grapple with the same big issues is integral to changemaking. Join us this season as we grapple out loud and affirm that, if you're asking some of the same questions, you're not alone. Additional reading: · The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. January 2010. · Hannah Arendt: German political theorist. 1906-1975. https://www.iep.utm.edu/arendt/ · 3 Education Brothas: A podcast about all things education through the experiences of Black men. http://www.3educatedbrothas.com/

The Radical Bureaucrat trailer, where we briefly preview the coming season.