Baker Honors Black History Month: Senator Regina Barrow Highlights One of Her Mentors and The Importance of Public Education
Today, we had the privilege with Senator Regina Barrow about one of her mentors, Mrs. Odessa Johnson. Senator Barrow spoke on topic of education; how far we’ve come and how much more we need to move forward. She spoke on how when she was in the public-school system and was a student of Mrs. Johnson’s 11th grade Civics class. A class that actively taught Black history, not just during the month of February, but all throughout the semester depending on what aspect of history was being taught. Considering what’s going on right now with our educational systems, Senator Barrow shared points with us that reflect the concerns of the citizens of this city and state.
She noted that she would like to see and what she’s planning to work on with her colleagues, is giving teachers more latitude to teach in their classrooms due to how the ideals of education have been ingrained in us. She spoke on how teachers can’t take the time to slow down or help individual students if they can’t grasp the material. She stated that “the way we’ve been doing education, to me, for the last two decades, have not served to its best”. She told us about when she was growing up, there was a connectivity with family, community, school, and church. That type of connectivity was the foundation for relationships students formed with teachers as well as how they interacted with their neighborhood as a whole.
Senator Barrow stated that "public education has been the crux of this country for many years and to try and negate or make it appear that public education is not important is a great travesty." She stressed that where we are in our lives have been the result of a teacher or various teachers. "We are a sum total of teachers who have given their lives to make sure we become better people...if we didn't have teachers, we wouldn't have become the people we are today." She also stressed that in light of these Critical Race Theory debates, it's important to highlight Black history for ourselves and for those who don't look like us. It's important to bring attention to the things that happened because to have anyone's history erased or kept out of the conversation is to say that culture or person's existence isn't important.
Mrs. Johnson and Senator Barrow, both, spoke on how parents used to be more involved with their child's learning experience. She noted that "it's incumbent on the parents, I believe, to make sure that the students are learning Black history." She stated that she believed that it was up to everyone to teach their own family history and that when it comes to education, it's up to that parent to get to know the teacher and for the teacher to know them. Parents should make it apparent to know what the teacher is teaching because, as the old saying goes, "if you don't know where you've been, you won't know where you're going." It's imperative that parents make it a point to know the teachers, know the curriculum by speaking with those teachers and to make sure that their child or children know where they came from and where they can go in the future.
Thank you to Mrs. Odessa Johnson and Senator Regina Barrow for speaking with us.
 Mrs. Odessa Johnson
 Senator Regina Barrow
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