History has demonstrated that black American educators have oftentimes encountered obstacles when seeking strategies to arm our students with gold-standard practices.  Givens in Fugitive Pedagogy (2021) cites examples of how black educators, during the Jim Crow era, tactfully transformed the politics of black education and the poor conditions and resources, into opportunities that revolutionized the way students learned.  “The educators went beyond being practitioners, but scholars of the practice,” explained Givens.  One may ponder how energetic and well-prepared novice and veteran educators might continue to persevere, in the face of current heightened school challenges?   One approach is that present day educators be persistent and reject the hand dealt, by being well-informed of the powerfully impactful black educators of the past, who turned the tide to successfully exceed expectations, despite seemingly bleak circumstances.

          Today’s educators can learn how accomplished black educators [over the many decades] applied a blend of knowing their students, connecting cultural experiences and embedding cutting edge methodologies to  consistently push pass the situation.  Teachers can be fed and morphed by the guidance, resourcefulness and energies of black American educators who were audacious revolutionists!  Some of the fierce educators who lit trailblazing, non-extinguishable paths that changed the course for their students are Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, Septima Poinsette Clarke, Marva Delores Collins, Dr. Adelaide Sanford and Dr. Renee Young.

          Dr. Mary McCloud Bethune was a change agent; she is also a recognized Bethune-Cookman University founder and earliest in her family not to be enslaved.  The Bethune Cookman University Website “Our Founder (2025)” page, states how Dr. Bethune notably began the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training Institute for Negro Girls on October 3, 1904, with $1.50.  The initial students were Albert Jr., her son of only five years, and five young girls.  The school increased to 250 students before the second year of opening.  There are countless accomplishments by Dr.  Bethune: for example, consistently highlighting the health inequities and absence of medical treatment accessible to African Americans in Daytona Beach.  Dr. Bethune also established the Mary McLeod Hospital and Training School for Nurses.  The National Parks Service-U. S. Department of Exterior Website (2025) details the United States presidential advisory roles that Dr. Bethune contributed to with presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.  The NPSDOE website also specifies Bethune roles in a White House Conference on Child Welfare and Housing, the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, a Special Advisor to the National Youth Administration, and Director of Negro Affairs and Federal Council on Negro Affairs [the US News and World Report Website “Best College Edition” (2023-2024) notes that the Bethune-Cookman University has a 2,415 undergraduate enrollment for Fall 2023].

          Septima Poinsette Clark, another trendsetting educator of significant change, received her certification as a teacher; nonetheless, the City of Charleston declined to employ African Americans to teach in its public schools.  This discriminatory hiring practice did not deter Ms. Clark; she became an instructor on South Carolina’s Johns Island in 1916.  The Biography Newsletter Website (2020) reports that Septima Poinsette Clark went back to Charleston in 1919, to teach at the Avery Institute.  The Charleston Raconteurs Website (2025) tells that when Septima Clark returned to Johns Island, she educated children in the the day, and taught adults literacy and basic skills [for no charge] at night.  Ms. Clark put together and rooted citizenship schools that assisted many African Americans to register to vote.  There are many additional noteworthy accomplishments of Ms. Clark; one area of achievement is how she networked and established relationships for the community.  Although there were some distinctions between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Septima Clark, King recognized Clark as a person who could urge folks to do something better; Raconteurs cites how Clark inspired King to the point of having Clark attend Sweden where King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 [Dr. King included Clark in his acceptance speech].  Over time, Clark did lose her 40-year South Carolina teaching pension for not leaving her post with the NAACP; regardless, Ms. Clark did continue to teach in Tennessee where she taught reading, and many adults were able to vote with their newfound skills.  Raconteurs published how Clark helped register over 700,000 voters who were able to pass the required literacy tests [remarkably, Clark also won her lawsuit to have her pension reinstated in Charleston, SC as noted by Raconteurs]. 

          Further north [and an era after Ms. Clark] is the innovating educator of transformation, Marva Delores Collins.  Ms. Collins conceived and constructed the Westside Preparatory School [WPS]; the privately run elementary school was in the underserved community of Garfield Park in Chicago, Illinois.  In 1975, Ms. Collins [a former substitute teacher] became famous for successfully educating black students by comprising  the Socratic method to engage students and instill a love of learning and literature.  Roberts of the NY Times (2015) documented that Collins started the WPS with four students, one being her daughter, with the monthly tuition of $80.  The enrollment increased to more than 200, with pre-kindergarteners through eighth graders.  The WPS continued to maintain operation for more than 30 years.  The History Maker Website (2025) indicates that Collins “trained more than 100,000 teachers since the opening of the Westside Preparatory School and traveled to Africa with the Young Presidents’ Organization in order to spread her methodology to educators worldwide.”  United States President Reagan asked Ms. Collins to become the US Secretary of Education; she declined the offer and remained at WPS.  Augustyn, editor of the Britannica Website (2025) lists Collins with coverage on 60 Minutes, and Times, Jet, Newsweek and Black Enterprise magazines.  CBS aired the movie The Marva Collins Story on December 1, 1981 [as reported by made-for-tv-movie.fandom.com].

          When projecting a spotlight on an educator who “uplifts the race”, illumination beams brightly on the influential reformer, Dr. Adelaide Sanford.  Ms. Sanford is a Brooklyn, NY born quintessential educator who graduated with a secondary education from Girls High School, a postsecondary educational attainment in 1947 from Brooklyn College [with a Bachelor of Education], a Master of Education from Wellesley College, a Professional Degree as a Ford Foundation Fellow in 1967 from Fordham University [chronicled in Sanford’s book (2022)].  The foundational groundwork paralleled Dr. Sanford’s teaching and leading roots, and extensive experiences throughout the years at New York City’s PS 44 and JHS 35, and 19 years as a principal at the Crispus Attucks School/PS 21 schools; she was also a teacher educator at Baruch College and lists an enormous host of honorary statuses.  A relentless and relevant scholar, activist, educator, former NYCDOE Brooklyn principal, teaching fellow at the Principals’ Center at Harvard University and Board of Regents/University of the State of New York Vice Chancellor Emerita [to mention a few], Dr. Adelaide Sanford [at 99 years young], with tremendous wit and wisdom, is still imparting impactful best practices for the underserved, as attested to with numerous prestigious awards [The National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. Theta Chapter celebrated the life-long achievements of the honorable Dr. Adelaide Sanford at the 82nd NSPDK, Theta Chapter Annual Scholarship Luncheon].  Dr. Sanford’s current actions include active participation in the Adelaide L. Sandford Institute [ASI], which is extensively described in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_L._Sanford and https://www.sanfordinstitute.org/home . 

          The fifth profound educator who we can count on to enlighten is “the indispensable” converter Dr. Renee Young.  Dr. R. Young continues to stand the test of time for a half-century with sound verifiable practices, with equitable access to resources.  Dr. Young has been amid restructuring less-than-desirable [and sometimes immoral] educational neglect, with lifetime partner and husband Dr. Lester Young [former teacher, guidance counselor, award-winning principal, superintendent, profiled in Men of Courage, who established NYS My Brother’s Keeper, and current NYSED Chancellor].  Moreover, Dr. Renee Young [once a school guidance counselor] was mentored by Dr. Adelaide Sanford while gaining leadership in the NYCDOE Brooklyn Public School 21.  Dr. R. Young is presently an educational consultant, and the steady hand of the ASI Parent Leadership Institute [PLI], which fosters parent advocacy.  Every month the PLI provides high quality information and materials on the very areas necessary for every student’s success.  A testament to the positive influence that Dr. R. Young consistently produces for our children and families is the high attendance at the NYCDOE Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn where the PLI is held.  Eager parents, educators and varied community-based organization facilitators show up monthly to early Saturday morning sessions to stay abreast of, and obtain what is needed, from submitted evaluations and surveys; some of the monthly certified professional presenters are engaging former students and teachers directly taught and/or led by Dr. R. Young. 

We will keep on educating our brilliant children!  We have the enduring legacy of the Phenomenal Five who changed the course in the past, and so can we now and in the future!  We are the 21st Century Audacious Revolutionists!

References

Augustyn, Adam. Britannica. 2025. Marva Collins American Educator.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marva-Collins

Bethune Cookman University. 2025. Our Founder.
https://www.cookman.edu/history/our-founder.html

Biography. 2020. Famous Activist Septima Clark
https://www.biography.com/activist/septima-poinsette-clark

Givens, Jarvis R. “Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching”. Harvard University Press. 2021.

Charleston Raconteurs. 2025. History Told With & Skill Septima Poinsette Clark.
http://www.charlestonraconteurs.com/septima-poinsette-clark.html

History Maker. 2025. Marva Collins.
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/marva-collins-40

https://made-for-tv-movie.fan

National Parks Service U. S. Parks Interior. 2023. Mary McCloud Bethune Council House.
https://www.nps.gov/mamc/learn/historyculture/mary-mcleod-bethune-the-presidential-advisor.htm

Roberts, Sam. 2015. The New York Times. Marva Collins Educator Who Aimed High For Poor Black Students
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/us/marva-collins-78-no-nonsense-educator-and-activist-dies.html

Sandford, Adelaide L. “From Enslavement To Belovedness For the Dignity of My People”. Third World Press. 2022.

U. S. & World News. 2023-2024. Best Colleges Bethune Cookman.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/bethunecookman-university-1467#:~:text=Bethune%2DCookman%20University%20is%20a,a%20semester%2Dbased%20academic%20calendar.