SoBEO

SoBEO Interview with Dr. Clifford Thompson

State of Black Education Oakland (SoBEO), a collective co-founded by our founder Dirk Tillotson, is gathering information from the Oakland public education community about the state of Black education in Oakland through a survey we developed. (We would love to hear from you, please take five minutes to complete it!) With the 2024 election right around the corner,…

JOIN US IN MAKING YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Citywide survey on improving education for Black Students in Oakland is now out! Please click the link here to fill out the survey and snap the QR code above, and be sure to SHARE with others in your Oakland network! State of Black Education Oakland (SoBEO), Great School Voices, and our partners invite YOU –…

The State of the [Black Education] Union

Ladies, gentlemen, and fellow citizens, the state of the Black Education Union is not strong. The nameless and faceless “system” is still failing Black students. To be clear, they are failing nearly every major subgroup, but especially Black students, and add on poverty, or a disability, or any other subgroup, and the numbers get worse in regards to literacy and numeracy.

A letter to Bitwise Industries leadership before the collapse

At the end of May this year, on Memorial Day, Bitwise Industries, a tech startup that “promised to uplift marginalized communities and change the narratives of underestimated places” furloughed its workers and soon shut down. Among those who lost their jobs were Kennan Scott, the former OUSD Director of Computer Science, a longtime educator and winner of one of the first State of Black Education Oakland (SoBEO) Impact Awards. Kennan’s wife, Karen, also worked for Bitwise Industries Oakland. In this guest piece, Kennan shares a message he sent to the Bitwise team shortly before the layoffs:

Black Excellence: The 8 Black Hands Literary Society and Book Club

During Black History Month, we here at Great School Voices are recognizing the SoBEO Black Excellence Awards honorees. The 8 Black Hands Literary Society and Book Club was the National Influencer awardee at the 2022 SoBEO Black Excellence Awards.