It’s Never too Late to be Radically Transformed

Our ninth installment features Ashley Herring, with our host Courtney J. Boddie from the Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie Podcast, who desires to see Black youth treated with dignity and given a learning environment that sees and acknowledges them in the fullness of their humanity.

Herring and Blackyard, the organization she co-runs, seek to create an environment that visibilizes white supremacy and how it has manifested in schools. As educational and arts institutions claim to want Black children to be alive and joyful without burdens negatively imposed on their Blackness, this requires transparency, accountability and learning. Therefore, Herring urges individuals to call everything out in order to internalize. Thinking about youth, starting early to hold difficult conversations is essential for developing awareness. 

Can we include everyone? The answer should be yes but ultimately depends on the giver.

To effectively achieve understanding, the work starts with oneself. Without intentions closely aligned to the mission, you perform a disservice to individuals needing support and yourself. However, intentions are just one part of the recipe. It also requires genuine care to hold onto individuals every step of the way. Problems usually occur due to poor capacities levels in comparison to desired results. Individuals and organizations often avoid this work because people get hurt (including themselves) and the amount of effort. 

If we truly want to value Black and Brown individuals, we must honor them all even when they are not around.

Join us next week when Courtney hosts a panel discussion on the state of the arts education field with the hosts of BWars: Black Women are Reliable Resources Toya Lillard and Robyne Walker Murphy, and friend of the TA podcast, Durell Cooper. 

Ashley Herring (she/her/hers) has no doubt that #BlackLivesMatter but the Greater Boston Area, on the local level, is not calling themselves out enough for the lack of anti racist work. Herring participates in creating public performance art engaging around this topic and has been fortunate to work with some dope Black women playwrights at professional theaters in Cambridge and Boston. Herring is blessed to be a performing arts educator in Dorchester’s Charter School network with brilliant Black and Brown youth. She does her best every day to have fun with kids, support them in understanding that they're already artists (especially if one gets to know their family, culture, or ancestors deeply) and that art is activism. In addition, she is grateful for the founding of the BLM movement and the young people in her life that led her to Radical transformation to "create" blackyard.  She loves to sing her heart to musicals, Erykah Badu, gospel, classical, and any notes she can reach and can't reach.  


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