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Courtney Martin: Learning in Public

Ryan Honeyman
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Despite progressive policies around public school integration, culture has not caught up, and reality does not reflect what institutions have mandated. In her latest book, Learning in Public, passionate storyteller, writer, and journalist, Courtney Martin, shares how her sending her daughter to Emerson Elementary, a poorly-rated public school down the road from her home offered her a powerful place to dig deeper about the pervasive racial injustice in America.

Courtney has also authored three other books, and is the Co-Founder of the Solutions Journalism Network FRESH Speakers, and the Bay Area chapter of Integrated Schools, as well as the Storyteller-in-Residence at The Holding Co. 

In this episode, Courtney talks about how she came to do the work she does and offers a look at what sparked her latest efforts. We dive into the public school landscape, some of the reasons the system is not as integrated as we think, and what can be done to turn it around. Courtney firmly believes that integrated public schools are a tenet of a meaningful democracy because they offer spaces for collective questioning of narratives we have been told are true. We also touch on some of the common resistance to public schools, what white parents can do if they are curious about integrated schools, and what you can do to join the movement. Tune in today to hear it all!

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • The narrative Courtney speaks about in her book, Learning in Public. 

  • Unpacking the reality of integrated schools on the ground. 

  • Some of the benefits of integrated schools when Black and brown children are centered. 

  • There are spiritual and emotional considerations that come with integrated schools. 

  • Courtney's experience of how her daughter's school mobilized during the pandemic. 

  • Why Courtney believes that multiracial democracy is dependent on public schools. 

  • Some of the resistance that white parents have to integrated schools. 

  • The role that Courtney sees all or majority-white public schools playing in the school system. 

  • When you send your children to private schools, you are actively disinvesting in the public system. 

  • Why being part of an integrated public school has been so edifying for Courtney. 

  • A look at a story Courtney shares in the book about a merger between two schools with different resource and privilege levels. 

  • Resources to use if you are thinking about sending your children to integrated schools. 

  • What you can do to contribute to the movement that Courtney and others are part of.

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Tweetables:

“I have this deep conviction that schools are the best public institution we have for strengthening democracy.” — @courtwrites

“Especially in these last couple of years, I've never been so sober about how fragile democracy is, and how much we need shared institutions to help us have shared ideas about truth and science and history.” — @courtwrites

“I have found that being part of the multi-racial, multi-class public school feels very edifying. It's not all my work racially that I need to do, but it's a way to be in real solidarity, in real community and to be living the questions instead of staying in my little bubble of angst and sadness about the state of our country.” — @courtwrites

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

  • Courtney E. Martin: https://www.courtneyemartin.com/

  • Courtney Martin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtwrites/?hl=en

  • the examined family: https://courtney.substack.com/

  • Solutions Journalism Network: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/

  • FRESH Speakers: https://www.freshspeakers.com/

  • Learning in Public: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/courtney-e-martin/learning-in-public/9780316428262/

  • Integrated Schools: https://integratedschools.org/

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