October 2026: Clarice Brazas, High School Administrator in Philadelphia
If this is your first year doing this series, you might consider using our Inquiry Series 3 material for the year or hosting an orientation meeting using our September material before moving on to the current month.
Overview: For our first conversation exploring future directions for the work of BARWE, we decided to talk to a longtime partner, Clarice Brazas. She has been one of the folks we have collaborated with since the very start of BARWE: as a Melanated Educators Collective reviewer, a cofacilitator of sessions, and a close coconspirator.
She talked to our Core member Charlie McGeehan this month, with whom she also wrote “What White Colleagues Need to Understand” for Learning for Justice.
This guide will include excerpts from Clarice and Charlie’s conversation, and discussion questions that go along with each. You can see the full transcript of their conversation here on our website.
Discussion Question 1: What is the current culture of antiracist work in your school, organization, district, or university? How have things changed over the years you have worked there?
Excerpt 1:
Charlie: It’s been more than six years since we published our “What White Colleagues Need to Understand” piece… What do you think has changed?
Clarice: So much of it still holds true. I do feel like, especially considering we wrote that before COVID, people’s vocabulary has shifted a lot. I don’t know that their mentality has changed, but their vocabulary has. And so the School District didn’t have all its equity policies then, it didn’t have an Office of Equity. And so however underfunded that office is, it exists now. I think there has also been a shift away from that because of a 2nd Trump presidency.
I also work in a school now that is primarily staffed by Black and Brown people - so that experience is different for me. I work in a bubble that I often forget isn’t true for the rest of the School District.
I feel like, if anything, people have less time to think now than they did before. We got to do that year-long Tune Up Tuesday series (paid, optional Professional Development for teachers in the School District of Philadelphia) - and I don’t feel like work like that is happening at this level now.
Discussion Question 2: As antiracist work is increasingly under attack in our country, how can we as white educators engage in antiracist work in a way that does not put other folks in danger?
Excerpt 2:
Charlie: As we look forward to this year, what do you think white teachers need to know or study or discuss or do to be involved in antiracist work?
Clarice: I think it’s some of the things we’ve always talked about - you have to know yourself and your place in society and your school. It’s so many of the things we’ve said in the past - you have to listen to the people around you, like the women of color, who probably have their ear to the ground in a way that you do not. And your organizing should never be putting them in danger. And I think last year specifically, that was something I saw with the teachers in my building. The intentions were good but the impact was not. The impact was putting specifically Black women teachers in danger in a way that wasn’t being reckoned with.
Discussion Question 3: What do you see as the connection between antiracist work and literacy in your context?
Excerpt 3:
Charlie: What would you say are some of… the topics you think we should explore (this year)?
Clarice: Something I’m personally very interested in right now is literacy - which feels so old fashioned. But we talk a lot about voting and how people can get involved in their communities. Working where I work and with the families that I work with, we have to approach spreading information and knowledge in a very different way. Are there options to have material read to people? Are we using vocabulary that families and students can understand? And if you are at a school that is very diverse, what does that look like across the racial and ethnic breakdown in your school? Whose voices are being heard still matters and is the information accessible to everyone?
Charlie: And would you also relate that to the teaching of literacy?
Clarice: 100%. I think we have a literacy crisis - I don’t know about across the country but I know about in the City of Philadelphia - lots of parents and families cannot read well enough to do the things they need to do or often to advocate for their kids in the way they want to.
Speed Round Questions
In addition to our conversations about the future of antiracist work in education, we want to get to know our collaborators a little better. Here are Clarice’s answers to our speed round questions:
What book would you recommend? All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep: Hope - and Hard Pills to Swallow - About Fighting for Black Lives by Andre Henry
What is one recipe you would recommend? Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake
Who are you following for antiracist work in education? Ta-Nehisi Coates, Janelle Bowie, adrienne marie brown, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, The Cult of Pedagogy
What is your favorite place in Philadelphia? West Fairmount Park and Produce Junction (because where else can you get flowers for that price?!)
Discussion Questions:
Facilitation Reference Guide:
Pass the Hat: Freedom Side School
This year, we are asking our interviewees for a recommendation for our Pass the Hat. Clarice recommended Freedom Side School, a free abolitionist K-5 school in Philadelphia for children impacted by incarceration. They launched this year with a Kindergarten and 1st Grade class. Clarice is a founding Board member.
Here is what she told us about Freedom Side:
“(The school will) allow adults and families to be flexible with kids and what their needs are. In a school with a staff of only 7 people, one of them is a licensed clinical Social Worker, who is going to be able to support doing restorative work with kids, not focusing on discipline and punishment but focusing on building community. And so I think that is core to that work and core to my work. And that takes time - which is not always something we have a lot of. Being able to (take the time to) have a conversation with a kid or a group of kids or a group of families or a group of educators.
“The goal is for kids to not stay there forever, but to go out in middle or high school and become organizing powerhouses. And I think that can happen, and I’m really excited about the forward trajectory of that.“
As a group or individual, you can use this link to contribute to Freedom Side School and their important work this month.
If this is your first year doing this series, you might consider using our Inquiry Series 3 material for the year or hosting an orientation meeting using our September material before moving on to the current month.
Overview: For our first conversation exploring future directions for the work of BARWE, we decided to talk to a longtime partner, Clarice Brazas. She has been one of the folks we have collaborated with since the very start of BARWE: as a Melanated Educators Collective reviewer, a cofacilitator of sessions, and a close coconspirator.
She talked to our Core member Charlie McGeehan this month, with whom she also wrote “What White Colleagues Need to Understand” for Learning for Justice.
This guide will include excerpts from Clarice and Charlie’s conversation, and discussion questions that go along with each. You can see the full transcript of their conversation here on our website.
Discussion Question 1: What is the current culture of antiracist work in your school, organization, district, or university? How have things changed over the years you have worked there?
Excerpt 1:
Charlie: It’s been more than six years since we published our “What White Colleagues Need to Understand” piece… What do you think has changed?
Clarice: So much of it still holds true. I do feel like, especially considering we wrote that before COVID, people’s vocabulary has shifted a lot. I don’t know that their mentality has changed, but their vocabulary has. And so the School District didn’t have all its equity policies then, it didn’t have an Office of Equity. And so however underfunded that office is, it exists now. I think there has also been a shift away from that because of a 2nd Trump presidency.
I also work in a school now that is primarily staffed by Black and Brown people - so that experience is different for me. I work in a bubble that I often forget isn’t true for the rest of the School District.
I feel like, if anything, people have less time to think now than they did before. We got to do that year-long Tune Up Tuesday series (paid, optional Professional Development for teachers in the School District of Philadelphia) - and I don’t feel like work like that is happening at this level now.
Discussion Question 2: As antiracist work is increasingly under attack in our country, how can we as white educators engage in antiracist work in a way that does not put other folks in danger?
Excerpt 2:
Charlie: As we look forward to this year, what do you think white teachers need to know or study or discuss or do to be involved in antiracist work?
Clarice: I think it’s some of the things we’ve always talked about - you have to know yourself and your place in society and your school. It’s so many of the things we’ve said in the past - you have to listen to the people around you, like the women of color, who probably have their ear to the ground in a way that you do not. And your organizing should never be putting them in danger. And I think last year specifically, that was something I saw with the teachers in my building. The intentions were good but the impact was not. The impact was putting specifically Black women teachers in danger in a way that wasn’t being reckoned with.
Discussion Question 3: What do you see as the connection between antiracist work and literacy in your context?
Excerpt 3:
Charlie: What would you say are some of… the topics you think we should explore (this year)?
Clarice: Something I’m personally very interested in right now is literacy - which feels so old fashioned. But we talk a lot about voting and how people can get involved in their communities. Working where I work and with the families that I work with, we have to approach spreading information and knowledge in a very different way. Are there options to have material read to people? Are we using vocabulary that families and students can understand? And if you are at a school that is very diverse, what does that look like across the racial and ethnic breakdown in your school? Whose voices are being heard still matters and is the information accessible to everyone?
Charlie: And would you also relate that to the teaching of literacy?
Clarice: 100%. I think we have a literacy crisis - I don’t know about across the country but I know about in the City of Philadelphia - lots of parents and families cannot read well enough to do the things they need to do or often to advocate for their kids in the way they want to.
Speed Round Questions
In addition to our conversations about the future of antiracist work in education, we want to get to know our collaborators a little better. Here are Clarice’s answers to our speed round questions:
What book would you recommend? All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep: Hope - and Hard Pills to Swallow - About Fighting for Black Lives by Andre Henry
What is one recipe you would recommend? Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake
Who are you following for antiracist work in education? Ta-Nehisi Coates, Janelle Bowie, adrienne marie brown, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, The Cult of Pedagogy
What is your favorite place in Philadelphia? West Fairmount Park and Produce Junction (because where else can you get flowers for that price?!)
Discussion Questions:
- What is the current culture of antiracist work in your school, organization, district, or university?
- How have things changed over the years you have worked there? How have you changed?
- As antiracist work is increasingly under attack in our country, how can we as white educators engage in antiracist work in a way that does not put other folks in danger?
- What do you see as the connection between antiracist work and literacy in your context?
Facilitation Reference Guide:
- Set a day and time for your group to meet - Make sure to send reminders. If you’re meeting in person, snacks are always a good idea!
- Send this month’s interview to your group.
- Prepare yourself to facilitate by reading through our Norms and Discussion Protocol.
Pass the Hat: Freedom Side School
This year, we are asking our interviewees for a recommendation for our Pass the Hat. Clarice recommended Freedom Side School, a free abolitionist K-5 school in Philadelphia for children impacted by incarceration. They launched this year with a Kindergarten and 1st Grade class. Clarice is a founding Board member.
Here is what she told us about Freedom Side:
“(The school will) allow adults and families to be flexible with kids and what their needs are. In a school with a staff of only 7 people, one of them is a licensed clinical Social Worker, who is going to be able to support doing restorative work with kids, not focusing on discipline and punishment but focusing on building community. And so I think that is core to that work and core to my work. And that takes time - which is not always something we have a lot of. Being able to (take the time to) have a conversation with a kid or a group of kids or a group of families or a group of educators.
“The goal is for kids to not stay there forever, but to go out in middle or high school and become organizing powerhouses. And I think that can happen, and I’m really excited about the forward trajectory of that.“
As a group or individual, you can use this link to contribute to Freedom Side School and their important work this month.