Ossining Allyship Collective: Collective Memory

Join beloved Ossining High School (OHS) educator, Ms. Jillian McRae and I as we discuss anti-racism school curriculum, anti-racism literacy, and how it imprints onto her students' later lives and the nuances and striking differences in their lived experiences and identities. Ms. McRae has been a public school English educator for 19 years. She has co-created and co-taught several college-level courses during her tenure at OHS. She is an OAC Advisory Board Member and a Partnership Ambassador for the Partnership for the Future of Learning. Ms. McRae is highlighted in the National Education Policy Center's April Education Interview of the Month on Educational Equity and Policy in the Midst of a Global Pandemic as well as the Hechinger Report. She holds a Bachelor's in English with a double minor in Urban Education and Africana Studies from the University at Albany and a Master's degree in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Above all else, she is the mother of Jalen.

In this episode, we explore how the culmination of Ms. McRae's impact and other educators and beyond who are committed to anti-racist education, situates itself in OHS students' collective memory.

Covered nationally, the Ossining Race Riots made headlines on many hegemonic newspapers like that of the NY Times. The Riots found its setting at the center of Ossining High School, the first of which ignited protest from students calling for equity after the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In this episode, Kendall Buchanan, a lifelong Ossining resident, candidly discusses his experience as a young Black OHS student during the Ossining Race Riots in April 1968 and February 1969. Two more Riots would take place soon thereafter in 1971 and the last in 1974. In this episode, we listen to Kendall's voice as past turmoils converge with our present feats, reminding us of the work that is still asked of us in the name of equity.