Awaken Your Joy

“Education is political.”Juanita WaltersSpecial Education Coordinator, Math Coach, Assistant PrincipalAwaken Your Joy (Journal) - https://a.co/d/94yW3w7Tuesday’s At Seven: The Healing Circle - https://a.co/d/2MwmpKD“This system was never designed with Black children in mind.” This week, we are joined by special education coordinator and former correctional officer Juanita Walters, as she unpacks her journey through education, leadership, and advocacy in New York. Drawing from roles spanning the classroom, administration, and pupil services (and her time in the criminal justice system), Juanita exposes the parallels between schools and carceral systems and names the urgent need for Black educators to be disruptors. “Compliance is not engagement, and burning out is not a badge of honor.” Juanita challenges the manufactured literacy crisis, scripted curricula, and systems that ignore culture and context, while calling for collective action and independent, Black-led educational spaces rooted in student voice, autonomy, and joy. She also models sustainability, discussing her commitment to boundaries, harmony, healing, and authorship through her journal Awaken Your Joy. Grounded in purpose and community, this episode is a call for Black educators to reclaim power, remove their capes, and build liberated learning environments where both children and adults can thrive.