25 Aug 2026
Leading Out Loud: Race, Identity, and Truth in K-12
Leading Out Loud: Race, Identity, and Truth in K-12
Guest: David Harris
Host: Dr. Tracey A. Benson
Available on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · YouTube
Episode Overview
What does it cost to lead as your whole self, and what does it make possible?
In this episode, Dr. Tracey A. Benson sits down with David Harris, a Chicago native, historian, educator of 33 years, and host of the Teachers Forum Podcast. David has spent his career leading for racial equity in K-12 schools as a Black man who refuses to check any part of his identity at the schoolhouse door. The two first met when Tracey appeared as a guest on David's show, and this conversation picks up where that one left off.
He shares hard-won lessons from decades in the work: navigating resistance, building coalitions, and turning racial consciousness into everyday leadership practice. He traces his path from a South Side household full of teachers and books to a second career in the classroom. He talks about learning to pick his battles without going quiet, about the hidden curriculum of everything a school chooses not to say, and about what happens when a student raises her hand and asks whether there is a genocide in Gaza.
This is a conversation about truth telling in systems built for silence, and about why the future of our schools depends on leaders willing to speak anyway.
About the Guest
David Harris is an educator of 33 years, a historian, a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan, and the host of the Teachers Forum Podcast. He grew up on Chicago's South Side in a family of Chicago Public Schools teachers, where he found "Before the Mayflower" on his parents' shelves in fifth or sixth grade and began a lifelong study of African American history.
Teaching was a second career. He studied business at the University of Illinois and international relations and political science at Syracuse University, worked for Sears, and then earned an alternative teaching certificate through DePaul University. He has spent most of his career teaching middle school, much of it in independent schools in the Chicago area and in Charlotte, North Carolina.
What We Cover
Growing up in a family of Chicago Public Schools teachers, and finding "Before the Mayflower" as a fifth grader
Why teaching was a second career, and what a circuitous route into the profession taught him
Making curriculum relatable: teaching Macbeth to ninth graders through the question of what people will do for power
Showing up whole: leading as a Black man in institutions that were not built with him in mind
Leading without a title, and reading the room to know what an institution is actually open to
Picking your battles, and the grocery store apology basket he carried into a faculty meeting at his predominantly white school
Where his tolerance runs out: advocating for students
Racial battle fatigue, and why young teachers of color need experienced mentors
Teaching through Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and George Floyd with current event Fridays and Socratic seminars
Flipping Dr. King's most quoted line: "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward chaos"
The hidden curriculum, and why silence in a classroom communicates fear
When students ask the hard questions, from Charlie Kirk to Gaza, and what it says about the classroom you have built
Nolan Wells, historical memory, and whether Black children are safe in predominantly white institutions
The double edged sword Black families face when choosing a school
Advice for young teachers of color who want to last in the profession
What still gives him hope after 33 years, and what does not
Notable Quotes
"What you don't say, what you don't teach about, is as powerful as what you do teach. So the fact you don't talk about it doesn't mean that they don't know that it went on. It just says you're afraid." — David Harris
"Some people say the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward chaos. What do you think about that?" — David Harris, on the Socratic seminar he built for the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King's assassination
"How can I teach and not be who I am and not be relatable to kids in the world that we're living in?" — David Harris
"To walk into geometry class in high school and be called the N-word every day. I sometimes look back at that moment. How was I able to learn geometry in that hostile environment? That's hostile. That's not safe. And we need to be working towards making them safer any way, shape or form that we can." — David Harris
"Hopefully something is said in that classroom on a Tuesday morning at eight thirty that will touch them and cause them to make a difference." — David Harris
Episode Timestamps
0:00 Introduction: Dr. Benson welcomes David Harris and sets up the conversation
0:41 A Chicago household full of teachers, books, and African American history
2:35 A second career: Illinois, Syracuse, Sears, and the road to the classroom through DePaul
4:23 Making it relatable: teaching Macbeth to ninth graders
5:31 Showing up whole in spaces that have not always welcomed his identity
8:15 Leading without a title, and reading what an institution is open to
9:44 Dr. Benson on being handed "the troublesome black boys," and the Baldwin quote about rage
11:29 Learning to pick your battles
12:06 The grocery store, the apology basket, and the faculty meeting
14:13 Advocating for students: where his tolerance runs low 1
4:33 Racial battle fatigue and the case for mentorship
15:19 Teaching through Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and George Floyd
16:23 The MLK assembly and the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination
17:47 Flipping the arc of the moral universe toward chaos
19:46 The hidden curriculum: silence as its own lesson
20:44 When students ask: Charlie Kirk, Gaza, and the classroom that makes it possible
22:48 "Be fair": advice from Dr. James Ford
23:26 The political danger of speaking in a TikTok and cable news era
24:13 Nolan Wells and the question underneath it
26:11 "Do they call you the N-word every day?" What that question was really asking
28:11 Historical memory, geometry class, and what safety means
28:55 The double edged sword of school choice for Black families
30:58 Advice for young teachers of color: find the space that lets you grow
31:40 What still gives him hope after 33 years
32:20 "It's because of you I'm studying critical race theory": the students who come back
Resources and Links
Teachers Forum Podcast David Harris's podcast, where educators talk about the profession and the moment.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-teachers-forum/id1701349956 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-teachers-forum/id1701349956)
Referenced in this episode
"Before the Mayflower" by Lerone Bennett Jr.
"Stride Toward Freedom" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The writing of James Baldwin and Frantz Fanon
"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
"All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Dr. James Ford, on what educators can promise students and families
For Educators and School Leaders
David offered several practices that any school can borrow, and several conditions...
