In Nashville, Tenn., there exists a Purpose Preparatory Academy. Lagra Newman, Head of School, founded Purpose Prep in 2013. She had a vision to create a school that serves the community she loves, and scholars who look like her. Purpose Prep has a student population that is over 90% Black, and in the traditions of pre-integration schools, Purpose Prep does not ignore nor shy away from this reality. Purpose Prep creates a Black identity affirming space, where even staff members who are not themselves Black, appreciate the Black experience. As a school they are focused on the Black community, and even donated water to Flint, Mich., and transported it there.
In San Antonio, Texas, there exists Essence Preparatory Public School. Essence Prep is a school with a predominantly Black and Brown scholar population. It is a school that is intentional about affirming the identities of its students. So intentional in fact, that the Texas Education Administration—in a foolhardy effort to remove critical race theory elements from its schools—forced Essence Prep and its founder, Superintendent Akeem Brown, to remove even the word “anti-racist” from its equity statement. Essence Prep boosts a curriculum of social emotional learning, project based learning, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math).
Solution: An Influx of Black Middle Class Jacksonians
These two successful schools are an example of a potential solution to the problems communities are experiencing in Jackson and within Jackson Public Schools. Both Essence Prep and Purpose Prep are charter schools. However, simply planting more charter schools in Jackson is not the answer. I propose a more holistic solution to Jackson’s schooling and population problems. Many Black professionals and business owners choose to live outside of Jackson. Many of them grew up in Jackson, but have chosen to leave in search of better schools and greater opportunity.
An influx of a Black middle class into Jackson would bring in the population that the city has lost, and those middle class citizens must build their own Black identity-affirming charter schools. These schools would become high performing safe spaces for Black children, and would be employment opportunities for Black educators. Similarly, to Essence Prep and Purpose Prep, who both have Black founders, the incoming citizens would become the founders and leaders of these schools. Flowing from the legacies of pre-integration Black schools, they would then have the power to create full communities which lack nothing from education to sanitation.
Jackson, the schools and community, need the intentional return of the Black middle class. The city needs these citizens to form a coalition willing and able to create a city-wide renaissance. This resurgence must be rooted in new schools that intentionally uplift its citizens and follow the pattern of Purpose and Essence Prep, continuing the legacy of pre-integration Black schools. This is the way to overcome the innumerable obstacles facing Jackson, Miss. In the face of those obstacles, they will declare the words of the preeminent poet Langston Hughes, “They’ll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed.”
This MFP Voices essay does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to azia@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.
This is Part 2 in Sean Brown’s “From School Closures To Renaissance” column series on Jackson Public School closures and his opinions on potential solutions. Read Part 1 here.
