An interview with Tenia Jenkins
Keep on keeping on
Keep on keeping on
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
If Martin and others hadn’t walked across the Edmond-Pettis Bridge, we may not be voting
today,” said Tenia Jenkins as we sat in some lounge chairs at the Lussier Community Education
Center. “If Rosa Parks hadn’t sat down on the bus, we might still be sitting on the back seat of the
bus. And if we won’t stand for equity for Black children in this school district, 20-30 years from
now, we may still be having the same conversation. So if Martin walked and Rosa sat, we need to
stand.”
Jenkins has been doing a lot of standing over the past four years in her effort to have the
Madison Metropolitan School District adapt a culturally-relevant curriculum for African American
students who are struggling academically. In her class that she piloted at Shabazz High School
and later at West High School, Jenkins brought in African American mentors to work alongside
the students as studied a class curriculum that helped them deal with the issues they were facing.
After the 2006-2007 school year, the class was effectively shut down at West as a result of a civil
rights investigation initiated by then Superintendent Art Rainwater that alleged that Jenkins was
establishing a segregated classroom situation. “The past superintendent said I was segregating
| Tenia Jenkins has been at the forefront of efforts to get the Madison public schools to adopt a culturally-relevant curriculum for African American students |
kids,” Jenkins recalled. “I thought ‘What the heck?’ I’ve never been a segregationist. I’m the integrationist queen. However, if you’re going to have integration, you
better have true and real integration, none of this fake stuff where I’m having to be absorbed into who you are.”
Jenkins couldn’t understand why a full-blown investigation costing $60,000 was undertaken instead of a series of meetings to determine what the problems
were and how any concerns could be eased. Instead — even after corrections were made to the class — the class was dead in the water after the report was
issued. While it was said that the high school principals were free to incorporate the class, none of them would touch it.
Just when things were looking bleak for the class, Vernon Blackwell an east side resident who had been one of Jenkin’s mentors at Shabazz High School,
suggested that Jenkins approach Dane County United about lending their support for the class. “I do believe that was God sent,” Jenkins said. “I’m not on the
board of Dane County United. I took my portfolio to Dane County United and gave it to them. They reviewed everything and we talked. I felt like we had a
marriage and we’re still happily married and together. After that, they were doing the four-year old kindergarten thing. They then adopted culturally-relevant
education for Black children as one of the main things they were going to deal with. So we organized the forum for January 2008 at S.S. Morris Church. 150
people showed up in a snowstorm. So part of this was getting the White community involved. It had to be a group like Dane County United who really knew how
to organize and reach across boundaries. We needed to be multiracial. I could not have done this with the NAACP or any other Black group in this city. We were
a Black group with 32 Black male mentors. We needed to become multiracial. And we needed someone who actually knew how to organize. I feel right at home
with this group. When we got to Dane County United, they also needed us. Wayne Strong and Isadore Knox have been 100 percent in this as the lead mentor
organizers.”
Along with bringing Dane County United on board, a change in the school district’s top administrator suggested that change may be possible.
Superintendent Dan Nerad spent a good deal of time in the first few months of his administration doing outreach in the community. He agreed to meet with
members of Dane County United and Jenkin’s mentors at S.S. Morris AME Church in September 2008. Nerad brought along Andreal Davis who had just been
given the assignment to work on the development of culturally-relevant curriculum for the district.
It was like a breath of fresh air. “At this meeting, Wayne and Isadore came forward and told stories about what happened to them and their children in the
district,” Jenkins recalled. “The superintendent said ‘I apologize.’ Then he said to me ‘Tenia, I’m sure there’s been a lot of pain for you too.’ What has happened
with me is you know when you stand on the front line and you won’t step down, people begin to see you through the prism that they put forth from their eyes and
they see you as the enemy. And because Black children are not popular and because many people believe it is the fault of Black children and their families in
terms of what is happening to them and the institution has nothing to do with it and you are saying no, no, no, you create a lot of enemies. So I think he gets it.
And then he looked at the White people in the room — and most of the people were White — and said ‘I believe in this issue. You’re not going to have to fill a
room full of people to convince me of it. But you need to do your work in order for me to do my work.’ Dane County United has chosen that assignment. We will
get them up to speed.”
Dane County began building toward an April 4 convocation at Covenant Presbyterian Church on Segoe Road where members of the Madison Metropolitan
School District would be invited to hear about Dane County United’s perspective on four-year-old kindergarten and culturally-relevant education. After a series of
small meetings to bring the members of Dane County United up to speed, a larger meeting was held at St. Dennis Catholic Church in March.
“We had to do that one to prepare for the forum on April 4,” Jenkins said. “We had Andreal Davis there. We had two teachers from Lincoln who are doing
culturally-relevant techniques in terms of teaching children in their classrooms, one Black and one White. It was like show and tell. Within the past eight months,
what we decided at Dane County United was that we were going to write a proposal to the school district.”
Next issue: The culturally-relevant education proposal
better have true and real integration, none of this fake stuff where I’m having to be absorbed into who you are.”
Jenkins couldn’t understand why a full-blown investigation costing $60,000 was undertaken instead of a series of meetings to determine what the problems
were and how any concerns could be eased. Instead — even after corrections were made to the class — the class was dead in the water after the report was
issued. While it was said that the high school principals were free to incorporate the class, none of them would touch it.
Just when things were looking bleak for the class, Vernon Blackwell an east side resident who had been one of Jenkin’s mentors at Shabazz High School,
suggested that Jenkins approach Dane County United about lending their support for the class. “I do believe that was God sent,” Jenkins said. “I’m not on the
board of Dane County United. I took my portfolio to Dane County United and gave it to them. They reviewed everything and we talked. I felt like we had a
marriage and we’re still happily married and together. After that, they were doing the four-year old kindergarten thing. They then adopted culturally-relevant
education for Black children as one of the main things they were going to deal with. So we organized the forum for January 2008 at S.S. Morris Church. 150
people showed up in a snowstorm. So part of this was getting the White community involved. It had to be a group like Dane County United who really knew how
to organize and reach across boundaries. We needed to be multiracial. I could not have done this with the NAACP or any other Black group in this city. We were
a Black group with 32 Black male mentors. We needed to become multiracial. And we needed someone who actually knew how to organize. I feel right at home
with this group. When we got to Dane County United, they also needed us. Wayne Strong and Isadore Knox have been 100 percent in this as the lead mentor
organizers.”
Along with bringing Dane County United on board, a change in the school district’s top administrator suggested that change may be possible.
Superintendent Dan Nerad spent a good deal of time in the first few months of his administration doing outreach in the community. He agreed to meet with
members of Dane County United and Jenkin’s mentors at S.S. Morris AME Church in September 2008. Nerad brought along Andreal Davis who had just been
given the assignment to work on the development of culturally-relevant curriculum for the district.
It was like a breath of fresh air. “At this meeting, Wayne and Isadore came forward and told stories about what happened to them and their children in the
district,” Jenkins recalled. “The superintendent said ‘I apologize.’ Then he said to me ‘Tenia, I’m sure there’s been a lot of pain for you too.’ What has happened
with me is you know when you stand on the front line and you won’t step down, people begin to see you through the prism that they put forth from their eyes and
they see you as the enemy. And because Black children are not popular and because many people believe it is the fault of Black children and their families in
terms of what is happening to them and the institution has nothing to do with it and you are saying no, no, no, you create a lot of enemies. So I think he gets it.
And then he looked at the White people in the room — and most of the people were White — and said ‘I believe in this issue. You’re not going to have to fill a
room full of people to convince me of it. But you need to do your work in order for me to do my work.’ Dane County United has chosen that assignment. We will
get them up to speed.”
Dane County began building toward an April 4 convocation at Covenant Presbyterian Church on Segoe Road where members of the Madison Metropolitan
School District would be invited to hear about Dane County United’s perspective on four-year-old kindergarten and culturally-relevant education. After a series of
small meetings to bring the members of Dane County United up to speed, a larger meeting was held at St. Dennis Catholic Church in March.
“We had to do that one to prepare for the forum on April 4,” Jenkins said. “We had Andreal Davis there. We had two teachers from Lincoln who are doing
culturally-relevant techniques in terms of teaching children in their classrooms, one Black and one White. It was like show and tell. Within the past eight months,
what we decided at Dane County United was that we were going to write a proposal to the school district.”
Next issue: The culturally-relevant education proposal