Black Educators, Others Reimagine Future of Education – BlackPressUSA
By Aswad Walker | Houston Defender | Word In Black
This post was originally published on Defender Network
(WIB) – John Peavy III was seemingly destined to reimagine education.
His mother, Gail Revis, spent 35 years leading guidance counselors for HISD. His grandmother taught Spanish and served as an assistant principal. His grandfather pioneered the School of Liberal Arts at Texas Southern. Peavy grew up surrounded by conversations about both the promise and pain of educating Black children.
Now, as founder of Radiant 7 Ventures, Peavy is pairing those lessons with cutting-edge artificial intelligence to re-engineer how students learn.
Netflix-GPT University
Peavy’s vision sounds like something out of science fiction — a “Netflix-style” education model where learning is personalized, flexible and available on demand.
John Peavy and company are working on cutting-edge apps to tailor educational lesson plans to individual needs. Credit: Aswad Walker.
“From that experience, I knew it was not just about the hard numbers in terms of grades and scores, but you have to treat students holistically,” said Peavy. “So, I’ve founded Radiant 7 Ventures, and we’ve partnered with AI enterprise software companies that allow us to create applications that enhance the student experience, enhance the faculty and staff experience and also lower administrative costs for schools, both at higher ed and K through 12.”
“One of the primary things in terms of enhancing the student experience is that we’re able to create a knowledge base for the students that takes the student experience from being a fixed schedule, fixed curricular experience to something more like a streaming or a Netflix experience where you get personalized learning that’s adapted to the students’ learning styles, their learning gaps,” he explained. “They don’t have to be at school at 8 a.m. to get math. They can get math if they want and they can seamlessly go from math to Spanish and back to history based on what they need at that moment.”
We’re able to create a knowledge base for the students that takes the student experience from being a fixed schedule, fixed curricular experience to something more like a streaming or a Netflix experience. – John Peavy III
The interface is designed like ChatGPT.
“So, the ability to use an interface like ChatGPT, talk to it, get answers, have the answers prompt you for questions to make sure that you are actually learning the materials, makes it very easy to digest,” Peavy added.
Hyper-Personalized Lessons
Peavy said the apps his company is producing go beyond standard curricula and take student life experiences, including past traumas, into consideration.
“We know that different students have different learning styles. We also know there are certain social determinants that drive students’ ability to learn. So, we can’t just teach the curricula,” stated Peavy. “We also have to address those learning styles and those social determinants. If we know there’s a food inequity situation, plus they’re a visual learner, then that’s a certain type of curricular material that the student needs. That becomes true personalization.”
World as Classroom
Peavy is not alone in reimagining education for Black students.
Tori Cofield, a 37-year veteran educator, advocates for culture and creativity to meet current educational challenges. Credit: Toricofield.com.
Tori Cofield, a 37-year veteran educator, has opened three charter schools in Houston, Memphis and Detroit, specializing in school turnaround.
“We have to be creative. There’s always a way,” said Cofield. “Right now, Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church is working with Cullen Middle School. My husband (Rev. Dr. D.Z. Cofield) has this Cullen Initiative that is working to help that school rise. We have a boatload of kids who come to the church. Trump can’t tell us what to do at the church. We are taking the opportunity to teach those lessons our kids need.”
Cofield encourages schools to partner with local community agencies.
“Get in touch with places like the Emancipation Park Conservancy. Tell the students, ‘I’ll meet you at the museum on Saturday.’ Kids will show up if they love their teachers,” she said. “Mike Miles, Donald Trump cannot stop you from meeting kids to talk about our story.”
Centering Agency
HSPVA alum and Harvard professor Dr. Lumumba Seegars emphasizes reframing how Black history is taught.
Dr. Lumumba Seegars believes Black students will be more empowered and therefore more successful if Black history is taught from the perspective of Black agency. Credit: Harvard University.
“It’s imperative that Black youth are educated on history and understand the history of Black agency in our own struggle for liberation, and not think of our trajectory as something that was just given to us over time,” Seegars said. “Black people have always been the central authors of our own stories here, and understanding that is imperative for understanding our own sense of self-efficacy and collective imagination for who we can be.”
Book Boom
Educator and author Marsita Jordan sees a literacy crisis.
Marsita Jordan calls for an all-out book blitz to increase literacy and improve educational outcomes. Courtesy Marsita Jordan.
“We are living in the State of an Education Emergency,” Jordan said. “If Black parents, mentors, administrators, pastors, community leaders, politicians, etc., do not step up and take ownership of the education of our Black children, this state of emergency will soon be catastrophic. It is a call for aggressive literary tactics.”
Jordan calls for home and community-based solutions.
“Libraries, no matter how big or small, home or mobile, books have to become a norm in our homes and communities,” shared Jordan. “Reading development and literacy centers need to be mobilized and fueled by volunteers to provide intervention, remediation and tutoring. These centers can be established as makeshifts in local community centers, barbershops, salons, churches and pop-up locations.”
Culture Is Queen
Cofield also insists school culture is key.
“They call me the culture queen because when I go in, the first thing I do is look and see what does the school culture look like? What feels good about being here? Why would a kid want to be here?” shared Cofield. “Many people say, ‘Well, the students need to acclimate to what I want them to be.’ No, that’s not going to get them. You have to realize where they’re coming from.
“If you don’t understand the community and the kids, you can’t be successful with them.”
Cofield says being ignorant about the school neighbor’s culture can have negative impacts.
“Some teachers put down (degrade) working in Burger King and McDonald’s,” said Cofield. “Some of these kids, that’s where their parents work. So right out the gate, you’re saying to them they’re not important. We have to be mindful of that character culture piece if we want success.”
Fight Hostile Policies
Activist Tammie Lang Campbell views future educational success through a different lens.
Tammie Lang Campbell urges parents to push back against AI surveillance technology as a way to clear a path for a more positive educational future for Black students. Courtesy Tammie Lang Campbell.
“Many parents don’t realize that so-called ‘AI safety tools’ in schools — from facial recognition to vape detectors — are not neutral,” Campbell explained. “These systems often misidentify students and disproportionately punish Black children. What’s sold as safety is, in reality, pushing too many of our kids closer to the school-to-prison pipeline, and that should alarm every Black family.
“When schools invest millions in surveillance but struggle to hire counselors or retain teachers, it sends a very clear message: Discipline is being valued more than development. Black parents should be deeply concerned that resources are being diverted from what truly helps our children thrive — caring educators, counselors and supportive learning environments.”
What You Can Do
Advocate for personalized learning tools that consider social and cultural factors.
- Support community-based education initiatives like church programs, museums and after-school enrichment.
- Push for Black history and culture to remain central in learning spaces.
- Invest in literacy at home and community hubs through book drives, home libraries and tutoring programs.
- Challenge harmful school surveillance policies and push for funds to go toward counselors and teachers instead.
- Help build strong school cultures by engaging with parents, teachers and local leaders.
