Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexa Achille.
Hi Alexa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
At the onset of the pandemic, I knew education was going to change forever. I was a teacher in New York City nervous about how I was going to transition from teaching in-person to teaching online.
As the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, I became curious to know how other educators in my network were handling online learning. As I began brainstorming how to connect to other educators I was hit with the news about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. I couldn’t believe that in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic I still had to witness Black lives being taken by the police.
I couldn’t believe that I had to hold conversations with my students regarding them mattering when what they saw online or in the news told them otherwise on top of dealing with the mental strain of learning and teaching online.
This horrible circumstance ignited me to figure out what my lane of activism was going to be because I could no longer sit by as these atrocities took place in front of me. I decided to move forward and connect with educators I knew. However, instead of focusing solely on teaching strategies for online learning, I decided to create a space for Black educators to come together and speak about the issues we faced in our profession.
I thought that I’d only speak with 20 educators in New York City tops but I ended up connecting with over 100 Black educators across the country who felt exactly as I did. Thus, the Black Educators Collaborative, Inc. was born! We capitalized on the use of Zoom and held numerous #TeacherTalks where we discussed the ups and downs of our profession and the world, provided 70+ students with school supplies, and, in partnership with SLP Empowered, Incorporated and Bck2Skoool, we educated 50+ people about the history and impact Black American English has within the school system for Juneteenth.
All of this happened within a year of the inception of The Black Educators Collaborative and I am proud of where my team and I have come and know that there is no limit to where we will go.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Growing The Black Educators Collaborative, Inc., or as we lovingly call it The Collabo, has been a giant learning process all around. I had to tap into every skill I have in order to sustain the organization for the last year.
However, a challenge that we still face is balancing our workload as educators and still finding a way to move the mission of The Collabo forward. It’s a lot of work but I know in the end it’ll all be worth it!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Outside of being an educator and leading The Collabo I am a creative writer and spoken word artist! I am most proud of being able to perform my words at the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
It was the impact of those performances that opened the door for me to be featured in iD Magazine’s Up+Rising issue in the fall of 2020. Outside of that, I have been featured in Gumbo Magazine and Great Big Story I Wish You Knew project. I have also self-published a poetry book in 2018 called “Note to Self, Vol. 1” that is accompanied by poetry videos on Instagram.
I love to write, create, and make people happy with my words. I am working on another project for SoulStreamz, my writing business that I am excited to complete and give to my community!
What does success mean to you?
I define success as sustaining my joy and peace.
Contact Info:
- Email: blackedcollab@gmail.com
- Website: https://blackedcollab.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: @_thecollabo
- Twitter: @_thecollabo
Image Credits
@rashidazagon
