Take up Space: Reflections from the State of Black Learning

Written by Dr. Jeremy Divinity  

The State of Black Learning Conference felt familiar before I even arrived.  

This was my first year attending the conference, yet its very purpose conveyed a recognizable rhythm: the spirit of people who have been here before, who have endured, imagined otherwise, and conspired to dream of a future of possibility.  

At the State of Black Learning Conference, “taking up space” served not as a metaphor but as lived practice.

Black educators, leaders, and dreamers, with voices and visions, challenged normative expectations about who belongs in leadership, in classrooms, and the very soul of education itself.  

In this sense, taking up space was felt, embodied, and emphatic.  

Throughout the conference, there was a collective dreaming out loud that felt less like distant aspirations and more like ancestral instructions as it was emphasized, “each one, reach one, teach one”.  

Given the challenging times in and outside of education, the conference didn’t shy away from the reality we are facing. As keynote speaker, Geoffrey Canada, reflected, “these may be the toughest times I’ve seen as an educator”. 

In education, we face a different kind of crisis. It is a crisis where access and opportunity, especially for students of color, are increasingly constrained. 

It is a crisis that demands urgency and creativity. And yet, despite this crisis the message throughout the conference was clear: we will find another way. We always have. We always will. 

Still, there was joy and love.

Joy as both praxis and as resistance.

It was emphasized that joy will carry us toward a future where schools are not terrible places to survive but loving places to become.

Moreover, speaker’s spoke of educating the whole person, of making sure students are not just prepared for the world but celebrated and empowered as leaders and changemakers in it.  

One message that has resonated with me personally is that, pressure, as one speaker reminded us, is a privilege. Adversity is not an obstacle but is a force to be shaped by.

As educators, the call always starts with us and the adversity we face is not an excuse to wait for the perfect conditions to begin but is a call to start where we are, with what we have, and to do it together so that we can create culturally affirming spaces that change our student lives.  

To lean on the wisdom shared by Geoffrey Canada, we may not know the future of our students, but if we take up space with courage, love, and relentless belief, we might just help them imagine it for themselves. 

I left the State of Black Learning Conference affirmed. It was a powerful reminder to take up space, boldly, unapologetically, and with purpose. 

This year, Vertex Education attended as a sponsor, exhibitor, and presenter, and it was an honor to attend as a team. Our presence at the conference felt like a natural extension of our organizational mission to change lives through education.