About this podcast
Shields & Talbot is a podcast offering deeply rooted in educational equity and anti-racist transformation in schools for the benefit of all students; particularly youth of color. Episodes will consist of student and educator voices, co-conspirators and resources for all. Co-host Harold Shields has been an educator since his sophomore year of high school (Sunday school teacher, camp counselor, juvenile teacher, etc.). He taught Mastering Our Cultural Identity: African American Male Image and AVID 7 at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School in San Francisco. Harold holds a B.A. in Psychology from California State University Dominguez Hills; and M.A. in Politics and Education from Columbia University. Harold is committed to defining and securing the full range of resources, supports, and services necessary for all children, especially children in poverty and children of color, to succeed. His goals include working with state legislatures to develop transformative education reform. He believes as professor and attorney Michael Rebell does: “that a suitable education should be the constitutional right of every child regardless of the child’s wealth or place of birth.” Co-host Kassandra (Kassi) Talbot has been an educator for the past seven years. She teaches Middle School Social Studies and High School Spanish. Kassandra is a doctoral candidate and holds an M.A. in Education, Equity and Social Justice; concentration in how Critical Whiteness Pedagogy informs anti-racist teaching. Her ultimate goals include capitalizing on the opportunity her local context offers: using her position in the community to transform its current school system into one that serves all students equitably. She hopes her former students will come back to their community to continue the fight, lead and support future generations in her hometown, Kassandra is part of the municipal advisory board, a Red Cross First Aid Instructor, Trauma Informed Instructor and local radio host. Harold & Kassi and partners in love, support, friendship, life-goals and–from time to time–content. On June 15, 2020, during the global pandemic, they co-founded United Front LLC. United Front is an Equity-centered Professional Development and Educational Consulting firm specializing in coaching educators and assisting administrators with developing a site-specific strategy to create liberating and inclusive school communities for students of color. ”A liberating and equitable education is the right of every child.” unitedforequity.com
