Every Child Deserves a Black Teacher: Honoring a Decade with BTP

In 2015, Dr. Micia Mosely walked into our offices with a question we are still living inside of: what becomes possible when Black teachers are centered, not managed, not fixed, but centered, in the work of educational equity?

We didn't have the full answer then. We just knew it was the right question, and that it belonged to her to ask, not to us to answer.

Ten years later, we know part of what becomes possible. It becomes a movement.

We were honored to host the Black Teacher Project for a decade, and we want to be honest about what that word doesn't capture. "Host" makes it sound like we gave more than we got. Most days, it was the reverse. BTP taught us what it looks like to build healing and belonging into the architecture of a program, not bolted on at the end but poured into the foundation from the start. They taught us that targeted universalism is not language for a slide deck. It is a discipline, practiced in every Fellowship cohort, every Design Lab, every Leadership Institute. They taught us that when you center the people closest to the harm, something in the whole system evolves, even the parts that swore they would never move.

This month, BTP steps into full independence. What we feel sits somewhere between pride and heartbreak, the particular ache of watching something you love outgrow you.

As they step into this next chapter, BTP is continuing to expand their opportunities for both Black teachers and the school leaders who support them. Through fellowships, wellness experiences, leadership development, and partnerships with schools and districts, they are helping cultivate the conditions where Black teachers can thrive while equipping system leaders with practical strategies to recruit, sustain, and learn alongside them. If you're looking for thoughtful resources, opportunities, or partnership, their newsletter is one of the best ways to stay connected.

BTP said it best in their own words: they stand on the shoulders of everyone who poured into this work, and most of all, on the thousands of Black teachers who chose to stay, to teach, to lead, and to love generations of children through changing classrooms, changing policies, and a changing world. That is exactly right. It is why we knew, from the beginning, that this work belonged to Black teachers. Not to us.

This is not letting go. It is transition, done the way it should be done: two organizations bound by shared history and shared values, choosing to evolve structure so the mission can grow into its fullest potential.. 

Congratulations, BTP. The liberation work continues, and we are honored to keep walking beside you, just from a little further down the road.