Welcome to this Special Edition of Light ‘Em Up. We are currently being downloaded in 99 countries globally!
Tonight, we feel very fortunate, highly honored and richly blessed to deliver this Special Black History Month “Short Sojourn” with one of our most popular guests, Dr. Sandy Womack Jr.
Dr. Womack Jr. is the Region 3 area superintendent of the Columbus, Ohio school district (the largest in Ohio) and a lifelong educator with 30+ years of experience.
He is an inspirational, motivational leader, frequent keynote speaker, role model, an Urban Educational Transformation Expert, and the author of 2 books: "Even the best of plans go astray" and "Creating Successful Urban Schools: The Urban Educators Month by Month Guide to School Improvement”.
The cornerstone of Dr. Womack Jr.’s educational philosophy that has led to phenomenal positive outcomes is that "exposure changes expectations and experiences change lives”. Dr. Womack Jr. earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Ashland University. He is a devout man of learning, wisdom and history – most importantly to me, he’s a dear friend of mine.
In this in-depth, educational and explosive episode we examine the root cause of:
● The “culture of brutality, the ingrained and the tireless dedication to lie and cover up the truth” in the policing profession. Just what does “21st century policing” require in the wake of the killing of Tyre Nichols, in Memphis, TN on January 7, 2023?
● The cancer(s) that continue to plague the policing profession – the extra-judicial, excessive use(s) of force under the color of authority. Dr. Womack Jr. expresses that The Kerner Commission got it right, in 1968, but no one listened!
● The importance of the appreciation of black and brown lives – that our society and especially members of law enforcement clearly lack an appreciation for.
● The fact that even today there are still 2 separate and unequal sets of rules in the U.S. as it relates to contact with law enforcement and persons of color, and this fact continues to be perpetuated in many other areas of society, as well, such as education, financial red-lining, justice, equity, health care and fair & decent housing, just to name a few.
● What does Dr. Womack Jr. mean by "stinkin’ thinkin’”?
● He tests our knowledge of U.S. History and lays down the challenge to name 10 famous African-Americans in 60 seconds or less that ARE NOT athletes, entertainers, from slavery or civil rights.
● He probes us to see if we know who was the first black governor in the U.S. I’m fairly certain you won’t know this answer, unless you “Google” it.
● And he challenges us to “go deep” and truly “press into” our critical thinking and self-educate ourselves by reading the “Willie Lynch Letter and The Making of a Slave” which concerns the brutal and inhumane psychology behind the African slave trade and exposes the twisted thinking and the realities of life for a slave in the colonies.
If that wasn’t action-packed enough, he even throws in some profound wisdom from his uncle that states “If you’re not sittin’ at the table … you often are on the plate”.
You certainly need not be a person of color to benefit from the (always) profound messages shared by Dr. Womack Jr., you need only to be human. You can shop and see all of the extremely valuable resources he has available for educational purposes at this link.
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