Dana Mitchell
Senior Partnership Strategist, Kindred Communities
Advocate and parent
Former school leader and educator
All of the data says, “These institutions do not take care of Black girls,” period. As a parent, I’m like, “Why would I put my child there if this is what the data has said for hundreds of years?” So my husband and I started talking about what we want [our daughter] to be able to accomplish after her schooling experience.
I want her to have a perspective that lets her know who she is and that she is a valuable member of society. I want my daughter to walk around this world like it is an absolute treat for folks to know her. One of the things I’ve experienced as an adult is seeing folks who are closer to privilege, based on white supremacy culture, walk in a room and just exist and feel like they can thrive. I am not saying I’m chasing after what [they] have. I don't want my daughter to abide within the confines of the oppressor's gaze. I want her to have a liberated mindset.
“I want her to have a perspective that lets her know who she is and that she is a valuable member of society.”
Dana Mitchell
From an academic perspective, I want my daughter to be literate. I want her to be able to read, write, and interpret language in a way where she can make meaning and contribute to conversations and express herself. If you can’t tell, I’m a former ELA teacher. Being able to read, understand, process, and make meaning is a skill that will allow you to navigate life and achieve more of what you want to accomplish.
From the math and measurement side of things, I cook a lot, so I’m measuring things in the kitchen. I want my daughter to be able to carry out the basic operations, and even complex operations, to be able to make food at home—and be the lead chef at multiple restaurants. [But] it’s also the financial math perspective. [I want my daughter to be able to say,] “I understand how money works from a relational capital perspective, from an emotionally intelligent perspective, and because I have to compute and manage the budget myself.”
When my daughter finishes her K–12 experience, I want her to be able to recognize for herself what her alternate pathways to success are. I want her to be able to say, “I can go to college. Whoops, college didn’t work, but I did stack $20,000 within that year that I went to college, so now I can implement my alternate pathway.”
I want her to have all of that at her hands. That is the type of head start that a lot of folks who are closer to power do currently have. Again, I’m not chasing what [they] have. I’m envisioning what I want my daughter to have, do, and be. Because I think a lot of times my Black-person narrative is told as, “I just want the opportunities that everybody else has.” I don’t want that. I want these barriers out of my way so that I can do what I’ve been planning to do.
As told to Rachel Kenney, with photography by Alyssa Schukar for the Urban Institute. Research and logistical support provided by Karishma Furtado and Victoria Nelson.
