Guest: David Harris
Host: Dr. Tracey A. Benson
Episode Overview
What does it cost to lead as your whole self, and what does it make possible?
In this episode, Dr. Tracey A. Benson sits down with David Harris, a Chicago native, historian, educator of 33 years, and host of the Teachers Forum Podcast. David has spent his career leading for racial equity in K-12 schools as a Black man who refuses to check any part of his identity at the schoolhouse door. The two first met when Tracey appeared as a guest on David’s show, and this conversation picks up where that one left off.
He shares hard-won lessons from decades in the work: navigating resistance, building coalitions, and turning racial consciousness into everyday leadership practice. He traces his path from a South Side household full of teachers and books to a second career in the classroom. He talks about learning to pick his battles without going quiet, about the hidden curriculum of everything a school chooses not to say, and about what happens when a student raises her hand and asks whether there is a genocide in Gaza.
This is a conversation about truth telling in systems built for silence, and about why the future of our schools depends on leaders willing to speak anyway.
Research to Practice is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform. Watch every episode in our Podcast Interviews playlist on YouTube.