Ayesha Imani.
Ayesha Imani is a transformative educator whose work in public schools spans more than 40 years. She’s spent twenty-seven years in the Philadelphia School District.
She is the founder and head of school at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School, a K-12 public charter school in Philadelphia. According to the school’s website, the school is “built on the Philadelphia Freedom Schools model to increase literacy and numeracy levels throughout the community and promote respect for scholarship, servant leadership, conflict resolution, and cultural democracy.”
Imani is also the executive manager of Imhotep Institute Charter High School.
Inspired by her son’s desire to establish a school rooted in Quaker educational values and grounded in community, Imani and her son, Isa Clark, wrote the school’s charter, and the school was born. But also, the school was forged from Imani’s desire to empower and equip Black children for a world in need of their light and might, and from Imani’s grounding in the Quaker faith.
The turning point for Imani in taking the leap of faith and starting over came from her success in the classroom, but not in the way many might think. Her faith made her question her tactics:
“You see, I had built a reputation for being a successful, inner-city public school teacher… I was tough and fearless. Standing only 4’11” and maybe 110 pounds, I could make the rowdiest thug backup… I was a success. Once my children surrendered their will to mine and accepted me as the sole authority in the room, they came to love me and enjoy my class… Initially, when I considered the discrepancy between how I ran my class and the beliefs I espoused, I experienced a great wave of guilt. How could I say I believed in the Testimony of Equality and construct a classroom where my students were my subjects, where it was my way or the highway? How could I articulate the belief that Spirit could use anyone with any gift to accomplish Her work, and only affirm students whose talents related to my discipline? I was ashamed of these discrepancies, and my shame soon gave way to anger.”
Before COVID-19, Imani courageously took the step to implement a 4-day workweek for teachers to help reduce teacher turnover. Students still have a 5-day work week. Teachers work from either Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday. Imani still works to recruit the right teachers for Sankofa, but she also understands that it is the school’s responsibility to support the teachers already there.
This is just an example of the rooting in community, inspired by the traditions of Africa and Freedom Schools, that create a culture of love, affirmation, and excellence. It’s something that both teachers and students understand:
“We make sure we start every day with pouring the libations (an African tradition) with some (Quaker) silence. We focus on helping young people have opportunities to affirm one another. As we model how we affirm one another and lift one another up, we build this culture – that it’s ok to love and lift each other up, and to give loving critique. We talk about what loving critique looks like and feels like… We discuss our African principles as being rooted in the ethos of love. Everything springs from that. We make decisions by consensus, though, as a Board, we must record votes. We keep talking until we get a sense of what we should be doing as a community.”
Imani is a portrait of what it means to be a servant educator, setting rigorous expectations in love. She is a powerhouse educator and a force for Black children.
Happy Black history month, and make sure to read up on Ayesha Imani.
