00:00As artists, we have a responsibility to be very cognizant of the worlds that we create
00:07when we write stories and when we kind of put narratives out there.
00:12Because we know it for a fact that people can start seeing a world differently
00:17or the world they want to create once they see it presented to them.
00:24Hi, I'm Raina Reid-Raford, a contributing news editor here at Essence Magazine.
00:28I am so excited to be here talking to acclaimed actor, Tyler James Williams, about education.
00:35So jumping right in, I actually taught ninth grade math at Strawberry Mansion High School in Philadelphia for two years.
00:41So if you had gone into education, what subject and grade level would you want to teach?
00:48I've actually had this question come up before.
00:51The first time it really shocked me because I'd never even considered it.
00:54But I would say like seventh or eighth grade history.
01:02I think at the end of the day, I like telling stories and like history is just really one big story.
01:08And at that age, I feel like they can really kind of get involved in it.
01:12Facts.
01:12So did you have any black male teachers when you were growing up?
01:16And why do you think that's important?
01:18I didn't.
01:19I didn't have any.
01:20And, you know, I don't think I even really realized it until now, until like this time in my life.
01:29And it is important.
01:30I don't think I really saw somebody in the educational process kind of pouring into me from a perspective that I could relate to.
01:42I always saw like education as something that was a relationship between somebody outside of your community, somebody outside of of people who kind of knew you intimately.
01:51And I think that's one of the reasons why so many people grow up feeling disconnected from the educational system and educational pipeline.
02:00So every day, black people are often underrepresented in the media.
02:04How can entertainment be used to shift the narratives of who teachers and caregivers are?
02:09First and foremost, you know, as artists, we have a responsibility to be very cognizant of the worlds that we create when we write stories and when we kind of put narratives out there.
02:22Because we know it for a fact that people can start seeing a world differently or the world they want to create once they see it presented to them.
02:31That's what representation is.
02:34So it is very important.
02:36And I think also, I think we need to remember that it's not just our job to present those stories, but to make the art meet the action.
02:47And that's why this partnership I've had with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has been so important is because I don't want to just present an idea of what could be.
02:59I also want to show you the real stories of what's happening with people on the ground.
03:02There are people who are actually cultivating this life in the world that we're trying to head toward, and we need to uplift them as well as the fictional characters.
03:11Piggybacking off of the Kellogg Foundation, you're a part of this great campaign.
03:16It's celebrating a variety of people who are investing in children's development.
03:20So were there role models in your life outside of family who helped you as you grew up?
03:26Okay, that's another hard one.
03:28I can't, you know, outside of family, it's really hard for me to, like, nail that down.
03:34There were people, you know, over the course of my career, and I had, you know, studio teachers that, you know, worked really well with me.
03:42But, again, these are, like, these smaller moments or, you know, people that were fewer and far between.
03:50I wish it was more.
03:51I wish I would have seen and had these kind of bigger impacts and influences on me, not just from an educational point of view, but from an educational point of view as it regards to the community as well.
04:06But, yeah, there were definitely people, you know, along the way, and I don't know who I'd be without them.
04:14I just, you know, wish there were more of them, and I think that that's what we're trying to do here.
04:19Thank you so much, Tyler, for joining us, and thank you, Essence, for tuning in.
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