Calling on Kanye

Kanye West has been getting a lot of attention on Twitter lately. This recent tweet caught my eye:

in school we need to learn how magic Johnson built his business not always about the past. Matter fact I've never even heard of a high school class that presents future ideas

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 1, 2018

My favorite retort came from Ava Wettrick:

Try the innovations class in Indiana. Teacher @DonWettrick is amazing. You should call the class

— Ava Wettrick (@ava_wettrick) May 2, 2018

Nailed it. There are a ton of other teachers that I can point to also that I pushing the envelope and trying to change the culture of public education. However, the fact that Kanye has never heard of these educators speaks volumes and should not be so easily dismissed.

I don't know much about Kanye West. I know that he is one of the most critically acclaimed rap artists of the 21st century, he is involved in the fashion industry, and he is married to Kim Kardashian (who I also know nothing about). My current icons are people like Dan Pink, Don Wettrick, Seth Godin, and Gary Vaynerchuk. If I asked many educators, none of those names would ring a bell. But Kanye? Oh yeah, everybody knows Kanye. So, he matters.

Mr. West, your voice matters. I sincerely implore you to reach out to @DonWettrick. I would love to hear you on the StartEdUp podcast. I urge you to listen to past episodes of the podcast to see that there is an educational Reformation occurring as we speak. There are more and more schools becoming FutureReady, but we need all of the help that we can get. We need more cultural icons standing beside us.

Finally, let me say this. I am a little bit older, but my educational career is in its infancy. This is partly because I, too, once had the attitude of Kanye and was a college dropout. However, I came to realization that the only way to change the system was to take an active role in it. So, I re-enlisted to fight on the front line of what I consider to be the most important battle. I have a lot of fight left in me and those that I have aforementioned inspire and motivate me to keep at it. They give me and other educators like me hope that we can make the change that is so desperately needed. We are here, Mr. West. And we are fighting! It is time for all culture warriors to band together. Let us be brothers (and sisters) in arms for there is no cause worthier to fight for.