ACT Newsroom & Blog

In anticipation of Martin Luther King Day, Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., charged the Twitter-verse with a challenge. She tweeted:

As your organizations plan for #MLKDay, note:

My father’s legacy is about much more than service projects.

If you plant a tree, also educate about environmental injustice + racial injustice.

If you paint a mural at a school, also host a workshop on inequity in education. #MLK

As your organizations plan for #MLKDay, note:

My father’s legacy is about much more than service projects.

If you plant a tree, also educate about environmental injustice + racial injustice.

If you paint a mural at a school, also host a workshop on inequity in education. #MLK

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) December 23, 2020

Bernice reminds us that it’s easy to go through the motions. It’s easy to say Black Lives Matter, and without a doubt, saying it matters. But it’s just one step. In the same way that MLK Day is one day that invites us to reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we must go, if we are truly committed to creating a world in which all community members thrive and not merely survive, our goal must be to champion significant acts the other 364 days of the year. Using our voices to speak up for our brothers and sisters who have suffered systemic oppression is absolutely the first step in what will be a complex, and often difficult journey. Patience, tenacity, and determination are required as we walk toward racial justice. 

“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The undoing of racial injustice is deeply personal and as an African American woman I carry the burden of invisible scars passed down from my ancestors wherever I go. But I am always encouraged by colleagues and friends that exercise their privilege and power to address the unseen, and closed-door injustices that I may never know. Unfortunately, too often even obvious atrocities may be overlooked when our friends and colleagues close their eyes and keep silent. That silence can be deafening, and even deadly, as Dr. King remind us: “Our lives begin to end the day that we become silent about things that matter.” It’s a choice, and a personal journey, to seek justice. And I remain thankful for those who stand up, speak up and act up (when needed). Each individual must engage in the process of personal transformation as a required step for organizational transformation.
  

“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

As Bernice King alludes, the education of our youth offers us hope. Our history as a nation is marked in beautiful ways by the long-lasting and profound choices made by young people who boldly commit to justice. They are unconstrained by the limits of their age but empowered fully by the depth of their desire for justice.

Sometimes these young heroes and difference-makers go unnoticed. Some, whose effect is great, will forever remain unnoticed. Others, like Barbara Johns, who in 1951 led a walkout at her all-Black high school to fight for education equity, will (eventually) find themselves memorialized and honored in the most significant ways imaginable, like in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The story of the removal of Confederate General Robert E Lee’s statue in favor of a 16-year-old Black activist, offers a poignant reminder that great and meaningful change often comes through the dedication and commitments of youth.
  

It validates and ignites our belief that the best way to support and empower change is to support and empower learners.


As an organization, ACT is committed to redoubling our work in support of Black students. Over our 60-year history we’ve seen how educational opportunities empower learners to meaningfully shape and direct the most essential change our society still needs to complete. We celebrate the difference-makers who fight against systemic inequities and lean in to support racial healing. We’re listening and learning with you. Together we can create brave spaces for the bold who strive to bend “the arc of the moral universe” toward justice.
  

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The power of education is transformational, but the learning journey is hardly ever linear. There will be times that we crawl when we wish to run. But no matter the obstacles, never stop. A tweet, a statement, a march, a summit, or a service project on MLK Day, is a great first step. But don’t stop there. Tell your story and the story of others, so the message of justice rings out every day. Use your influence to bring new voices and team members into the company, the club and community. And use your resources to endow a scholarship and/or sponsor a young person with a meaningful experience that will open doors for the future. On behalf of ACT, we’re committed to living Dr. King’s legacy all year long and we celebrate our team member’s individual and collective commitment to moving justice forward.

Join us for a webinar on February 3 at 4:00 p.m., ET on Advancing Postsecondary Success: Strategies for Men of Color in the Age of COVID-19. The webinar will feature Dr. Tyrone Bledsoe, founder, current CEO and president of the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB). Dr. Bledsoe will highlight his personal story and his experience as a young Black youth who spoke with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while living in the segregated South during the 1960s. Dr. Bledsoe will also share his SAAB student-driven model of empowering men of color to be change agents for personal and community success.

We’re committed to fighting for fairness in education. By partnering to learn, adapt, and do what needs to be done, each day we seek to overcome systemic inequalities in our society, and ensure that Martin Luther King Day is more than a moment in time, or a mark on our calendar. Join me in committing to live Dr. King’s legacy all year long.

Recommended Reading:

• Celebrating ACT Scholars, A Decade of Student Impact for Students of Color

The following is a statement from ACT's CEO Janet Godwin:

I am deeply troubled by the events that unfolded in the U.S. Capitol yesterday. The peaceful transition of power is a bedrock of our democracy, and yesterday that bedrock was shaken. 

We’ve not seen anything like this in our lifetimes, and I hope that we never do again. What struck me to my core, was how we got here and what we need to do to ensure this threat to our democracy never happens again.

The answer is not a simple one – the complex challenges facing our country require complex solutions. Still, as we look at our country and seek these complex solutions, I was reminded of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education…to prepare each citizen to choose wisely and to enable him to choose freely are paramount functions of the schools in a democracy.”

With Roosevelt’s charge, it’s clear that we must ensure that our citizenry have a robust, broad, and deep education that imparts the rich history of our country, the civics that are foundational to our democracy, the critical thinking and reasoning that being a good citizen requires, and the structural foundations like reading, math, and science needed to actively participate in a productive life.

Today, and every day forward, I am recommitted to the fight for a fair, equitable, free education for everyone. I’m committed to working alongside leaders across the education ecosystem, at all stages of the learning lifecycle, to ensure that we never face such horrors again. I hope you’ll join me, and all the team members at ACT, in this, the fight of our lives.

Happy New Year! I think we can all look back on the past year as one where a lot did not go as planned, but we learned important lessons that we will carry forward into the New Year.  Last year was truly a bumpy ride and that is why I am so excited to kick off 2021 with a renewed vision for ACT, which is anchored to our long-standing commitment to our mission of helping students achieve education and workplace success. While it’s customary to make resolutions at the start of a New Year, we all know how that usually turns out. Unfortunately, by the first week of February, we’ve all reverted to old behavior and are kicking ourselves for not being stronger. So, instead of resolutions, ACT is committing to being better and stronger in our intentions for this year. With that, I’d like to share ACT’s renewed commitments for 2021.

This year, we will redouble the efforts of our past 60 years, recognizing the realities of the present and launch into a bright future where ACT is intentional, deliberate, and committed to education equity. The worldwide pandemic has been a reckoning for the education ecosystem, exacerbating cruel and systemic inequities for so many students. But with that reckoning also came a reawakening—of passion, of responsibility, of compassion. Leaders and organizations from all around the world stood up to declare that it was time to embrace a new direction—ensuring that all students are able to not only chase their dreams, but also realize them. At ACT, we believe in the power of education; that it can open doors and expand possibilities. And, we are in this fight for the long haul, to ensure that all students—especially those who are facing barriers in access and opportunity, those who are struggling to secure even basic needs, those who are in fear for their safety and identity—are provided the tools, resources, and supports to be successful and whole.

ACT can’t do that alone. We must work across the education and workforce ecosystem, alongside partners, allies, and accomplices to get into what the late civil rights hero Congressman John Lewis called, “good trouble.” I am committed to actively engaging across the education community with leaders and practitioners, students and their families, critics, partners and stakeholders, to engage in deep conversations about where ACT is making a difference, where we are falling short, and how we might work together to solve some of today’s most complex and challenging problems. It will require not only looking outside but also looking inside to see where we need to make changes and think creatively to improve how we are serving all of our stakeholders. We need to challenge assumptions and challenge a system that we know can be better. I’m enthusiastic about this approach, because I believe that together we can move mountains.

One of the strengths that ACT brings to these efforts is our long history of data and research that gives us deep insights into critical issues around student success. For more than 60 years, it has informed everything we do and provided an opportunity for collaboration and creative solutions. I recently spoke with two educators who have made a practice of using ACT’s data to inform the way they serve their students and empower them for success. I want more! I want to ensure that we are providing the most useful information in a way that educators, districts, and states can show up for their students and make meaningful changes to ensure high student achievement. I also want to hear more from students themselves. So much of what’s done in education happens to students instead of with students. We are able to reach students and listen to their voices on topics like the digital divide, school safety and mental health, and even their perceptions around the effects of COVID-19. It’s critical that we continue to engage the student voice as we work to encourage and support them to achieve their goals and dreams.

And, as we are listening to students, we also need to show up for them at every stage of their learning journey. Whether ACT tools, products, services and solutions touch an individual from preschool through K-12, into and through their postsecondary years, and/or during their working life, we aim to provide stepping stones that increase their likelihood of success and decrease the inequitable income and racial gaps that currently exist. Our learners are diverse and so are their needs. Some will need personalized instruction, while others will thrive in a group setting. Some are working learners who require imaginative solutions to scheduling and tailored supports, while still others may follow the traditional path through postsecondary education as full-time students. Some are adult learners, returning students, opportunity youth, students with disabilities or a combination of any of the above. We must strive to serve them all and serve them well.

In order to do any of these things, we must remain future-focused, ready to learn and prepared to grow. We can’t simply rely on our past success. No. The future requires that we innovate, create, and embrace new ways of working. So, while we can turn to data and trusted systems and resources, we must also continuously improve. Reevaluate, adjust, and pivot will be our new normal. We are forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we’ve always done simply won’t serve us well—and it won’t serve students and workers well either. I’m proud to work alongside team members who are also committed to taking a deep look at who we are and what we do and grow toward the future in the spirit of success for all of those we serve.

In the weeks ahead, and throughout 2021, you will learn more about ACT’s strategy for the future and how we are working to live our values around education equity, engaging with partners and stakeholders across the education and workforce ecosystem, employing data for student success, affecting learners across all phases of their learning journey, and growing into the future. I couldn’t be more thrilled to start the New Year with the prospect of these commitments before us. Join me as we work to build a better future, together.