In his own words. The young man looking at you is Bradley Poindexter. His story is part of the remarkable documentary by first-time director Sonia Lowman “Teach Us All” which is now available on Netflix.
This powerful documentary was acquired by Ava Duvernay’s distribution company — ARRAY RELEASING which is a film collective that the “A Wrinkle In Time” director started several years ago.
“Teach Us All” is about the social justice movement on educational inequality set against the backdrop of the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis. Timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of that event, “Teach Us All” seeks to build the capacity of students and educators to take leadership in carrying forth the legacy of the Little Rock Nine while activating broader community engagement in today’s urgent movement for educational equity.
Lowman is an educated woman with a heart for service. Her background is impressive and it’s important to highlight that she’s only in her very early 30’s. As the director of Director of Communications for the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, she’s worked in myriad international contexts that included: managing communications for International Medical Corps, a humanitarian relief organization with operations in 30-plus countries; running an International Monetary Fund youth outreach initiative in the Middle East for Arab university students; and contributing to policy papers on international women’s rights for several NGOs, including the United Nations. Plus she holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
So, it’s little wonder that Ava Duvernay connected with this particular film because amongst the cold hard facts that make “Teach Us All” important viewing there are several sound solutions offered by well-versed educators that should be very seriously reviewed.
Another exciting aspect that arose from the film was watching how the youth—in schools across the country—are educating themselves individually and as a group, and challenging the system. There is more than hope—there is a movement.
One of the students that left a mark was an African American youth, Bradley Poindexter, who grew up in one of the poorest sections of Little Rock, Arkansas. In painting a picture of his young life, he noted that he knew more people who “died” tragically than was in his High School class.
At the time of posting this story Bradley Poindexter now a former student from Little Rock, Arkansas, joined the military and he is currently serving as a Security Forces Member of the U.S. Air Force. It’s also interesting to note that prior to joining the armed forces, Bradley was an advocate for Educational Equity, working with education initiative Noble Impact in Little Rock.
“Teach Us All” is more than just a documentary to entertain you on Netflix— it’s a window into what can be done; must be done to make a positive change in the United States Public Educational system. In short, it’s movement.
"Teach Us All" an Array Releasing film. Now playing on Netflix.