— Dafny Irizarry, English as a New Language (ENL) teacher
— Niketa Bhatia, Indian-American educator
“There’s three or four different words for one item. China is naranja. And I remember being in a classroom where I was a Spanish student and my teacher was not from a Spanish-speaking country. She kept on insisting that it’s just naranja for orange. And I kept on insisting as a seventh grader, no, it’s china. And she didn’t understand my background because she didn’t reflect anything other than what she had learned in college. I didn’t feel validated at that point. I felt that she didn’t know my language, or she was trying to turn me into something that I wasn’t, which was a textbook Spanish speaker.”
— Dalimar Rastello, Director of English as a New Language, World Languages and Bilingual Programs at Patchogue-Medford
Photo by Taylor Ha

— Samuel Ortiz, psychology professor at St. John’s University

Condensed quote: “This was back in the early 90s. I applied to a district further out east for an assistant principal shift. Or principal — I think it was a principal shift. I drive up to the place, I park my car, and I go up to the main office, just, you know, say I’m here for the interview, etc. And the lady says, ‘You’re Ms. Scott?’ And I say, ‘Yesss?’ She goes, ‘Oh.’ And she gets up, says, ‘Go sit down over there.’ I say, ‘Scuse me?’ And then she caught herself. And she went to this room — the interview room. The next thing I know, the door opens and people are peeking out. Peeking out. And I sat and I sat and I sat and I sat. Twenty minutes later, I was still sitting outside. Finally the door opens up and this man comes out and he looks at me and goes ‘Oh, oh.’ He goes, ‘Look, a person of color.’ And I said, ‘Yes, surprise.’”
— Brandy Scott, President of the Long Island Black Educators Association
Photo by Taylor Ha
— Aaron Johnson, African-American high school teacher
Condensed quote: “I always share my stories [with students]. My mom had this big fro and looked like Angela Davis. Cops were always stopping and checking out who we were. When we went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, my great-aunt said, ‘James, make sure you get to where you’re going before sundown.’ And I remember we got lost on a highway loop, and a patrol state trooper stopped us. It was getting towards dusk. And he said, ‘Boy, where do you think you’re going with this trailer?’ And I’m in the backseat with my brother, and I’m like, you called Daddy boy? And I was getting ready to say something. My mother turned around from the front seat and looked at me: Don’t you say a word. I think everyone needs to know the stories. Because when you forget about history, you can’t change things if you don’t know what was.”
— Patricia Christian, high school teacher at Central Islip
Photo by Taylor Ha

— Nelson Briggs, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and General Administration at South Country CSD