The educator and founder discusses culturally responsive learning, political pushback and why emotional intelligence matters more than ever
Jamila Sams has spent over 20 years working with youth, but her latest venture might be her most ambitious yet. As founder of We Do it 4 the Culture, she has created a culturally responsive social emotional learning curriculum now serving over 140 schools across 16 states. The program centers hip hop and storytelling to help students navigate identity, belonging and emotional pressures both in and out of school.
What inspired you to create We Do it 4 the Culture and center hip hop and storytelling in social emotional learning?
I am a career educator, and throughout my entire career of almost 30 years, I’ve always anchored the importance of building deep connections to my students. I’m also a hip hop head. I grew up on hip hop culture, I live hip hop culture. They say it’s something that you live, not something you do.
I’ve always wanted to bring that part of my identity into the classroom with my students, and then I also wanted to tap into whatever it is that brought them joy. Whatever their cultural attributes are, or what they were listening to, or activities they were into, I always wanted to anchor that because that helped me to build deeper connections with them and really get to know them on a deeper level.
When you merge hip hop culture, education and the art of storytelling, you’re creating these positive, productive electric spaces where students can be their authentic selves, take down their guards and share. What we see is it’s not just happening for students, it’s happening for teachers as well. We Do it 4 the Culture really meets students where they are.
How do you define culturally responsive social emotional learning, and why is it especially urgent in Black and Brown communities today?
Social emotional learning is the art of naming our emotions, managing our emotions and then leveraging our emotions for positive change. What culturally responsive social emotional learning does is meet students where they are in terms of looking at their culture as an asset, not as a deficit. What are you bringing to the table in terms of your values, the way that you view life, the way that you view community, the way that you view spirituality, all of these cultural nuances, and how do you react to certain situations based on either your lived experiences or societal situations that you may be placed in.
For our students, oftentimes Black and Brown students in particular, their joy often is managed. Don’t get too excited, don’t get too boisterous, don’t get too proud. They try to limit it. We don’t want our young people to do that. We want them to be their authentic selves. It’s about anchoring their culture, their stories, their identities and allowing them to show up as their authentic selves. That’s really important, especially for Black and Brown students, because even on a national level, 85% of the teaching force is white and female. There’s already a cultural disconnect for many of our students.
Even though We Do it 4 the Culture was designed for students, what we’re seeing is that it has a tremendous impact on teachers as well.
How does We Do it 4 the Culture meet students where they are and help them navigate the realities they face?
We do a lot of activities that involve listening, and we really lift up the power of relationship skills. Because it’s anchored in storytelling, I don’t have to assume anything about you. It’s important that no matter who the student is, you give them the opportunity to answer open-ended questions, to ask why, to get them to share their story, and then you get to know them on a deeper level. Even though we may share some of the same cultural attributes, my lived experiences may not be your lived experiences. Listening is so important, and asking open ended questions to get students to reflect.
Companies are looking for employees with emotional intelligence. We have AI, AI is going to do most of the tasks at some point. But emotional intelligence is so important. We want students to be able to regulate their emotions, not diminish them, not make them smaller, but how do you manage them in different spaces and places? Especially anger. We want them to be able to manage it in a way that, be angry, because it’s a natural response to many of the things that are happening in this world. But be able to manage them so you can use that anger for fuel in order to create change, as opposed to just staying in the anger.
This curriculum is now in over 140 schools across 16 states. What outcomes are you seeing?
On a national scale, young people do not feel like they belong. You have one in three students right now in America who feel like they do not belong. During the pandemic, attendance rates in terms of students not coming to school have tripled. We Do it 4 the Culture, bringing in narratives that they can relate to helps them to take down their guards, share their story, and now they’re sharing their story with their peers and they’re building connections.
What we’re seeing is that when they approach the work with fidelity and with high levels of energy, 70% of our teachers are saying their connections with students are getting better. For peer to peer relationships, we’re seeing 60% of our schools saying that the peer to peer relationships are improving. For us, that’s huge because we work with 6th grade through 12th grade. Now that they have an opportunity to talk about topics through things that they can relate to, whether it’s a Kendrick Lamar verse or looking at Naomi Osaka talking about the importance of her mental health, now they can relate to that and build deeper connections.
How does your work respond to the rise in political pushback against both social emotional learning and diversity, equity and inclusion while keeping students at the center?
While some leaders are attacking DEI or social emotional learning, the data inside the schools and the data in terms of what we’re doing tells a totally different story. Students are dealing with feelings of isolation. They are not coming to school. They do not feel like they belong. What we’re offering is something that’s counter to that narrative because we know if we create these spaces, the students are going to come.
Schools that reach out to us are schools that are already grounded in equity. We often tell schools that we work with, we’re not a band aid for your bullet wound. You have to be doing the work, and you have to want to build deeper communities within your school.
We have some school districts that actually go out and find private grants in order to pay for We Do it 4 the Culture. They find a way, and I think that’s so important to know that there are people that are still fighting back against this notion that DEI no longer matters. We’re not backing down. We are moving full steam ahead because this work is important. School districts are being bullied, and so how we show up right now is so important because the babies are watching.
You’re also part of less than 1% of Black EdTech entrepreneurs. What has that journey been like for you?
The fact that we are less than 1% of Black EdTech social emotional learning curriculum designers is appalling. I feel like I have the responsibility to champion this work and open doors for other Black curriculum designers, Black EdTech founders. 1% is not enough, and I should not be satisfied with that. None of us should be.
One of the things that I’m really looking forward to doing is working with different parent groups of marginalized groups to make sure, as taxpayers, they know how to advocate for more Black and Brown curriculum designers and curriculum that has been created by us for their students. All students benefit from a more culturally responsive curriculum, but we have to start with those that have been marginalized the most. As a taxpayer, you have a voice in what the school district uses with your child. But a lot of parents do not know that, and they don’t know how to exercise that.
A big part of your journey includes being a Camelback Ventures Fellow. How did that experience shape you?
I’m forever grateful for Aaron Walker starting Camelback Ventures. I am forever grateful to Shawna, the current president of Camelback. Being a founder is very lonely at times. Having an entire community of founders who are in the trenches with me, they’re doing the work, they’re fundraising, they’re revising their ventures, and then on the emotional side, it’s just a place where I can get support for people who have a shared experience.
The networking that comes with Camelback is also extremely powerful because they are moving with vision, they’re moving with purpose, they attract people who also are moving with vision and purpose, and they’re also advocating for more Black and Brown founders and women to be lifted up in the EdTech space.
As the curriculum expands, what partnerships or community collaborations are you most excited about?
Right now, we’re really excited about what we’re calling Culture Collabs. We are a hip hop culture based curriculum, and so working with different artists that have really positive messages and want to give back to the community is something I’m really excited about. We just did a really great Culture Collab with Reuben Vincent, who just released an album. He’s from North Carolina. He’s being mentored by 9th Wonder. From a generational standpoint, you have young people who may not have heard of Reuben Vincent, now they’re being exposed to him, they’re being exposed to his music, his messages.
What’s next for We Do it 4 the Culture? What impact do you hope this movement leaves for the next generation?
I’m hoping that we have a global impact because there are young people all over this world that are experiencing shared narratives. Whether it’s the young people in Nairobi who are leading youth centered revolts to young people in DC that are standing up against ICE in their communities, young people across the world have something to say.
We want We Do it 4 the Culture to be that amplifier for all of the young people, to know that they are standing on the shoulders of greatness, and we all have a responsibility to keep this work going. That is my hope, that We Do it 4 the Culture becomes a global household name.
