Life & Work with Dr. Asia Lyons

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Asia Lyons.

Hi Dr. Lyons, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Detroit and moved to Aurora, Colorado, to work as an educator in a suburban school district. For six years, I worked as an elementary educator and six years as a middle school educator. As a middle school educator, I taught math and social justice in my last two years.

Teaching social justice classes to my sixth graders during the presidency of Donald Trump caused me to be pushed out of teaching. To be clear, I was offered a contract for the following year, but the racism-related stress and subsequent racial battle fatigue caused by my administrator, the families of some of my White students, and the silence of many of my colleagues helped me make the decision that despite my excellent work and a great relationship with my students, I would need to leave teaching.

At the end of my teaching career, I applied to attend the University of Colorado- Denver to earn my doctorate. It was there that I decided to research the impact of racism-related stress and racial battle fatigue on Black educators and our families. The topic was me-search.

After demanding and receiving an exit interview from my former superintendent, I started a podcast with Kevin Adams called The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators. On our show, we give our form of exit interview, archiving the stories of former Black educators across the country, chronicling why they became educators, what/who caused them to leave education, what schools, districts, and unions can do to retain Black educators, and what they are doing now that they are no longer traditional educators.

Finally, in partnership with Dr. Eleonora Cahill, we have started the Black Educator Wellness Cohort. A free 10-month cohort that focuses on healing the racial trauma of Black women and non-binary educators in the Denver Metro Area. We have also begun offering for-fee services for foundations, non-profits, and school districts interested in supporting Black educators’ wellness.

I do this work in reciprocity to the Black educators who taught me in Detroit Public Schools, the Black educators who are still teaching in the district I left, and all of the Black educators who teach long after I am gone.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the biggest challenges with wanting to do work to support Black educators is the lack of funding that supports educator retention. My partner and I have found that there is an abundance of money focused on the recruitment of Black educators in the state of Colorado and beyond.

However, that is not our focus. I understand, as well as the folks that I work with, that retention, though more costly to schools and districts, is the strategy that should be used to keep diverse educator representation in front of Black and non-Black students.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work focuses on the well-being of Black educators. I am most proud of this work, knowing that it can save the lives of Black people in my community and beyond.

Nothing sets me apart from others; I work in and for the community, like many other folks I know. I am proud of this and plan to continue my work for as long as is needed.

What were you like growing up?
Raised on both the east and west sides of Detroit, I was that kid whose teachers at conferences would say they had great grades but talked too much. I was also, as is true today, a book nerd.

I would fly through books like the Baby Sitter’s Club, old copies of National Geographic, or the encyclopedia. You could find me in high school at student council, robotics, philosophy, or environment club meetings. Like I said, I’m a nerd.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.exitinterviewpodcast.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asia-lyons/
• SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OVG4uVlD92asgHIoHa4zD
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exit-interview-a-podcast-for-black-educators/?viewAsMember=true