Is it time to drop the professor title?; Jason Arday fallout; Joy Mbakwe on anti-Blackness at school
Make It Plain PodcastPlay episode
Show notes
Kehinde is back from holiday and reflects on the reaction to the death of Jason Arday and says we need to to better to support each other when we are still here. He also drops the poll question of whether now that he is out of the university he should renounce the title of professor? He also briefly touches on the the latest Reform scandal but reminds us that Whiteness is a psychosis so don't expect it to change many voters minds.
This weeks interview is with Joy Mbakwe, who brings the perspective of a former head of English and assistant principal who now works in educational consultancy, helping parents understand the realities of schooling from the inside. They discuss how anti-Blackness shows up in uniforms, hairstyles, toilet rules, detention culture, and the language of "behavior management." Joy breaks down how schools can quietly punish Black children for simply being visible, while still presenting themselves as neutral, rigorous, and fair. The conversation also gets into the gap between what schools claim to prepare children for and the world young people actually enter, especially in an era shaped by AI, burnout, and widening inequality. We break down the deeper question behind all of it: are schools designed to educate, or to reproduce the same hierarchy over and over again? Joy explains why belonging matters more than slogans, why recruitment and retention shape whether students feel seen, and why some children need support that the mainstream system simply does not provide.
There is also a powerful discussion about supplementary education, Saturday schools, and what a community-led curriculum could look like if Black families were building it for themselves. This episode matters if you are a parent, teacher, educator, or anyone asking why the same patterns keep repeating, especially for Black children. If you have ever felt that schools demand compliance more than care, or that "success" is being defined in ways that leave too many children behind, this conversation will stay with you.
Check out Kehinde and Joy on 'We Are Black and British': https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0014t9r
Find out about Joy Mbakwe's work: https://www.msjoymbakwe.com/
Buy Jason Arday's book, Great and Unfortunate Things: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Great-and-Unfortunate-Things/Jason-Arday/9781398542747
Support the call for a public inquiry: https://goodlawproject.org/petition/jason-arday-letter/
Sign up for the Harambee OBU AGM. In person and online October 24th 2.30pm: https://HarambeeOBUAGM26.eventbrite.co.uk
Join Harambee OBU: www.blackunity.org.uk
Written and hosted by: Kehinde Andrews
Edited by: Kadiri Andrews
Artwork by: Assata Andrews
