Aftermath: Brown, Busing & Beginning Again

Jarvis R. Givens is Professor of Education and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He specializes in the history of African American education and has authored two books, Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching, published in 2021 by Harvard University Press, which won six book awards, and School Clothes: A Collective Memoir of Black Student Witness, published by Beacon Press in 2023. Professor Givens is also the Co-Founding Director of the Black Teacher Archive, a digital collection on African American teachers before 1970, housed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and his research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Professor Givens earned his PhD in African American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He is originally from Compton, California, and currently resides in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Albert (Al) D. Holland was born and raised in Roxbury. He grew up in the housing projects and attended Boston Public Schools during the turbulent 60s when civil rights and racial discrimination were being confronted not only in the South, but also in the streets of Boston. Holland learned at an early age the importance of community and giving back to others. He was greatly influenced by the guidance and mentoring given to him by the late Rev. Dr. Micheal E. Haynes and Clarence Jeep Jones at the Norfolk House Center in Roxbury, as well as Coach Fred Gumbs, his first Black teacher and role model in school.

After graduating from Berkshire Christian College in 1969, Holland became one of the few Black Juvenile Parole Officers with the Department of Youth Services. In 1975 during the height of Boston desegregation, he received an MS in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University and was recruited by the Superintendent office to become one of the first Black School Administrators at South Boston High School. During this period, Holland met heroic and courageous students who boarded buses each morning trying to receive a quality education, as well as educators who worked under tremendous conditions to educate and bring about racial equality.

In 1982, Holland was appointed Headmaster of the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in the Grove Hall section of Boston. The Burke was neglected during the desegregation of Boston Schools and in turmoil. During this time, Holland became a better educator and advocate working with outstanding students, administrators, teachers, parents, and community partners in transforming the school to be more relevant and high performing, with a focus on creating strong relationships.

In 1993 Dr. Holland served as the High School Superintendent, and then as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent in charge of the development of Pilot Schools.

In 2008 Dr. Holland retired from the Boston Public School but has stayed active in education.

Michael Patrick MacDonald is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. He grew up in South Boston's housing projects, which held the  highest concentration of white poverty in the U.S. After losing four siblings and seeing his generation decimated by crime, addiction, and incarceration, he became a leading Boston organizer, helping to launch many anti-violence initiatives, including gun-buyback programs and support networks for survivors--all with the explicit goal of building multi-racial, class conscious coalitions of solidarity. He continues to work internationally with survivor families, educators, and organizers, using his trauma-informed restorative justice curriculum, The Rest of the Story.

Dimitry Anselme has served as Chief Officer of Growth and Engagement since 2024. He joined Facing History in 1999 as a Program Associate.

Before joining Facing History, Dimitry taught American and world history courses in Massachusetts at Brookline High School and Doherty High School and later became principal at the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Boston.

Dimitry has a BA from Clark University and an EdM from Harvard Graduate School of Education.