Videos

By Roadtrip Nation

David Stovall

Highlight

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Says his driving force is, "What is that story that we don't talk about? What are the things that have gone missing?"
In kindergarten, he got the "bogus" Columbus story, couldn't understand how he "discovered" a place where people already lived.
Disinvested from school, thought it was feeding him lies; years later, a teacher told him he should work to prove the world's negative expectations of him wrong.
Says all forthright change comes from people who have "found their conditions intolerable and are working to change those conditions."
He knew he had to change the educational system's flaws from the inside.
Uses his free time off from teaching to work in classrooms in Chicago; takes those experiences back to his college students.
This allows him to speak confidently about what is going on in the communities he lectures about, rather than just "pontificating."
Says working in spaces of poverty, hypersegregation can be frustrating and toxic for some, but he's learned to find happiness in the little things.

Career

Associate Professor

I am a professor focusing on the influence of race in urban education, and community development.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Politics
Teaching / Mentoring

Day to Day

As a professor of Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I attend classes and prepare lectures twice a week. I spend the majority of my time volunteering and working within the communities I hope to influence in order to better tell their studies. I also write and do a lot of research.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for everyone

Appreciate the small things and always ask questions. Build community with the people who can answer those questions. Find a community of individuals that you can think and create with.

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Myself:

"All school is teaching me are lies."