Featured, Roddenberry Fellowship
Meet a Roddenberry Fellow: DeMar Pitman
September 11, 2019
Meet DeMar, a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow
DeMar Pitman is an educator, activist, and self-taught technologist who believes strongly in the power of technology to shrink long-standing equity and achievement gaps. He is the founder and executive director of Discriminology, a non-profit focused on leveraging technology to increase parent, educator and community understanding of educational equity issues.
DeMar started Discriminology in 2016 shortly after he was unfairly terminated from a Florida elementary school for reporting a teacher who was racially discriminating against some of its students. Following the loss of his job and realizing his own victimization as a Black educator, DeMar began building the initial infrastructure for a technology platform that could assist families and educators in identifying and creating schools where Black and Brown children can thrive.
“With Black, Brown, and low income students at a much higher risk of exclusionary discipline, school discrimination complaints on the rise, and our current administration signaling that they will be devoting fewer resources to these types of issues, now more than ever, it is vital that transparent, school accountability systems are in place to clearly identify the invalidations and missed opportunities that these children experience.”
During the 2019 Fellowship
During the Fellowship, DeMar will be working on the initiative, Discriminology centered around developing the social and digital tools that allow families, schools, and other educational stakeholders to visualize clearly the racial disparities that still exist in our public education system.
This year their current projects focus is addressing the information gap that exists between schools and the communities they serve. This gap makes it difficult for families and other stakeholders to properly understand and assess the educational strengths and weakness of schools as it relates to racial equity. To that end, they are laying the initial groundwork for a parent-friendly data platform, that if successful will, drive culture change in schools hardest hit by educational inequities.
“I started Discriminology so that the voice and experiences of my people, in the public education system, could be heard, at scale, using data and technology. Moving forward, it is my hope that our platform opens not only the eyes and ears of the general public but also their hearts.”
How to Get Involved
Tell us your story: If you or someone you know has been negatively impacted by our public education system we want to hear from you. Whether you’re a frustrated teacher working to improve outcomes for your most vulnerable students but feel handcuffed due to a lack of funding or support or if your a dedicated parent with a son or daughter who’s school has given up on them.
Post your story to social media and use #Discriminology or send it directly to us by clicking here.
Twitter: @discriminology & #Discriminology
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discriminology
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgQVjZAVjwwHKOuBnpqqhg
Learn more about DeMar and Discriminology here: https://www.discriminology.org
