Education as an Act of Faith with Keith Edwards

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“When we hear messages that truly shift our entire world view we rarely meet them with gratitude and appreciation. Usually, we meet with them with resistance. We dismiss, argue, ignore, or worse. It often takes hearing the message again and again, years of maturity, reflection, personal discovery, other learning – or in my case all of the above.

By the time the message really connects and is internalized the person who first got us started on that journey is nowhere to be found.

Education is an act of faith. We must believe that we are making a difference, even when we don’t see it, even when what we see is resistance and the opposite of what we may hope for from our efforts. We have to have faith and educate in a manner that will help that transformation come about even when we won’t see it and even when we will most likely not get the credit.”

—Keith Edwards

Reflecting on significant learning experiences that have shaped his approach to social justice, speaker, author, and coach Dr. Keith Edwards describes education as an act of faith; investing time in cultivating the necessary relationships required to do the work with the belief that we’re making an impact even if we are not around to witness the outcomes.

Speaking from the perspectives of someone who has been invested in and someone who invests that time in others, his storytelling speaks to the importance of unlearning dominant messages of superiority, cultivating critical hope, and understanding the collective damage caused by systems of oppression.

Meet Keith

Keith empowers transformation toward a better tomorrow through leadership, learning, and equity. His scholarship on allyship and equity has been featured in many publications and is incorporated into the diversity and leadership training programs at companies including pWc and Microsoft. His TEDx Talk on preventing sexual violence has been viewed around the world. Keith earned his PhD from the University of Maryland, with a concentration in social justice education. He is a national leader in social justice education, allyship, theory, and effective social change.

Ways to Connect with Keith

Visit Keith’s Website: KeithEdwards.com

Check out Keith’s Book: Unmasking

Evolve: Brave Space Leadership

Learn about the Aspiring Allyhood Identity Development Model

Name Drops, References, and Resources from Keith

Troy Headrick, Harry Broad, Frances Kendall, Cornel West, Film: The Color of Fear by Lee Mun Wah, Book: Making Hope Happen by Shane Lopez, Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade, Michelinos Zembalas, Book: Critical Hope by Kari Grain, Karen Inglis

More from Keith

In 2013, Keith participated in a written series called “The People Who Inspire Series” that I hosted on my blog: Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian. I didn’t know it at the time, but that series was an early prototype of what is now Social Justice Origin Stories. Keith’s interview, “Systems of Oppression Harm Oppressors as well as the Oppressed,” is still live in the archives.