Reach - Then Teach

Author: Derrick Brown

"Reach - Then Teach" offers host Derrick Brown's wisdom earned through life lessons learned about mentoring, mediation, and problem solving. The show uses "standup storytelling" (commentary, teaching, spoken word (poetry), rap, and song) to deliver compelling, thematic, personal narratives about love, change, equality, power, (self-)control, and purpose. Popular segments include "Dear Hannah (Letters To My Daughter)", "Fight The Good Fight", "LEarning", and "The BIG Picture." Visit reachthenteach.com to join our mailing list and sponsor our work!
Be a guest on this podcast

Language: en-us

Genres: Arts, Music, Performing Arts

Contact email: Get it

Feed URL: Get it

iTunes ID: Get it

Get all podcast data

Listen Now...

Dear Hannah: LEarning (Born(e) Witness) (03m00sec)
Sunday, 12 October, 2025

Dear Hannah ... If you are wondering ... "What do you DO with all these songs ...?" Thanks for asking. I have a catalog of 45 of these #Autoethnographies (self-reflective "studies") that anchor a yearlong (two-semester) course I developed called #TheSeeSayShow. Sharing them lets me see which ones "slap" (resonate with unprompted, diverse audiences). #TheSeeSayShow is my holistic response to what I see in my high school classroom every day. It paves a pathway to power and purpose through #Autoethnography (self-study), self-reflection, and small-group fellowship (AKA "discipleship"). I lead the way by sharing my journey with transparency (and discretion) ... as the leading student in my class (AKA "the teacher"). Each unit begins with one of these songs - which are effective at grabbing the attention of even "today's" distracted students. After sharing the song, I ask students "what do you remember" ... and "what do you wonder". That begins a unique conversation with each student ... that has no end. Each student's charge is to produce a multimedia "mixtape" (which is - like its musical counterpart - a talent display and historical archive) ... that includes self-selected artistic elements of self-expression (like "beatitudes" photoessays, songs, poems, stories) ... powered by an autoethnographic journal of self-reflective "thought partnership" with ChatGPT (like the one I have produced during Summer 2025 by taking my own class) ... developed according to the AI Reflective Pedagogy Protocol ... of how they "Holler" ... then keep adding to it ... then share it with their children's children. I will not see these "endings" ... but am honored to bear witness to the beginning. I am a "born witness" ... and have *borne witness* ... for a minute. #HappyFather'sDay ... and thanks for reading. Selah. Love, Daddy