News
Spotlight Interview: Mr. James Hopkins, Principal Lyons Farm
Posted on August 20, 2025
What inspired you to pursue a career in education, and how has your journey shaped the way you lead as a principal today? My decision to become an educator was sparked by my 11th grade U.S. History teacher, Ms. McLoughlin. When I passed the U.S. History End-of-Course exam, my first and only standardized test “success”…
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A Love Letter to Black Summer Joy
Posted on July 17, 2025
Contributor: Vanessa Clinton Dear Black Summer Joy, You arrive like a song we’ve known our whole lives—the bassline deep and familiar, the melody bright as the sun kissing our melanated skin. We slip right into your groove by tossing a snap, a smile, and a strategically placed “Ayyyyeee.” We find your rhythm like it’s been…
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Built to Lead: How Black Fathers Shape Tomorrow
Posted on June 21, 2025
Black Fathers Instill Resilience Have you ever watched a child, your child perhaps, watch their father? Like really study their movements, behaviors, mannerisms, even down to the way they hold their forks. I remember watching my son, who was around 7 or 8 at the time, stand at our front door and quietly watch his…
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JOY in the Midst of it All
Posted on March 27, 2025
As Women’s History Month draws to a close and we brace ourselves for April flowers and pollen showers, we wanted to take time to share three ways Black women are finding JOY in the midst of it all. And by ‘all’ we mean in the midst of all the Executive Orders, the radical sweeping of…
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2025: The Year of Collective Responsibility
Posted on January 23, 2025
January is the one month of the year where a collective seriousness around goals, values, and life in general permeates through our society. Some people take on the motto, “New year, new me.” Others proclaim, “Out with the old, in with the new!” We participate in this song and dance for a number of reasons.…
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An EPiC Origin Story
Posted on January 1, 2025
It all began in a single magnet school where the widening “achievement gap” between Black and White students could no longer be ignored. When parents realized the depth of these inequities, they rose up—not just for their children, but for all children who shared their struggle. United in purpose, they partnered with school administrators and…
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Let’s Break Barriers Together for Educational Justice
Posted on December 29, 2024
We can all agree that every child deserves an equal opportunity to succeed in school. Systemic racism and bias have created an uneven playing field for Black students. Empowered Parents in Community (EPiC) intends to change that. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Black parents within education. Although we started in one school…
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What I Want for the Holidays: Liberation List
Posted on December 19, 2024
A Note From the Executive Director, Jovonia Lewis When I think of a liberated education system, I see smiling, engaged children. I see joy in the eyes of our youngest learners; I see the curious minds of our middle school aged children, and I hear the innovative questions and plans of our high school children.…
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Count on Us to Hold Space, Especially During Tough Times
Posted on November 21, 2024
We are living in a society that is changing at a rate, alarmingly faster than anything generations before have experienced. We wake each morning to new technology, new policies, newly elected politicians, and even new grocery store layouts. We are in a constant state of saying goodbye to what is considered old, yet familiar, having…
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CBS 17 Covers EPiC’s Community Conversations About School Discipline
Posted on November 20, 2024
Content below from CBS 17. See the original piece here. Black students in North Carolina suspended and expelled at higher rates, study shows DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Some central North Carolina parents received a reality check Wednesday night on discipline with Black students the state. A study posted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction…
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