The Sacred Art of Teaching

The Delpit/Emdin Conversations

Lisa Delpit, Christopher Emdin

• Publisher: The New Press
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9798893850406
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Biographies

An unprecedented, no-holds-barred set of dialogues about race and education from two of the country’s best-known educators

In this powerful and deeply personal volume, two luminary educators, generations apart but united by a shared commitment to transformative education, compare notes for the first time. An early recipient of a MacArthur “genius” Award, Lisa Delpit gave us the classic Other People’s Children and has been called “a visionary scholar and reformer” by the Harvard Education School, which awarded her an outstanding alumni award. Christopher Emdin is an award-winning educator whose book For White People Who Teach in the Hood . . . and the Rest of Y’all Too was a national bestseller. He is the creator of the HipHopEd social media movement and has been named one of Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans and one of twenty-seven people bridging divides in the U.S. by Time magazine.

Readers are treated to candid exchanges on topics including the role of art in education, students and politics, how educators of color can navigate the academy, specific approaches to pedagogy, the role of rap in education, and how spirituality informs these two education eminences’ work. With honesty, humor, and hard-won wisdom, they reflect on their own journeys into education, the challenges they’ve faced, and the strategies they’ve developed to uphold equity and justice in a system too often resistant to both. These conversations are not only intellectually rich but emotionally resonant, offering a model of mentorship, mutual respect, and the power of dialogue across difference.

A gift to teachers, scholars, and anyone passionate about reimagining public education, this book is a lasting contribution to the field—one that will inspire readers for generations to come.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Our Teacher Stories
• Chapter Two: The Sacred
• Chapter Three: Art and the Art of Noticing
• Chapter Four: A Culture of Nouns
• Chapter Five: Courageous Education
• Chapter Six : Navigating the Academy
• Chapter Seven: Stardust
• Chapter Eight: School Visions and Political Constraints
• Chapter Nine: Rap and Americanism
• Chapter Ten: Escape Velocity
• A Letter to Teachers from Lisa
• For Further Thought
• A Benediction from Chris
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Copyright