As Broadway embarked on its road to recovery, these 45 theater artists helped pave the way.

Kara Young and Uzo Aduba

Photographs by Jingyu LinBy Michael Paulson, Jolie Ruben and Matt Stevens

The Broadway season that just ended, the first since the pandemic shutdown, will be remembered for many reasons — the persistence of Covid, the death of Stephen Sondheim, the dwindled tourism and the indispensable understudies. It was a season for renewed appreciation: of song and storytelling and shared experiences, of a beloved art form and a rebounding industry. And it was a season that featured an extraordinary volume of work by Black artists, catalyzed by the social unrest of 2020. The 2022 Tony Awards, which take place June 12, offer an opportunity to honor some of Broadway’s best work; in anticipation of that event, we photographed and interviewed many of the performers, and a few of the writers, directors and choreographers, nominated for awards. Below are portraits and edited excerpts from the interviews.

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“MACBETH”

Ruth Negga

“I’ve always wanted to be an actress, since I was a really young kid. I just love stories in all shape and form. And for me, there’s a whole different draw: There’s an aspect of the performer, the peacock — something kind of lovely about being looked at, at the same time I’m quite shy in my normal life, so that’s an interesting dichotomy.” — Ruth Negga

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“POTUS”

Rachel Dratch and Julie White

“People really, really want to laugh. The laughs are like hyperlaughs. Maybe that’s pandemic-flavored. Obviously, I’ve done a lot of comedies, but this one you can just feel the cackles coming off the audience. I think it’s because people have been shut in for so long.” — Rachel Dratch

“All the lady shows — we’re all keeping our clothes on. It’s the boys that are taking them off. I feel like that’s a step in the right direction.” — Julie White

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“TAKE ME OUT”

Jesse Williams, Michael Oberholtzer and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

“I’m making discoveries every day. It’s really liberating. It’s incredibly stressful. And it’s a lot of pressure.” — Jesse Williams

“This is something that I never really thought about, and it’s kind of all I ever thought about at the same time. Not so much the Tonys, but to be in a position to have an opportunity to be in a play, in a production that is seen by people, that excites people, that’s talked about.” — Michael Oberholtzer

“I decided at the age of 5 I was going to become an actor or a baker or a zookeeper. My dad reminded me that zookeepers were going to have to pick up lots of poop, and so then I narrowed it down to the baker and the actor, and the acting just seemed more fun. So it was a very early decision, and I’m glad it panned out.” — Jesse Tyler Ferguson

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“HANGMEN”

Alfie Allen

“I was going to be a snowboard instructor at one point if the acting didn’t work out. Came back from getting that qualification, and then I got a part in a film.” — Alfie Allen

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“PARADISE SQUARE”

Joaquina Kalukango, A.J. Shively and Sidney DuPont

“There’s hope in community. There’s hope in love. There’s hope for this country. And I think the more we see the things that are alike within us, the less we see the differences.” — Joaquina Kalukango

“There’s 40 of us in this cast. To sing in a big group like that, which has been unsafe for a long time, it feels wonderful. That first rehearsal back when we all sang together, we were all just crying.” — A.J. Shively

“I’m hoping that by me being in this space and by doing what I’m doing, that I can inspire young Black boys and men and inspire young hearing-impaired people to believe that they can do it — that there’s nothing, nothing that can get in your way as long as you push for it.” — Sidney DuPont

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“DANA H.”

Deirdre O’Connell

“Because everything had stopped so radically, it felt like there was a real wide open spirit to the way people were going to the theater.” — Deirdre O’Connell

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“FUNNY GIRL”

Jared Grimes

“I started dancing in the subways. We would set up the board, and we would just dance.” — Jared Grimes

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“COMPANY”

Patti LuPone, Jennifer Simard and Matt Doyle

“To experience any of Steve’s work is to realize what a human is capable of. He is complex, deeply human, nuanced and daring. He dares to write about every aspect of the human condition with a deeply beating heart.” — Patti LuPone, on Sondheim

“Thank God Stephen actually came to the first preview. It was like a rock concert. He adored it, and he laughed from his head to his toes.” — Jennifer Simard

“The first preview back was just so magnificent and overwhelming. And to have Stephen Sondheim sitting there with us, it’s a night that I will never forget.” — Matt Doyle

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“THE MUSIC MAN”

Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster and Jayne Houdyshell

“I get bored of myself. I think that’s why I like acting. With acting, you get to have complete freedom to do all sorts of things.” — Hugh Jackman

“The pandemic was crazy. I remember when the theater shut down and all of a sudden you realize, ‘Wait a minute, what I do for a living just doesn’t exist right now.’ I don’t think anyone plans for that.” — Sutton Foster

“It feels like a big privilege to be part of the group of people that have come together to make Broadway reopen and do it as safely as possible.” — Jayne Houdyshell

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“FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF”

Camille A. Brown and Kenita R. Miller

“I didn’t grow up during the internet, so we went to the library and we got videos of our favorite musicals and we would watch them over and over again, and the dance sequences, and I would learn them.” — Camille A. Brown (nominated as director and choreographer)

“I get this tribe of sisters that have shown me what it really means to be a sister.” — Kenita R. Miller

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“HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE”

Mary-Louise Parker, Paula Vogel and David Morse

“I didn’t think the play would ever be produced. I didn’t think I’d ever find actors who could do it. I thought I was going to be judged and condemned for writing it. I realized I shouldn’t be afraid of telling the truth.” — Paula Vogel (nominated as playwright)

“Just living in a world right now where judgment of other people comes quickly and it’s severe. And what Paula wrote, it doesn’t allow you to do that. It just opens you up.” — David Morse

“We all have darkness. We all have things we need to be forgiven for. And I think that is something kind of important to remember.” — Mary-Louise Parker

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“A STRANGE LOOP”

Michael R. Jackson, Jaquel Spivey, L Morgan Lee and John-Andrew Morrison

“I’m a writer because I have questions, and I have things that scare me, and the only way for me to get over my fears is to confront them directly.” — Michael R. Jackson (nominated as book and score writer)

“I grew up watching movie musicals. I was obsessed with them. ‘Dreamgirls,’ the movie: As soon as I saw Jennifer Hudson singing, I thought ‘I want to do that!’” — Jaquel Spivey

“In many ways, I feel like it took the world to turn upside down for me to start to find some sense of visibility.” — L Morgan Lee

“When I first moved to this city, and I would be auditioning, I would hear things like ‘Oh, your pearls are falling out of your mouth,’ or ‘You’re not thug enough.’ So to be able to be in a show where I can be as queer and as flamboyant and as gay and as big as I possibly can be, and it’s not only needed but celebrated, is amazing.” — John-Andrew Morrison

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“MR. SATURDAY NIGHT”

Billy Crystal and Shoshana Bean

“People are starved for entertainment, and you look out and they’re all masked and yet they’re laughing as hard as they can and we’re getting the same energy we would get. It’s so important that people get entertained and we get some sort of semblance of normal life. This show has been very healing for all of us in a lot of different ways.” — Billy Crystal

“The first night that we had an audience and heard that laughter en masse: It’s a drug. It’s crazy.” — Shoshana Bean

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“LACKAWANNA BLUES”

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

“There was a lot of trepidation, and a lot of second-guessing. I wasn’t sure if one person would show up. But one of the things I discovered is people need theater as bad as we need people to need theater. Human beings need to do what is innate in us, and that’s to be social creatures and to have shared experiences with one another.” — Ruben Santiago-Hudson

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“MJ”

Myles Frost and Christopher Wheeldon

“What I cherish the absolute most is getting here — the journey that it took even before I hit the stage the first time, and learning myself, learning more about Michael, meeting my cast mates for the first time. It’s little moments like that that stick out to me the most.” — Myles Frost

“The last few months have been filled with highs and lows and a lot of fear, just around whether we could actually get up and get running, keep our cast on the stage, get our audiences in the door. I have learned a lot about my capacity to handle fear as an artist, and also, like the rest of the world, as a human being, and actually to find the best ways that I can to turn that fear into some positive and creative energy.” — Christopher Wheeldon (nominated as director and choreographer)

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“CLYDE’S”

Uzo Aduba and Kara Young

“It’s exciting to be a part of the thing that people are craving, which is community. Theater has always served as something that is more than just entertainment, but in this time, even more than in the past, it feels like a healing. Some days, when the curtain will come up, I’m not even sure they’re applauding the show. A layer of this feels like it’s for another need.” — Uzo Aduba

“I have to admit that I really was very eager to work. And because this was the cards that were dealt, I really hugged this moment with all of myself.” — Kara Young

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“CLYDE’S” AND “MJ”

Lynn Nottage

“I feel very proud to be part of a season in which we’ve had more representation by Black writers than in the history of, probably, Broadway in its entirety.” — Lynn Nottage (nominated as playwright for “Clyde’s” and book writer for “MJ”)

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“SKELETON CREW”

Phylicia Rashad

“Theater is always bumpy. That is nothing new. But it was great to be back in the theater.” — Phylicia Rashad

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“AMERICAN BUFFALO”

Neil Pepe and Sam Rockwell

“It’s come back in such a big, big way. And we were shut down two years ago. I think that’s why it’s really exciting.” — Sam Rockwell (shown with Neil Pepe, who is nominated as director)

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“TROUBLE IN MIND”

LaChanze and Chuck Cooper

“We need more stories that are showing the diversity in our community, not just the broad strokes.” — LaChanze

“I just hope that those who made it into our little theater and were able to go on our journey with us, I hope that they left the theater moved and thinking and curious.” — Chuck Cooper

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“GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY”

Mare Winningham

“I’ve learned that marinating in a role is really good.” — Mare Winningham

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“MRS. DOUBTFIRE”

Rob McClure

“When I was 15, I saw a community theater production of ‘Sweeney Todd’ that changed me, and by that, I mean my DNA. I went into that theater as one person, and I left that theater a different person. It was a magic trick that I didn’t know existed. And then I discovered that I could provide that magic trick for other people. And that’s why I act.” — Rob McClure

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“THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH”

Lileana Blain-Cruz and Gabby Beans

“When a piece of theater is good — and I feel like everybody is struggling and reaching for that — you walk out of the theater feeling more alive. And for me, wrestling with what it means to be alive is the eternal question.”— Lileana Blain-Cruz (nominated as director)

“This character is completely free. She has no boundaries or self-consciousness. So I feel like inhabiting that energy has made me just expand as a person.” — Gabby Beans

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“THE MINUTES”

Tracy Letts

“I’ve never felt more camaraderie with my fellow theater artists. This does not feel like a competition to me, these Tony Awards. It feels like a celebration — getting to return to our art form.” — Tracy Letts (nominated as a playwright)

Featuring New Titles by Elif Batuman, Jhumpa Lahiri, Colin Barrett, Ali Smith, and More

By Book Marks

Elif Batuman’s Either/Or, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Translating Myself and Others, Colin Barrett’s Homesickness, and Ali Smith’s Companion Piece all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Month.

Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

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1. Either/Or by Elif Batuman
(Penguin Press)

13 Rave • 7 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an interview with Elif Batuman here

“The book gallops along at a brisk pace, rich with cultural touchstones of the time, and one finishes hungry for more. I reread The Idiot before reading Either/Or and after almost 800 cumulative pages, I still wasn’t sated. Batuman possesses a rare ability to successfully flood the reader with granular facts, emotional vulnerability, dry humor, and a philosophical undercurrent without losing the reader in a sea of noise … What makes a life or story exceptional enough to create art? What art is exceptional, entertaining, and engaging enough to sustain nearly a thousand pages? Selin’s existential crisis within the collegiate crucible haunts every thoughtful reader … The novel stands on its own as a rich exploration of life’s aesthetic and moral crossroads as a space to linger—not race through. Spare me sanctimonious fictional characters locked in the anguish of their regretful late twenties and early thirties: May our bold heroine Selin return to campus and stir up more drama before departing abroad again.”

–Lauren LeBlanc (The Boston Globe)

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2. Homesickness by Colin Barrett
(Grove Press)

15 Rave
Read an essay by Colin Barrett here

“Its comedy stands in balance to the collection’s more tragic tenor … expands [Barrett’s] range, and though the first took place in the fictional Irish town of Glanbeigh, the books share a fabric shot through with dark humor, pitch-perfect dialogue and a signature freshness that makes life palpable on the page. The language counterpoints the sometimes inarticulate desperation of the working-class characters, and that dissonance lends an emotional complexity to their stories … As a writer, Barrett doesn’t legislate from the top down. His unruly characters surge up with their vitality and their mystery intact. Their stories aren’t shaped by familiar resolutions—no realizations, morals or epiphanies. The absence of a conventional resolution does risk leaving an otherwise charming story like The Silver Coastwith the rambling feel of a slice of life. But in the majority of the stories in this book, to reinvent an ending is to reinvent how a story is told, and overall, Homesickness is graced with an original, lingering beauty.”

–Stuart Dybek (The New York Times Book Review)

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3. Companion Piece by Ali Smith
(Pantheon)

9 Rave • 10 Positive

“In her latest novel, wordsmith nonpareil Ali Smith once again shows herself to be a master of forging inventive connections. Companion Piece helps us see our world in a different light by finding points of contact between two plagues and two female artists, five centuries apart … ever intent on expanding our understanding of others and the world we share, Smith’s work is brainy and moving, thoughtful and playful—and never irrelevant … is, among other things, a passionate paean to books … One of Smith’s great gifts as a writer is verbal playfulness—a joy of lex—even in dark times … By exploring binaries such as imagination versus reality, surface versus depth, real versus fake, and stories versus lies—with their often blurred boundaries—Companion Piece challenges readers to embrace the indeterminate. Smith, on fire, welds so many elements into this short novel—including Sandy’s dreams and childhood memories and the terrible ordeals of a talented, steely 16th century waif—that the result is as intricate as that artisanal lock.”

–Heller McAlpin (NPR)

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1. His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
(Viking)

7 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed

“It is a testament to the power of His Name Is George Floyd that the book’s most vital moments come not after Floyd’s death, but in its intimate, unvarnished and scrupulous account of his life … a brilliantly revealing portrait of the structures of poverty, land theft and racism that shaped not only Floyd but also his kinship networks in the South … does an impressive job of contextualizing Floyd’s struggles with drug addiction, frequent arrests and afive-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery in a crime that he insisted he had nothing to do with. Throughout, we get the portrait of a flawed man trying to come to terms with diminished dreams, one whose muscular physical exterior hid a gentle soul who battled pain, anxiety, claustrophobia and depression … Samuels and Olorunnipa take pains to offer capsule histories of the structural roots of racism in the criminal justice and education systems—with their impact on wealth and homeownership—to better tell Floyd’s story holistically. This does not always make for a seamless narrative, but in many ways the book is stronger for it … By focusing on the disparate parts of the system of structural racism that impacted Floyd’s life, the authors allow readers to better comprehend and experience the final indignity that greeted him on May 25, when Chauvin, an officer with a history of brutalizing suspects, casually ended his life.”

–Peniel E. Joseph (The New York Times Book Review)

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2. Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
(Princeton University Press)

4 Rave • 7 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an excerpt from Translating Myself and Others here

“Lahiri mixes detailed explorations of craft with broader reflections on her own artistic life, as well as the ‘essential aesthetic and political mission’ of translation. She is excellent in all three modes—so excellent, in fact, that I, a translator myself, could barely read this book. I kept putting it aside, compelled by Lahiri’s writing to go sit at my desk and translate … One of Lahiri’s great gifts as an essayist is her ability to braid multiple ways of thinking together, often in startling ways … a reminder, no matter your relationship to translation, of how alive language itself can be. In her essays as in her fiction, Lahiri is a writer of great, quiet elegance; her sentences seem simple even when they’re complex. Their beauty and clarity alone would be enough to wake readers up. ‘Look,’ her essays seem to say: Look how much there is for us to wake up to.”

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3. The Case of the Married Woman: Caroline Norton and Her Fight for Women’s Justice by Antonia Fraser
(Pegasus Books)

5 Rave • 5 Positive
Watch an interview with Antonia Fraser here

“The prolific Lady Antonia Fraser has long been drawn to formidable—and tragic—women, starting with her first biography, of Mary Stuart, more than half a century ago. In the last decade, she has focused on the social upheavals of the early 19th century, writing books on the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the fight for Catholic Emancipation in 1829. She thus perhaps sometimes assumes a little too much knowledge of a reader coming fresh to the period. But Fraser’s skill and passion override all, and in The Case of the Married Woman, she renders her subject a woman of dignity, depth and character. Here we meet a heroine, one who fought for herself, for her children, and for all women and children.”

–Judith Flanders (The New York Times Book Review)

BY HOWARD BLUME

Enrollment in Los Angeles public schools is expected to plunge by nearly 30% over the next decade, leading to tough choices ahead about academic programs, campus closures, jobs and employee benefits — and forcing, over that time, a dramatic remake of the nation’s second-largest school system.

The predicted steep drop, which was outlined Tuesday in a presentation to the Board of Education, comes as school officials contemplate the future of Los Angeles Unified School District on several crucial fronts — including contract negotiations with the teachers union, which is seeking a 20% raise over the next two years.

District leaders also are trying to plan for the best use of historically high education funding that some experts warn is likely to be short-lived.

“There are a number of unsustainable trends,” said Supt. Alberto Carvalho, referring to declining enrollment and unstable funding. “The perfect storm is brewing.

“Los Angeles Unified is facing an alarming convergence and acceleration of enrollment decline and the expiration of one-time state and federal dollars, as well as ongoing and increasing financial liabilities.”

Carvalho warned the board that difficult conversations lie ahead and there is “not an easy path toward financial stability.”

Enrollment has been incrementally dropping in L.A. Unified since peaking at about 737,000 students 21 years ago. That long-ago overcrowding detracted from the quality and even quantity of education — as campuses operated year-round with students on staggered schedules that provided 17 fewer days of instruction per year and limited access to advanced classes.

The current enrollment is about 430,000 in kindergarten through 12th grade and is expected to fall about 3.6% a year to an estimated 309,000 nine years from now.

The pace of the decline has accelerated since the pandemic, a phenomenon officials struggle to explain. At the start of the pandemic, many families kept preschoolers and kindergarteners out of remote learning — preferring not to plant their children in front of computers for schooling. Yet the pace of decline has persisted even with the resumption of in-person classes.

Declines also are expected over the next nine years in L.A. County (19%) and the state (9%), according to data presented at Tuesday’s meeting.

Experts have offered no conclusive explanation, but factors include families moving to more affordable areas, the decline in birth rates, a drop in immigration and, until recently, the rapid growth of charter schools.

Problems related to the enrollment drop have already surfaced. A handful of campuses — despite their importance as community anchors — have closed or are projected to close. Or, the campuses have been offered to charter schools — which are not operated by the district and compete for students. Many charters are also facing enrollment challenges and some have shut down.

Having fewer students creates financial strains because state and federal funding is based primarily on enrollment. It’s difficult to reduce fixed costs related to buildings and operations as the funding base shrinks. Moreover, decreased funding makes it more challenging to manage pension costs shared by all school systems as well as separate lifetime retiree health benefits that L.A. Unified has provided to long-term employees.

In the coming years, under the current structure, there could be more L.A. Unified retirees and dependents receiving healthcare benefits than active employees, said Chief Financial Officer David Hart.

“That was never contemplated,” Hart said.

At the same time, the district has struggled this year with a shortage of qualified employees in teaching, nursing, counseling and other areas. To attract and retain such workers, it would help for the district to pay higher salaries — and to continue funding strong health benefits.

Having sufficient money to spend, it would seem, ought to be the least of the district’s challenges, given Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s announcement last week of the largest budget surplus in state history. The surplus is expected to balloon to $97.5-billion by next summer, an estimate that vastly exceeds previous projections and which is folded into a $300.6-billion budget. About 40% of the budget goes by law to grade schools and community colleges.

When including both state and federal sources, California would spend $22,850 per student in the upcoming academic year, an amount that seemed beyond any expectations not long ago.

The state budget figures have improved since January, resulting in an extra $60 million to L.A. Unified as an enhanced cost-of-living adjustment. And L.A. Unified also can look to receive other new funding, such as grants set aside to expand early education and “community schools,” which provide school-based services to families.

Even before these new funds land, L.A. Unified expects to end the year with an “unassigned/undesignated” ending balance of more than $1.4 billion.

The teachers union is seeking a raise of equally historic proportions — citing the high cost of living in Southern California. The union proposal also includes additional pay bumps for advanced degrees and mentoring roles and up to $2,000 in reimbursement for credentialing and classes completed to increase wages.

Under the proposal, nurses — who are represented by the teachers union — would get a $20,000 raise to make their salaries more competitive. Union leaders noted that the district has tried but failed to fulfill a contract commitment three years ago to provide a nurse at every campus.

Another significant cost item in the union proposal is a reduction in class sizes and in the ratio of students to counselors, positions that have also gone unfilled this year because of shortages.

Union leaders want to hear no talk of financial doom.

“The district historically under-projects its revenue, over-projects its expenditures,” Jeff Good, the teacher union’s executive director, said at a news conference last week. “The crisis that we are living ... has to be addressed now, and we’re going to push the district to go as far as they can.”

Some district officials had called the previous union contract unaffordable, but it turned out not to be.

However, amid this unprecedented funding comes a warning from the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office. It reported that a simulation of 10,000 possible state revenue scenarios resulted in shortfalls in the state budget 95% of the time in the coming years, largely because of how the state allocates and spends money. In addition, fiscal warning signs that have correctly predicted economic downturns in the past almost uniformly point to a recession in the relatively near future.

And locally, although L.A. Unified has had more jobs available than it can fill over the last year, much of the funding — more than $5 billion — is from one-time COVID-relief aid.

Officials said they will have to decide whether and how to maintain existing academic programs, while also making room for new ones. One such existing effort, Primary Promise, has put an additional teacher into classrooms at struggling schools — and was substantially funded with COVID-relief dollars. That’s an effort officials said they want to continue.

Carvalho said the district will need to make many strategic adjustments, including eliminating overstaffing in some areas outside of the classroom.

The situation embodies a dizzying disconnect, said school board member Nick Melvoin: “It’s either historic investment or the sky is falling, and I think we have to articulate why both can be true maybe at the same time and live with that discomfort.”

Board member Jackie Goldberg said there was no need for employees or parents to feel panic or hopelessness.

“We’re not just talking about the fact that the financial picture is not great,” Goldberg said. “We’re talking about doing something about it before it has problems for this district. We’re not going to wait till it hits us. And that’s good news, not bad news.”

The mandate for district employees remains in place.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is scheduled to discuss the recommendation to delay implementation of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for eligible students until at least July 1, 2023.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Unified School District approved a recommendation to delay the implementation of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for eligible students until at least July 1, 2023.

Last month, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho recommended that the district align with the state and delay the mandate.

The order for district employees remains in place.

"[Tuesday's] vote shows that we are a science-based school district, and the health and safety protocols we adopt are influenced by the expert advice of our medical partners and public health officials," Carvalho said in a statement. "We know that students do best when learning in the classroom with their peers. Due to the high vaccination rates among students 12 and older, low transmission rates in our schools and our nation-leading safety measures, we have preserved in-person learning in the safest possible environment."

The district reported in December, when implementation of the vaccine mandate for students was delayed until at least next fall, that the vaccination rate among eligible students aged 12 and over was nearly 90%. The rate among employees is even higher.

District officials said they plan to continue providing information about vaccinations and making the shots available to students.

"Our schools are some of the safest places for the students we serve," Board President Kelly Gonez said. "With our nation-leading safety standards, as well as our high rate of vaccinated students over 12, the conditions we find ourselves in have greatly improved. [Tuesday's] decision demonstrates that as circumstances change and evolve, the District will continue to make decisions about student safety and well-being in consultation with leading health experts and that are rooted in science."

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.

When Haley Taylor Schlitz was in 3fth grade, her usually high grades began to dip. Her mother, Dr. Myiesha Taylor, knew she was a star student and her “I don’t care,” response to her nosediving reports wasn’t cutting it. So Dr. Taylor went to the school’s administration to get to the bottom of the issue. 

She had a hunch her daughter was bored and needed advanced courses. She was met with opposition from both a teacher and the school’s principal. 

“She started with the teacher and asked if I could be tested for the gifted talent program. The teacher denied, saying how I did on the pre-STAAR test and TAKS test [Texas’ standardized tests]. I didn’t do well,” Taylor Schlitz says. The girl’s mother was also told she may need to be held  back. The principal then added she couldn’t be tested for the gifted program because testing was only for kindergartners. “Of course, that’s not true,” Taylor Schiltz remarks.  

Racism seemed to be an underlying cause and this wasn’t the 3rst time she had faced it. Once, the Texas school produced a play called “Northern Aggression” and ha d her portray a mixed race slave. In another instance, during a lesson on slavery, a white student turned to Taylor Schlitz and said, “You know, if we lived back in that time, I would own you.” 

Fed up with the public school system, Dr. Taylor decided to homeschool her daughter and within two years, Taylor Schlitz had graduated from high school. This year, she’s making history as the youngest Black woman to graduate from law school in America. She is set to earn her Juris Doctor degree from SMU Dedman School of Law. 

In-school racism is common, particularly in the Deep South. This is where most Black Americans are based and where Critical Race Theory has received glaring legislative pushback. 

In April 2022, Black students of Lubbock, Texas’ Laura Bush Middle School were called “monkeys” on social media. This was done through an account dedicated to harassing the school’s Black students. The kids were also bullied and camera footage allegedly shows non-Black students making monkey noises at Black children as they walked home. 

Educators can be complicit in this anti-Black behavior as well. In October 2021, a Houston teacher was 3red after using the N-word on camera during class. At Klein Collins High School, the following conversation was recorded:

“I mean, if there’s a word that you’re not supposed to say, why are you saying it?,” a student asked. 

“I don’t know. Why do the guys in my class go, you know, say, ‘man (bleeped) you crazy.’ Why do they say that? And why is it ‘cause I’m a white guy, I can’t say that? I can’t say the N-word,” the theater arts teacher responded. 

In 2021, Texas’ governor, Greg Abott signed a bill into law limiting how current events and the history of America’s racism could be weaved into a school’s curriculum. It is evident Black students will continuously be forced to deal with hostile learning environments. Schlitz, 19, wants to change that. 

Taylor Schlitz wasn’t always interested in law; she studied chemistry during her 3rst year of undergrad and half of her second year. Some soul-searching found her wanting to reform the education system in light of all she and her family endured. So she became an education major and focused on becoming a teacher. She realized she could also protect students by pursuing law, since she views teaching as a way to change the institution from the inside and law as a means of changing it from the outside. 

“I either want to go into public policy, educational policy, or go into teaching in my near future,” she says. “In the long run, I know that I want to be a law professor one day.” 

As for her historical achievement, Taylor Schlitz’s family discovered she could make her mark after she’d done press around entering law school. They researched young Americans who’d graduated from law school(the youngest was Stephen A. Baccus, who graduated from the University of Miami School of Law at 16 years old) and let the girl know what she could accomplish if she 3nished. Recreating their response, she says, “Holy cow. If you 3nish this law degree, you’ll be making history.” She was already determined to graduate, but she calls the groundbreaking moment the “sprinkle on the cake.” 

“I just always live by the motto that you don’t 3nd your path, you make it,” Taylor Schlitz says. “So don’t let anybody else tell you what you can’t do.”