On a recent episode of The Day With Trae, host Trae Holiday sat down with Dr. Dana Nickson, an assistant professor at the University of Washington (UW) College of Education. The conversation shed a bright light on the often behind-the-scenes work of educators who bridge academic theory with real-world community organizing.

Dr. Nickson’s insights offered a blueprint for how educational institutions can uplift communities by honoring the cultural wealth they already possess.

Rooted in Legacy: From Sunnyside to the Classroom

Dr. Nickson’s path into education was paved long before she entered a university classroom. It began in her childhood, watching her maternal grandparents navigate their roles as educators and community anchors in Sunnyside, a historically Black neighborhood south of downtown Houston.

"They are forever educators in my mind... I just grew older, and I was like, 'Wow, they were educational leaders, but they were also community leaders.' ... This is a part of the tradition of how Black people take care of each other, right? You can find these stories all over,” Nickson said of her grandparents.

This foundational understanding of community-led caretaking fueled her academic pursuit. Dr. Nickson noted that Black communities have historically had to carve out their own spaces and resources in the face of systemic neglect.

"There's these notions that African Americans, Black folks in the U.S., that we are placeless sometimes... But the reality is, in thinking about my grandparents, they were creating a place, right, in Sunnyside,” she said.

Moving Beyond "Deficit-Oriented" Education

Early in her career, working at an all-boys charter school on the west side of Chicago, Dr. Nickson realized that conventional systemic metrics often fail to capture the true dedication and brilliance within marginalized communities.

She said she initially started the role with a savioristic attitude of improving the education from the ground up, a mindset that proved too simplistic and deficit-oriented.

“Through that work, I was just amazed. We had mothers who were driving across the city of Chicago to get their students to school,” she said. “Y'all can tell me that we don't want to be educated, that we don't value education? ... I'm just witnessing the power that's already there."

This perspective deepened during her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, where she partnered with482 Forward, a Detroit-based organization led by Black mothers organizing for public education reform.

"We have to uplift what communities are doing. There's so much knowledge and wisdom that people are carrying from navigating these systems that don't work for us,” Nickson said.

Picksee: The Curious Little Crow

One of Dr. Nickson's standout initiatives at UW is theEarly Literacy Collaborative, a partnership involving Seattle Public Schools'African American Male Achievement Initiative, community organizations, and fellow university researchers.

Tasked with addressing reading scores for young Black boys, the collaborative chose to broaden the very definition of literacy.

"We were trying to think about how do we honor that literacy as more than reading and writing. Especially in our…diverse, diasporic Black communities. We are multilingual. We talk with our hands. We tell stories,” she said.

Working with second-through-fourth-grade Black boys across three Seattle elementary schools, a recurring theme emerged around stories of crows. This cross-cultural connection between East African and African American families culminated in the creation of a youth-authored book:Picksee: The Curious Little Crow.

"It's a book about a young crow who is navigating between the culture, wisdom, and teachings of his family, and also navigating what he's learning at school, which sometimes doesn't sync up, sometimes doesn't feel right” Nickson said. The 18-month project successfully shifted traditional dynamics, encouraging formal educators to actively listen to and learn from Black families.

Supporting the Next Generation at UW

Now five years into her tenure in Seattle, Dr. Nickson teaches courses like Black Geographies of Educational Leadership. She viewed her role not just as a traditional professor, but as a supportive resource and a defensive buffer for Black students navigating historically complex institutional spaces.

"I have encountered so many brilliant students, particularly Black students at UW's campus,” she said.

Through her classes, she connects with Black principals, assistant superintendents, and local educational advocates who are doing the heavy lifting daily.

"They are navigating systems that are difficult, to say the least... But they are mothers, they are aunties, they are also budget strategists. They are all the things to make sure our kids are navigating these systems that are just difficult and anti-Black. And so again, I'm just honored that I get to be able to walk alongside people in their journeys."

To connect with Dr. Dana Nickson or learn more about her research, you can visit herofficial faculty page on the University of Washington website or reach out via email at dnickson@uw.edu.

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Community, Place, and Intergenerational Wisdom: Dr. Dana Nickson on The Day With Trae

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