Daily Inspiration: Meet Randa Eason – Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Randa Eason – Johnson.

From an honors student to a disenfranchised pupil, Randa’s personal experiences as a student has given her insight to the needs of an array of students, their abilities, their learning styles and their social needs. Motivated by having seen the devastating effects of educational lethargy, low graduation rates, and people not being taught to be active global citizens with real marketable skills and a passion for learning, Randa has committed to teaching” without borders – helping students K-12 understand, feel and pursue their worth. Much like the origins of the aquatic jewel, Randa sees all students as little pearls, beautiful and precious formed in the most obscure places. Beautiful in its natural form but when cultivated and put with other little pearls, it is a beautiful individual and collective work of art. In creating Little Pearl Education Group, she named it after the street her family moved from during her childhood, Pearl Street, a working-class, African American neighborhood in Waterbury, Connecticut. From daily assaults on her self-image via the media, to school hierarchy mimicking socio-political and economic factors, Randa did not know she would become such a force to be reckoned with in education. Although she always wanted to be a teacher since she was a young child, the lessons life was teaching her became her barriers. She had to overcome those unhealthy ideas in order to be redirected to her destined path, becoming a socio-political agent of change in the education sector.

As a 25 year + veteran educator, Randa started Little Pearl Education Group due to her personal and professional challenging experiences in traditional public, charter, private and state run schools and the impacts those same challenges have on communities of color and low economic standing. Understanding the complexities of the social/political as well as social/economic barriers that many families face, Randa has been successful at getting the most unmotivated, under-serviced, underestimated and overwhelmed students to succeed. Shifting the internal paradigm of each student by mastering a positive classroom culture through nurturing, challenging, organized, fun, open setting. Seeing a dramatic shift in their child, the most underprivileged families take pride in academic and behavioral achievements. Simultaneously, this whole-child centered educational setting gives hope to the higher achievers. They feel safe to learn in a productive, fun, high achieving setting. Under Randa’s tutelage, students and families discovered they can achieve if given an altruistic opportunity, equaling the playing field -a consistent theme throughout Randa’s career. Tired of making great strides in one classroom, one grade level, one department, one school, and one community at a time, Randa set a goal to impact as many lives as possible.

In addition, Randa always understood the importance of spirituality in education. Having become a spiritualist, assisting people throughout the U.S.,adults who happen to be parents, allowed Randa to see that her educational work needs spirituality classes. Parents who are living their purpose and doing their shadow work are happier, productive, better parents. Thus, making their kids happier, healthier, productive students. This piece makes Randa unique in her field.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been treacherous. There are people, heads of learning institutions that believe in the status quo and willfully institute policies, procedures and institutional cultures that make sure effective change does not happen on their watch. Coming from the top, this emboldens people on various levels to attack the very initiatives Randa has implemented throughout her career, as well as attacking Randa, personally and ptofessionally. Her many accomplishments have been made under duress and pressure – just like a pearl. Randa’s dream of growing LPEG was derailed after Randa launched the homeschool coaching division from Atlanta, GA on February 29, 2020. After investing her savings and more, the entire country was forced into free distance learning due to the pandemic. Down but not out, Randa moved to Los Angeles to ride out Covid and position herself to obtain investors and supporters in her vision. Receiving her first investor, Beyonce Knowles – Carter via the BeyGood Foundation and the NAACP, LPEG received a substantial grant for its vision. God always shows up and shows out! Hence, Randa always finds inspiration and solutions, even in the midst of the challenges.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Little Pearl Education Group is comprised of three divisions: education, spiritual and creative. As a creative, Randa uses the creative arts to foster students’ voices, as well as her own. She has been a writer for over a decade, focusing on screenwriting. Her projects help to give voice, context, inspiration and empowerment via storytelling. Proactively combatting the onslaught of negative media images via stereotypes and exclusion, Randa’s scripts help to create another narrative for the “selves” watching. She also gives life to topics in genres that go under-represented or lacks diversity in presentation on the big screen. Randa settled on screenwriting because her constituency, today’s youth, read more films than books. Her first project, MEEK, set in the 1980s, tells the story of Hip Hop via its main characters, Malik, a talented, aspiring rapper from Harlem and Nia, a suburbanite, who form a crew during their high school years. With the pitfalls of the industry looming, can they stay true to their destiny to bring effective change or will they succumb? This project has been well received by Hollywood producers, as well as readers. Having excerpts performed across the country, it has been lauded by actors and audiences, also.

Her second project, SWAY, a psychological thriller that explains the origins of racism, sexism and ethnocentrism is another example of Randa’s need to serve the greater good by tapping into the consciousness using an alternative narrative that is entertaining yet profound and thought-provoking.

The third project, NATIVE, is a group of middle schoolers that acquire supernatural abilities after stumbling upon residuals of a government-funded experiment. Using their powers, the protagonists unfold the abuses of power within the government and bring light to the corruption-saving servicemen and women. This diverse cast of middle school-aged students has a Native American male lead. Again, giving voice to the voice-challenged segments of our communities, children and the various races, genders and ethnicities this group represents.

Randa has taught Media Studies to middle schoolers and has used film analysis throughout her career as a tool to dismantle many of the unhealthy images and messages that have a lasting impact on the individual and collective psyche. She definitely will add curricular support materials to be used in schools for deeper understanding of her films.

Between LPEG’s mission, divisions and services, Randa is doing her damn thing for a good reason.

How do you think about luck?
Randa does not believe in luck. She believes in fate. In order to build out LPEG, she had to go through her trials as a student and endure and witness discrimination as an educator. All of the “bad” were lessons that readied her for the test. By not allowing the actions of others or whole systems deter her destined path, bringing forth a holistic educational firm, Randa uses them as motivation. Hence, Randa makes her own luck happen.

Pricing:

• FREE Educational Consulting via FB Live
• $88.88 Spiritual Consultation
• $1111.11 How to Open Your Connection to Your Spirit Team using Tarot Course

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.LittlePearlEducationGroup.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/LittlePearled; www.instagram.com/reason_tarot
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/LittlePearlEducationGroup
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC0fEgA6GhaLskdjNw7WAmVQ
• Other: www.facebook.com/ReasonTarot

Image Credits
Photo on Beyonce’s website: Jowanna Parris Daley