Atlanta School Board Candidate Bethsheba Rem Seeks to Inform Parents, Empower Students
During a random conversation at an event in early May, Bethsheba Rem found herself assessing her life. She met someone who mentioned they were recruiting people interested in being campaign managers or running for local office.
“I told him I am a professor and spoken word artist when he asked what I did for a living,” she told The Reckoning.
Without missing a beat, he suggested that she run for the school board.
“In two seconds, I assessed my whole life,” she said. “I took an inventory of where I am and what I have done. For me, I am either going to do something 100 percent, full speed ahead, completely all in, if I believe in it.”
In those two seconds, running for Atlanta School Board made sense.
“You don’t always know what you are ready for until it shows up. That’s what I believe. What’s the saying? If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” she said. “My entire life has prepared me for this moment. If he had said City Council, I would have immediately said no. School board, on the other hand, is along the trajectory of my life.”
“My entire life has prepared me for this moment. If he had said City Council, I would have immediately said no. School board, on the other hand, is along the trajectory of my life.”
Of the 22 people running for Atlanta School Board, Rem is one of two Black LGBTQ+ candidates running for school board. She is running for the District 2 seat—which extends from the Abernathy Towers to Campbellton Road to Centennial Place — against the incumbent, Aretta Baldon, and Keisha Carey.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Rem moved to Atlanta in 2005. Since that time, she has become an integral part of Atlanta’s spoken word community, while also working as an adjunct professor at Clark Atlanta University. She has also started several small businesses and leads workshops for others looking to be better business owners as well.
“I am always about the human beings that are in my community—the children. They are human beings who need our attention and our support. If the kids at Douglas High School and Herman J. Russell Elementary School had equitable access to the same resources and funding as those in Buckhead and other parts of the city, they would have a better shot in the future.”
Empowerment and informing are at the core of Rem’s campaign and platform. She is of the impression that there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to parental awareness.
“I think that the parents don't know what resources are out there and available to them. They aren’t always aware of what programs or services, or support is available to them that can help in not only educating their students, their children; but, in preparing them for their futures.”
As part of her platform, Rem proposes creating tools parents can utilize in their efforts to work alongside teachers in the progression of their children’s education. That means making them aware of what resources are available; while at the same time making them aware when programs have been lost and how to revive them.
Bethsheba Rem, Second from left (Image courtesy of subject)
Empowering LGBTQ+ Students Through Representation
In addition, she wants to get students more involved in the system and decision-making. The idea is to create buy-in for the students, which she believes will make them more apt to not skip school.
There is a social aspect to the idea. They become invested and begin to hold each other accountable. They find commonalities as well as police each other, pushing each other to succeed,” she said.
Rem has talked to some students attending high school in the district. Over lunch, they shared with her their concerns, which included not feeling safe prior to COVID-19 in the halls of the schools.
“That they did not feel safe was the most shocking thing to me. Before COVID-19, they were practicing bomb drills and active shooter drills. We are having to teach our children how to hide if someone walks through the doors of their schools with an automatic weapon,” she said.
They also shared that they were interested in cleaning up their schools. Many of them shared that the same trash has been on the school grounds or on ceilings in the school for the past year, prior to COVID-19.
And with so much emphasis on the city being placed on the beltline, Rem likes the idea of creating a bike-riding program in the district for students to ride their bikes to school, along with their parents of course, and feel safe in the process. This program will also create more exercise for students since most of them are not receiving physical education anymore. She also thinks the bike riding program can benefit students alongside ensuring there are healthier food options in schools.
“A lot of them are more health-conscious about what they eat. We need to make sure we are not exclusively feeding them fried food and fish sticks, causing them to border on obesity and heart failure at such a young age.”
The safety and success of the children within her district are central to her campaign.
In addition, she hopes that her presence on the school board, as a biracial, Black, LGBTQ+ woman and leader will provide solace for children that are developing, exploring, and figuring out who they are as elementary, middle, and high school students.
“I hope that it says it is okay to be yourself at whatever stage in life you feel you are. And that they are empowered while they are trying to make sense of their identities. Leadership can come in any shape or form, and children are discovering what their orientation is much sooner than any of us realize.”
“I hope that it says it is okay to be yourself at whatever stage in life you feel you are. And that they are empowered while they are trying to make sense of their identities. Leadership can come in any shape or form, and children are discovering what their orientation is much sooner than any of us realize. It is important that they have representation and people who can hear them, see them, and support them; whether it is their teacher, who is properly trained on how to effectively communicate with LGBTQ+ children, or a member of the school board making decisions with them in mind.”
The thing people must remember, Rem said, is that the students are human beings. As members of the school board are writing, debating, and/or analyzing policy, they must keep in mind that the students they are representing are human beings first.
Mashaun D. Simon is an equity and inclusion advocate who centers his preaching, writing, and scholarship on cultural competency, identity, and equity.
He has written for NBC News and the Atlanta Daily World, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Black Enterprise, Bloomberg News, TheGrio.com, Ebony Magazine, BelieveOutLoud.com, and Essence Magazine. He has also created and managed cultural competency and affirmative action programming and training and in 2018, Mashaun organized and facilitated Kennesaw State University’s Faith and Sexuality Symposium on behalf of KSU’s Presidential Commission for LGBT Initiatives. In 2021, Mashaun was selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Rising Leaders Fellowship.
He holds a professional writing degree from Georgia Perimeter College, a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Kennesaw State University, and a Master of Divinity from Emory University's Candler School of Theology.