Who is Canerow?

Mia Birdsong and Mariah Rankine-Landers are two passionate community members of the world at large. They both blog for EmbraceRace. Mia and Mariah’s collaboration began when Mia’s daughter was a student in Mariah’s class in Oakland, California. They’ve been collaborating for change and re-imagining the world ever since. 

Mariah is a committed educator, artist, and integrated learning practitioner. She taught kindergarten and first grade for 10 years. She holds a BA in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz and a MA in Equity and Social Justice in Education from SFSU. She currently serves as the Director of the Integrated Learning Specialist Program in the Bay Area where she supports educators to understand and apply integrated, arts based learning, authentic assessment practices and curriculum design to achieve higher academic outcomes for student success. In addition, she is an educational consultant with clients in Bay Area that include the Oakland Museum of California, Hack the Hood, Alphabet Rockers, Chapter 510, and Not Much But Good. Mariah has been featured on PBS’s “The Electric Company” for a teacher instructional series. She is the recipient of an award from Teacher for Social Justice for her work to foster equity in the classroom. 

Mia is a believer. She has spent more than 20 years fighting for the self-determination and pointing out the brilliant adaptations of everyday people. In her current role as Co-Director of Family Story, she is updating this nation’s outdated picture of the American family (hint: rarely 2.5 kids and two heterosexual parents living behind a white picket fence). Mia, whose 2015 TED talk–titled, “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True”–has been viewed over 1.2 million times already, has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Salon, and On Being, and has guest lectured at UC Berkeley. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and an inaugural Ascend Fellow of The Aspen Institute. Mia sits on the Boards of Directors of Forward Together and the North Oakland Community Charter School. She lives with her family in Oakland.