Over half of the students in Illinois are racially, linguistically, and/or culturally different than the majority of teachers who are white. Do you have the best of intentions? Would you ever want to unintentionally say or do something wrong to make a student, parent, or colleague feel undermined, undervalued, or inferior? Most teachers strive to teach and treat all students like they are the same. The issue is, not all people are the same and we need to acknowledge it. “Walking the talk” about equity means taking action to acknowledge individual differences and provide each individual student what they need to be successful. When we are brave enough to learn new perspectives from people who are different from us, we open ourselves up to the possibility of growth we would otherwise not have. Let’s strengthen our classroom and school environments, by learning about implicit bias, the science behind culturally responsive teaching, and ways we can each take action to bring about change in our classrooms, schools, and communities.