We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Spencer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The Radical Agenda was founded after my children’s school district made national headlines. In the summer of 2021, a Board of Education meeting erupted over the inclusion of “CRT” in elementary school curriculum, which basically meant a small but loud subset of parents disagreed with the inclusion of any mention of segregation or racism in American history. My friends and I were discussing how ridiculous it was to consider inclusive American history as a “radical agenda.” I joked with my friends that I would create a “radical agenda” – a planner (aka agenda) that featured inclusive American history facts sprinkled throughout the pages.

At first I thought it was a funny pun, but then realized it was something that I could do, so I set out to learn how to create a planner, market it, all while continuously learning more history. I also built a website featuring resources and book reviews for parents to find inclusive American history for all age ranges. I firmly believe that every child; no matter their skin color, gender identity, or who they love, deserves to see people like them in history.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Amanda Spencer and I am single mom of two children. I am a nurse by trade, but I was moved to become involved in social justice efforts after the summer of 2020. When I created the idea for The Radical Agenda, it sparked a passion in me for sharing the parts and people of American history that do not get the attention they deserve.

I was homeschooled as a child, and I know how helpful it would have been for my parents and my friends’ parents to find books on people, events, or topics in American history that are age-appropriate and factual, and clearly organized for ease of use. The website is divided into two sections, biographies and topics, and all pages have links to not only book reviews, but also links to documentaries, additional source materials, and anything else that might be useful to the topic.

I created The Radical Agenda planners, which have “on this day in history” facts scattered throughout the two-page weekly layouts, as well as Monthly Learning Moments, which are short essays on a person, topic, or event in American history that might not be included in school curriculums. Each Monthly Learning Moment has a QR code at the bottom, which will take you to the corresponding page on the website for additional learning opportunities.

Because I understand that as a white, hetero, cis woman, these stories are not my stories. Financial integrity is a mission of mine, so I have committed to donating a significant portion of proceeds from the sale of every planner to human rights organizations, and I choose new causes every year. My goal for 2023 is to donate a total of $1,000 to the 2023 organizations, It Gets Better and Texas Civil Rights Project, which comes out to about 250 planners. I have also committed to never accepting sponsorships from the small businesses I highlight on social media. My goal is to elevate the voices of the people who haven’t been historically given the same platforms.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

This is my passion project and it is entirely self-funded. In effort to keep costs low, I bought and built my website myself, spent hours on YouTube watching tutorials for how to design a planner, and researched the best platforms for self-publishing. I have created this passion project in the cracks and crevices of my full-time career and being a mom; writing book reviews during my lunch hour and researching for Monthly Learning Moments after the kids go to bed.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I never expected to be a single mom, but it definitely caused me to look at everything more carefully and envision how I want to raise my own kids in society. I am a nurse by trade, and history was never my strongest subject in school because I could never figure out how it all fit together. It wasn’t until the last few years when I realized that it didn’t fit together for me because key pieces – people and events – were missing from standard education. Once I found the missing pieces, it sparked a massive desire to share this knowledge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theradicalagenda.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/theradicalagendaplanner
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/radicalagendaplanner
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/theradicalagenda