At twelve years old, Cleaster Cotton, was in the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement and president of the student body at the most publicized school in American history - Junior High School 271, in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York - during the fight for community control and the longest teachers' strike in American history. Today, Cleaster shares stories of how she survived Malicious Instructional Design, a war zone, and how she subsequently invented an answer to racial inequality in education: the evidence-based ALNUGE Codes. Cleaster Cotton has taught thousands of children and facilitated numerous professional development, team-building and arts workshops for teachers, parents, community members and business professionals. Cleaster is an artist, and specializes in racial equity, social justice, diversity and innovative instructional design. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx