Teaching for Black lives also means considering the loneliness of learning about one’s history when you might be one of a few students in class (or few teachers in a school) that this history represents. –Darnell M. Hunt, Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA Their demand that all Black lives have value was simple, yet visionary — especially in its call to highlight the most marginalized Black lives, including LGBTQ folks, women, and Black immigrant lives. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Reporter covering education, foreign affairs. Teaching for Black lives also means considering the loneliness of learning about one’s history when you might be one of a few students in class (or few teachers in a school) that this history represents. We must organize against anti-blackness amongst our colleagues and in our communities; we must march against police brutality in the streets; and we must teach for Black lives in our classrooms. Through gentrification and the violence of displacement, anti-Blackness terraforms Black communities into white ones, and working-class communities into spaces for wealthy elites. Finally, Section V, “Teaching Blackness, Loving Blackness, and Exploring Identity”, recognizes that Teaching for Black Lives encompasses more than just teaching critique and social action. These examples reveal some of the policies that result in pushing kids out of school, making it difficult to graduate, then difficult to get a job, and finally more likely that they will end up in jail. On July 10, 2018, I wrote about a book that had just been published titled “Teaching for Black Lives,” a collection of writings that helps educators humanize blacks in curriculum, teaching and policy and connect lessons to young people’s lives. That textbook hadn't reflected my history and heritage as a Black man, nor that of the predominately Black and Latinx students I was preparing to teach. Critical Curriculum Studies: Curriculum, Consciousness, and the Politics of Knowing. A month before the school year began, I had decided that I couldn't use the old course textbook. No book better unpacks and gives color to the modern movement we’re in than this.” –Linda Sarsour, National co-chair of the Women’s March and co-founder of MPower Change, “Again, the folks at Rethinking Schools have stepped out to produce a timely volume that should become a central staple in how we understand race and the radical imaginary in K-12 classrooms.” Consequently, students who become disinterested in a course or vocal about its shortcomings and historical erasure are often labeled defiant and pushed out of the classroom. has successfully been added to your shopping cart. Learners will consider the meaning behind a series of powerful statements, such as “I can’t breathe” and “Black Lives Matter”. ", By clicking "Register" you are agreeing to the, Published in Print: September 16, 2020, as, ERS Practical Tools for District Transformation, "Court Revives Suit Stemming From Black Lives Matter Discussion in Classroom,", “Educators Support Black Lives Matter, But Still Want Police in Schools, Survey Shows,”, “Are America's Schools Ready for Tough Talk on Racism?,”, “An Open Letter to Well-Meaning White Teachers,”, “It's Time to Move Beyond Buzzwords and Radically Re-imagine Schools,”, “An Essay for Teachers Who Understand Racism Is Real,”, Assistant Director (Education Policy, Equity, and Accountability), Brevard Public Schools, Melbourne, FL, US, East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, Baton Rouge, LA, US, Hamilton County Department of Education, Chattanooga, Tennessee. In addition to these adults, police have also killed many Black children in past few years including 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, 12-year-old Tamir Rice, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, 13-year-old Tyre King, and 15-year-old Darius Smith. Edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, and Wayne Au, Teaching for Black Lives grows directly out of the movement for Black lives. Section 4 concludes with chapters that highlight the ways that schools can challenge mass incarceration, including some possibilities for restorative and transformative justice. In the winter of 2017, a mother in Connecticut wrote about how she was troubled by a worksheet on slavery that her daughter had completed for school. That's not happening for Black children in your average U.S. history textbook. Not only had the McGraw-Hill textbook replaced the word “slave” with “workers,” they also placed the chapter on the enslavement of Africans in the chapter of the book titled “patterns of immigration” — as if Africans came to the U.S. looking for a better life. Not only had the McGraw-Hill textbook re­placed the word “slave” with “workers,” they also placed the chapter on the enslavement of Africans in the chapter of the book titled “Patterns of Immigration” — as if Africans came to the United States looking for a better life. As he read the assigned page of his textbook, he noticed something that deeply disturbed him: A map of the United States with a caption that said the Atlantic slave trade brought “millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.” Coby took a picture of his textbook and texted it to his mother, adding, “We was real hard workers wasn’t we,” along with a sarcastic emoji. The pairing of these is purposeful: Not only is it critical that we teach about the systemic violence against Black people and the travesty of Black deaths, it is also important for students and teachers to understand their roles in organizing in support of Black life and Black communities, and against anti-Black racism. Black students’ minds and bodies are under attack. However, is simply saying so enough? Here’s the full introduction of “Teaching for Black Lives,” followed by two chapters, which I am publishing with permission. It is a curriculum that fails to respect young Black people as intellectuals, and ignores their cultures, communities, and concerns. Protest even erupted on NFL football fields in 2016 when then San Francisco 49er quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, sat and then took a knee, during the national anthem in protest of police brutality. Learners will consider the meaning behind a series of powerful statements, such as “I can’t breathe” and “Black Lives Matter”. We recognize that anti-Black racism constructs Black people, and Blackness generally, as not counting as human life. Moderated by Cierra Kaler-Jones. Activism and resilience: reflection activity Through reading about Black history, learners will consider if they agree or disagree with a series of statements and discuss why. And if a student makes it through that gauntlet of perils, high-stakes end-of-course exams are waiting to deter them from graduating. Rethinking Columbus, among so many others. Recent data reveals that school security officers outnumber counselors in three out of five — and four out of the top ten — of the biggest school districts in the country, including New York City, Chicago, and Miami-Dade County, and Houston. The continuing police murders of Black people, and the refusal of the court system to punish police for these crimes, has continued to fuel an explosion of protests — from the streets to the schools. Teaching for Black lives also means considering the loneliness of learning about one’s history when you might be one of a few students in class (or few teachers in a school) that this history represents. “Rethinking Our Classrooms Volume 1 (Revised and Expanded Edition). The officer who brutalized the girl was not charged with a crime and instead both the girl videotaping and the girl thrown across the room were arrested and charged with “disturbing schools.” In May of 2017, surveillance video revealed a police officer at Woodland Hills High School in Churchill, Pennsylvania, choked and body slammed a Black boy in the office. Only weeks after the non-indictment decision of Michael Brown’s killer, Darren Wilson, a NY grand jury failed to indict the officer who strangled Eric Garner to death on camera, and the movement went into high gear. The website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level. In Seattle, on October 19th 2016, the movement for Black lives burst into the struggle for equitable education when some 3,000 educators came to school wearing shirts that said, “Black Lives Matter, We Stand Together,” with many of them teaching lessons about the long history of the struggle against racism. Now, with the country in turmoil after the death of yet another unarmed black man at the hands of police, let’s take a new look at the book. When students miss school, they fall behind in their classes and are more likely not to pass. Protests against police brutality and endemic racism have erupted in cities around the country, with some saboteurs breaking the peace of the demonstrations with violence. Lessons, Articles, Recommended Books, Films, and more. The continuing police murders of Black people, and the refusal of the court system to punish police for these crimes, has continued to fuel an explosion of protests — from the streets to the schools. Educators taught lessons throughout the week that corresponded to the thirteen principals of the Black Lives Matter Global Network organization and raised three demands: 1) End Zero Tolerance Discipline and implement Restorative Justice. This school-to-prison-pipeline begins with a curriculum that conceals the struggles and contributions of Black people and other people of color. Displacement is not just a socioeconomic process. Here the authors celebrate Blackness and all of its hues while explicating the tensions between being seen and unseen all at once. Every school in the country needs this. It is real and concrete because it happens to Black bodies. 1-800-346-1834 (Main Office) Black students’ minds and bodies are under attack. Following Kaepernick’s lead, student athletes from middle school through college took a knee against racism. Every white educator who "believes" that Black lives matter should think critically about how Black students will see themselves in curricular materials that devalue or omit the contributions of Black people, that overly emphasize the contributions of white people, and that portray the history of Black life as pitiable. “Teaching for Black Lives,” edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian and Wayne Au, is designed to show how educators “can and should make their … We also highlight the hope and beauty of student activism and collective action. When students miss school, they fall behind in their classes and are more likely not to pass. I don't think that it is. Educators taught lessons throughout the week that corresponded to the thirteen principals of the Black Lives Matter Global Network organization and raised three demands: 1) End Zero Tolerance Discipline and implement Restorative Justice. The pipeline continues with the lack of tutoring programs, counseling services, college access programs, after school programs, healthcare, proper nutrition, and other support services that would assist students who are falling behind.