What does it take for Black lives to matter at a historically white university? Across the history of Black campus movements – from Black Studies to Black Lives Matter – we find a litany of loved ones lost to extraordinary violence, on- and off-campus. Perhaps you remember some of their names. Their premature deaths form
“Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.” — Lucille Clifton (1993) Black intellectuals and scholars throughout history have used empirical work and personal testimony to chronicle the ways a whitestreamed higher education system, and the people committed to upholding it, have inflicted violence on Black people. From
Context: I am a Black woman co-teaching a Critical Pedagogy class to 61 current and future educators. My co-instructors are a Black man and a white woman. To varying degrees, we, three, are experienced social justice educators committed to providing equitably rigorous and engaging instruction to our culturally diverse group. About 20 of the students
During Black Lives Matter Summer, Summer 2020, the United States sat transfixed to their televisions as the country birthed thousands of protests simultaneously. There was a chorus of voices that sought to affirm that Black lives indeed do matter. These voices sought an end to the extrajudicial murders of Black people like Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud
There is an educational debt owed to Black children in our country (Ladson-Billings, 2006). The disservice to the Black community is undeniable. Our system – built on racism, White supremacy, and anti-Blackness – has consistently and predictably produced poor outcomes for Black students (Belgrave, 2009; Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Dumas, 2016; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings, 2006;
Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed countless equity performances. Organizations have called for the formation of Anti-racism committees. Educational conferences boast “Equity at the Forefront” themes. And individuals have artfully crafted #inittogether social media posts featuring Black Lives Matter protest selfies. We are not the first, nor will we be the last, to
I spent the majority of my formal education learning histories through the lens of whiteness and it greatly impacted the way I saw the world. As I interrogated my professional and epistemological values, I became drawn to social pedagogy. Social pedagogy is about learning through interactions, experiences or in community with others. Social pedagogy represented
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” -John R. Lewis, 2018
