Black Lives Matter at School

Denisha Jones is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and Director of the Art of Teaching, graduate teacher education program, at Sarah Lawrence College. After earning her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of the District of Columbia, Denisha worked as a kindergarten and preschool teacher, and a preschool director. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University in 2013. In 2018, she earned her Juris Doctor from the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. Denisha is an education justice advocate and activist. She serves as Co-Director for Defending the Early Years, Inc, and is the Assistant Executive Director for the Badass Teachers Association. Currently, her research focuses on utilizing the BLM at School curriculum as cultural citizenship and documenting the value of play as a tool for liberation with an emphasis on global approaches to play. Jesse Hagopian is a member of the Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle's Garfield High School. Jesse is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, the co-editor of the book, Teaching for Black Lives, and the editor of the book More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. Jesse is a recipient of the 2013 Secondary School Teacher of the Year award and the Special Achievement Courageous Leadership award from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. In 2015, Jesse received the Seattle/King County NAACP Service Award. Jesse serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award.

"The educators, students, and community activists whose stories are documented here are fighting for a transformative vision of what public schools can be, and the grassroots efforts we will need to get there. Black Lives Matter at Schoolis an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system."—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author "Black Lives Matter at School is a remarkable contribution to understanding that education can be a powerful pathway to justice and liberation. Here is inspiration for anyone who cherishes young people both inside and outside of schools."—Barbara Smith, Cofounder the Combahee River Collective"We need this book right now. The shadow-loving fungus of white supremacy won’t continue to send its spores to infect our children if we act now to bring the curative light of anti-racist knowledge, compassion, and justice into their lives. Built upon the Black Lives Matter at School organization’s Week of Action, this volume provides the adults in our educational institutions with inspiration, organizing principles, strategies, and examples to take 'bold action against anti-Blackness.' The authors – visionary educations of what is possible – call on all of us to radically reshape learning environments to make them safe, supportive, and transformative for all students (and teachers). Please read ASAP!" — Lisa Delpit, Executive Director of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University"There is no easy way to talk about the complexities of race facing our school system in America—but we have to talk about it if we are ever going to achieve the schools our children deserve. The Black Lives Matter at School movement has been disrupting the complacency of those who, for too long, have been comfortable not having these conversations about the impact of racism in the schools. Black Lives Matter at School is a playbook for undoing institutional racism in the education system. — Michael Bennett, NFL defensive lineman, Superbowl champion, and author, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable"This book asserts that we are at a critical moment in time, where the racial uprisings underpin the absolute need to transform education and it’s foundational practices. Black Lives Matter is a movement sweeping the globe and affirms that our babies lives matter. It’s time for educators to be bold, standing up for our students and communities. Our students are looking to us to lead the fight against injustice and dismantle systemic racism as we aspire to realize the schools our students deserve.” — Cecily Myart-Cruz, UTLA President, NEA Black Caucus Chair"This book makes the strong case for why we need to elevate Black lives and people in our curriculum and pedagogy year-round. This book serves as a blueprint to achieve this honorable goal." — José Luis Vilson, author, This Is Not A Test, A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education"Black Lives Matter at School centers the humanity of our children. It is a sharp rebuke of white supremacy—the very thing that interrupts the healthy development of Black youth. School communities must affirm Black lives. Educators have to dismantle systems of oppression—systems that we influence daily. We have to be radically different from the missionary educator depicted in popular culture. BLM at School is essential. Period."— Stacy Davis Gates, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union"Toni Morrison reminds us: 'If you can’t imagine it, you can’t have it.' This book helps us to imagine Black Lives Mattering in schools. With accounts from teachers across the country doing the work, along with student interviews, poems, posters, and historical background, this is a primer for anti-racist educators to see the way forward in terms of reshaping school curriculum, diversifying teacher hiring, and transforming school discipline." — Jeanne Theoharis, author, A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History“The new book, is part documentary, part guide to this movement for racial & educational justice on school campuses” — Seattle Times“Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice... springs from a movement that started several years ago to resist racism and imbue anti-racism in school curriculums as well as educational practices and policies.” — Washington Post