Black Lives Matter (BLM) at School

Black Lives Matter at School leads with the heart and courageously works to address racial injustice in education, embodying Black joy, confronting anti-Blackness, and building authentic partnerships with all who support creating equitable school communities across the nation.

The BLM at School Collective is guided by core principles shared by the Combahee River Collective – a Black Feminist framework. Here are some of the political views that have brought them together in doing this work: deep revolutionary transformational politics, opposition to neoliberalism, corporate reforms in education, defending and transforming unions, Black queer feminist ANTI-CAPITALIST politics, abolitionist politics and an approach to restorative and transformative justice. The Black Lives Matter at School movement can be followed on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool

CURRICULUM – BLM at School uses key strategies by which past, present, and future generations can advance the struggle of Black liberation. Follow this link to find their renewed curriculum for community-building.

• 2024 – also, take a look at the current update to the Starter Kit guide for school educators to use when preparing for the Week of Action: What We Do & How We Done It: A Guide for Black Lives Matter at School 2024

YEAR OF PURPOSE – Throughout the year, BLM at School expanded its proposed activities to a “Year of Purpose.” School educators across the country are asked to participate in intentional days of action throughout the school year, uplifting different intersectional themes vital to making Black lives matter in schools, communities, and beyond. Examples of themes include: Restorative Justice, Collective Value, Queer Affirming, and Disability Justice.

Online Posts

• SEP 6, 2020 – Black Lives Matter at School Steering Committee Statement on Attacks Against CRT, BLM @ School, and the 1619 Project (Blog written by Christopher R Rogers)
• JUNE 10, 2020 (NEA) – Making Black Lives Matter at School

From Periodicals or Magazines

• SPRING 2022 (Learning for Justice) – Going Beyond the Textbook
• SPRING 2019 (Learning for Justice) – Teaching in Solidarity

Socialists / Noteworthy Individuals Involved

NATIONAL BLM AT SCHOOL STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

• Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price (Co-Organizer – Newark, NJ)
• Cristina Duncan Evans (Baltimore, MD Public Schools)
• Dr. Christopher R Rogers, PhD (Co-Chair, on Curriculum Team – Philadelphia, PA)
• Dr. Cierra Kaler-Jones, PhD (Washington, D.C.)
• Dr. Denisha Jones, PhD (NY)
• Dr. Lisa Covington, PhD (Cedar Rapids, IA)
• Ismael Jimenez (Philadelphia, PA)
• Jesse Hagopian (Organizer – Seattle, WA)
• Matthew Vaughn-Smith (Columbia, MD)
• N’Kengé Robertson (Co-Chair, on Curriculum Team – Detriot, MI)
• Sam Carwyn (Organizer – Denver, CO)
• Tamara Anderson (Philadelphia, PA)
• …among others

Involvement at Events / Conferences

• BLM AT SCHOOL’S WEEK OF ACTION (ANNUAL EVENT – FEBRUARY)

The BLM at School Week of Action is a movement sweeping across some of the country’s largest school districts and takes place in early February. Started in 2017, it was initially inspired by Philadelphia teachers after witnessing Seattle Public Schools host the first “Black Lives Matter at School Day,” on October 19, 2016, in which thousands of teachers wore Black Lives Matter shirts to school. Instead of one day, they organized a Week of Action in 2017. The idea continued to grow in places like Montpelier, VT, and Rochester, NY, before spreading to classrooms in more than 20 cities during the 2017–18 school year. This week long event is a time set aside to affirm all Black identities by centering Black voices, empowering students and teaching about black experiences. The lessons emphasize social justice and ethnic studies.

The Week of Action is a good time to reflect on how white teachers can teach about Black lives more accurately and more empathetically. Wayne Au says, “they must go on their own journey to learn about the politics of whiteness and white supremacy.” And Jesse Hagopian points out that thousands of educators around the country have their backs.

• BLM AT SCHOOL’S SUMMER FREEDOM SCHOOL

Summer Freedom School was created by BLM at School for learning that takes place each summer. In 2023, it spanned from July 11 – August 14 with 60-90 minute classes covering 5 topics (one for each week). The event is the response to the banning of the AP African American studies course in Florida and the overall perpetuity of anti-Blackness, and is an alternative fugitive space for learning. It is a space where high school students can “unlearn” the lies and re-learn the truths of Black history. On the website it asks, “Do you want to learn illegal history?” This is another opportunity taking place during the summer months that relates to the “Fugitive Pedagogy” or “Smuggler Pedagogy” that Jesse Hagopian was passionate about implementing at the Socialism 2023 Conference, with educators using Zoom to enter classrooms in other states to teach concepts against state law. Fugitive Pedagogy was derived from a book by Jarvis R. Givens, who is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

CONFRENCES

• September 17-18, 2021 – 11th International Conference on Education and Justice – Black Lives Matter at School: Strategies for Insurgent Educators

Connections to Publishers / Books / Periodicals

PUBLISHERS

• Haymarket Books
• Rethinking Schools
• Teachers College Press at Columbia University

BOOKS

• Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice
• Child Care Justice – Transforming the System of Care for Young Children
• Critical Race Theory and Social Studies Futures – From the Nightmare of Racial Realism to Dreaming Out Loud
• How We Stay Free: Notes on a Black Uprising
• Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers
• Teaching for Black Lives
• World Yearbook of Education 2023 Racialization and Educational Inequality in Global Perspective
  • Specifically Chapter 15: The Black Lives Matter at School Movement Demanding Educational and Racial Justice

PERIODICALS

For the complete list of all publications over the years: https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/publications.html

• Common Notions
• Learning for Justice (aka Teaching Tolerance)