Jesse Hagopian
Pronouns – He/Him
Jesse Hagopian is a radical revolutionary socialist and high school history teacher. He’s been an educator for over twenty years, obtained his Master’s degree in teaching at the University of Washington, and taught for over a decade in Seattle Public Schools at Garfield High School – the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test.
Jesse’s written articles on education, the Black Lives Matter movement, Haiti, Palestine, and U.S. politics. He had a political awakening at Macalester College in Minnesota stating, “When I started taking media studies and cultural studies and critical race theory, I wanted to figure out, how can I connect what I’m learning about structural injustices to actually make change in the world?“
Social Media
- Website: https://iamaneducator.com/
- X/Twitter: @JessedHagopian
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessehagopian/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JesseHagopianForSEAPres
Investigative Journalism
- DEC 15, 2023 – [VIDEO] Woke 101: Understanding Socialist Coded Language
- SEP 8, 2023 – Fugitive Pedagogy Comes To Florida: Socialist Teachers Actively Break State Law In The Classroom
Events/Conferences Presented At or Attended
In September 2023, Jesse Hagopian was recorded when he was speaking at the Socialism 2023 Conference discussing helping teachers in Florida to smuggle fugitive pedagogy into classrooms where it’s banned. He also said that the goal of anti-racist education was to create a socialist society.
- Racial Justice Summit (May 18, 2019)
Jesse is the recipient of the 2019 “Racial Justice Teacher of the Year” from the NAACP Youth Coalition at the student-led Youth and Family Racial Justice Summit
Relevant Publishers / Books / Periodicals
PUBLISHERS
BOOKS
From Jesse’s Website: https://iamaneducator.com/books/
Co-editor
Editor
Contributing Author
- 101 Changemakers: Rebels and Radicals Who Changed US History
- Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation
- Strike for the Common Good
- Teaching When The World Is On Fire
- Why We Teach Now
Jesse’s essay on the MAP test boycott and the ensuing national uprising against high-stakes testing was published in Voices of a People’s History of the United States (10th anniversary edition) by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove
PERIODICALS AND PUBLICATIONS
Writer/Editor for these Periodicals or Publications
- Common Dreams
- Rethinking Schools
- The Nation
- The Progressive (Writer’s Profile) – In 2015, Jesse was named as an Education Fellow
- Truthout
- Word In Black
Associations to Organizing / Collective Groups
- Black Lives Matter At School – Jesse is an Organizer
- Social Equity Educators (SEE) – Jesse is a Founding Member
- SEE is a local group of union teachers
- In 2012, Jesse Hagopian attempted a citizen’s arrest at the Washington State Legislature. Members of the Social Equity Educators encouraged Washington State legislators to turn themselves in when they announced cuts of some $2 billion from health and education. Jesse was arrested, and the students at Garfield High School staged a mass walkout, showing their activism against budget cuts to education that made national headlines.
- The Tempest Collective – Jesse is a Member
Associations to Businesses / Organizations
- The Lannan Foundation – Jesse was recognized as a “Cultural Freedom Fellow” for his nationally recognized work in promoting critical thinking and opposing high-stakes testing
- The Zinn Education Project – Jesse is a lead organizer
Relationships to Colleges / Universities / K-12 Schools
SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Seattle, WA) – Educator of history at Garfield High School
- Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) – Jesse serves as the Director
- The award was created by Jesse Hagopian to honor the work of youth in Seattle Public Schools who challenge institutional racism and oppression within their school or community. Yearly awards are given using Jesse’s $100,000 settlement with the City of Seattle Police Dept. from getting pepper-sprayed in the face without provocation by an officer. Awards are $1,000 and the settlement money funds youth activists and community-based organizations. So far over 20 Seattle Public Schools students have been honored with the award.
- Garfield High School – In January 2013, Jesse helped organize the MAP test boycott that began at Garfield High School, quickly spread to several other Seattle Schools, and helped ignite a national movement against the abuses of standardized testing.
- Seattle Public School’s Department of Racial Equity (DREA) – Jesse received the “Social Justice Teacher of the Year” award
Miscellaneous Content
VARIOUS POSTS
From Periodicals or Magazines
- FEB 21, 2023 – Legalize Black History
- FEB 9, 2022 (Transcript from Tempest Magazine) – In defense of Critical Race Theory
- SPRING 2019 – Teaching in Solidarity
Other Videos with Jesse
Jesse has led campaigns and boycotts against testing in schools because “testing is individual, but learning is collaborative” (Socialists do not believe in individualism and meritocracy and seek to move everyone towards a collective)