By Félix Pérez Speaking on the marble steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, Karina Alvarez bore down against the on-again, off-again snow and rain on a raw November morning. It was as if the San Antonio, Texas, elementary school teacher, using a firm and measured delivery, wanted the nine justices hearing arguments inside the court … Continued
Every day, educators, administrators and students carry with them attitudes and beliefs that may affect their understanding of a situation, their interactions with others, and their decision-making. If these beliefs are colored by negative stereotypes or biases, they can lead to misunderstandings and an unhealthy school climate, if not outright hostility or conflict. Acknowledging, understanding … Continued
Reports from the FBI, school administrators and advocacy groups that track hate incidents indicate that white nationalism, hate speech and other forms of bigoted extremism are on the rise across the United States. Because schools are hubs of our communities – and often the center of interactions among students of diverse races, ethnicities and religions … Continued
By Félix Pérez In what is being described as an “overly ideological” overreach that could stifle academic freedom, the U.S. Education Department has threatened to strip the funding of the Duke-University of North Carolina Consortium for Middle Eastern Studies. Tinisha Shaw, a member of the first cohort of teachers to go through the yearlong program, says the criticism … Continued
Kevin Adams and Gerardo Muñoz, creators and hosts of the podcast “Too Dope Teachers and a Mic,” have an on-air energy and rapport that might lead you to think they have known each other since childhood. But if it were not for one student they each taught at different schools, they may have never crossed … Continued
Recent Executive Orders and ICE raids have caused fear and confusion in immigrant communities. Here’s how you can make a difference for your students.
Bayard Rustin was a gay African-American activist who worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., and a leading organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Despite Rustin’s key role in the civil rights movement, and his work as an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ rights in the 1970s and 1980s, many remain unaware … Continued
Some male elementary students in the Oakland Unified School District used to have a tradition they called “Slap Ass Fridays.” It was so pervasive, according to a 4th-grade girl at one Oakland school, that she and all her friends would stand with their backs against a wall every recess and lunch period in order to … Continued
With incidents of discrimination and harassment based upon race, religion and national origin on the rise in schools across the country, more and more educators say they consider their roles in combating hate and intolerance to be as difficult — and as important — as ever.
“We have come up in the age of the murders of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray and many other youth of color. Calls for an end to gun violence, which low income communities of color have been making for years, must include a demand for an end to police violence.”