Jesse Hagopian Joins CBS News to Counter GOP Bills Outlawing The Teaching of Structural Racism: “I will not lie to kids” – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Jesse Hagopian Joins CBS News to Counter GOP Bills Outlawing The Teaching of Structural Racism: “I will not lie to kids” – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Jesse Hagopian Joins CBS News to Counter GOP Bills Outlawing The Teaching of Structural Racism: “I will not lie to kids”

Ijoined CBS News anchor Tanya Rivero on her program to discuss the request from Republican lawmakers to rescind any support of the 1619 Project and to talk about the proliferation of bills in state legislatures around the country that would ban teaching about structural racism. In the interview I called on educators to sign the new petition from the Zinn Education Project that calls on teachers to pledge that they will teach about the long legacy of structural racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression–regardless of the law.

It’s time to begin preparing for civil disobedience and for teachers to openly defy these neo-McCarthyist laws that would have educators lie to students about the fact that our country was founded on the genocide of Native Americans and African peoples and that structural racism and other forms of oppression persists in many ways today.

Visit the links to the Zinn Education Project below to sign the pledge! #TeachTheTruth

Onward,

–Jesse Hagopian

Share this: 

Jesse Hagopian Joins CBS News to Counter GOP Bills Outlawing The Teaching of Structural Racism: “I will not lie to kids” – I AM AN EDUCATOR

#COVIDTestingNotStandardizedTesting: Schools Need #VaccinationsNotExaminations – I AM AN EDUCATOR

#COVIDTestingNot StandardizedTesting: Schools Need #VaccinationsNotExaminations – I AM AN EDUCATOR

#COVIDTestingNotStandardizedTesting: Schools Need #VaccinationsNotExaminations

An earlier version of this article was published by The Progressive
by Jesse Hagopian

Last year, the United States learned a great lesson from its public schools: The onslaught of federally mandated standardized tests could be canceled, and it would not trigger the collapse of society. 

In fact, during the early months of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the absence of the spring testing season provided a welcome relief to students and families coping with extreme stress. 

But that was then. 

Now, we are gearing up for another spring testing season, and on Monday, February 22, the Biden Administration decreed that standardized tests outlined in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act shall be required. No ifs, ands, or looking at your neighbor’s answers. 

Keep in mind: Betsy DeVos, one of the worst people to serve as Secretary of Education ever, managed to cancel the punitive and educationally destructive spring testing requirements. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is marching forward with a standardized testing regime that happens to be the centerpiece of corporate education reform.

In a letter to state schools chiefs and governors, the Biden Administration did CONTINUE READING: #COVIDTestingNot StandardizedTesting: Schools Need #VaccinationsNotExaminations – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”

Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones (livestream)

Black Lives Matter at School

Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 6:00PM Pacific

$5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under

Event Description

How can educators help destroy entrenched inequalities and enact the values of Black Lives Matter in their classrooms, schools, and communities?

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones, both educators and members of the Black Lives Matter at School movement, join us via livestream to discuss this question. They believe that the United States is in the midst of an urgent moral and legal crisis over the safety, liberty, and well-being of Black young people. In an edited collection, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, they have gathered essential essays, interviews, poems, resolutions, and more from educators, students, and activists who have been building the Black Lives Matter Movement across the country. Hagopian and Jones lay bare the institutional racism inherent in our educational system, and present a critical call to radically reshape learning environments to make them safe, supportive, and transformative for all students.

Jesse Hagopian is a member of the Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. Hagopian 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. Hagopian serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award.

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. 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.

$5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Frontline Dispatches: The struggle for Racial Justice in the Schools during the time of COVID–A conversation with Gerald Lenoir and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Frontline Dispatches: The struggle for Racial Justice in the Schools during the time of COVID–A conversation with Gerald Lenoir and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Frontline Dispatches: The struggle for Racial Justice in the Schools during the time of COVID–A conversation with Gerald Lenoir and Jesse Hagopian

I am beyond excited to join my dad, Gerald Lenoir, in an online conversation about the struggle for racial justice in the schools during the COVID era on Wednesday, February 10th, at 7pm EST/4pm PST. From racial justice in schools during COVID, to the fight led by teachers’ unions to ensure safe school re-openings, and the role unions can play in broader social justice struggles, will will have a lot to talk about.

We will be joining the Frontline Dispatches program, an Organizing Upgrade show intended to amplify the voices of organizers and activists who are engaged in important, lesson filled, on-the-ground organizing, protest, or activism. Whatever the work, these talks engage with those on the frontlines of the most current and urgent work facing our movements. 

My dad is a life long organizer for racial and social justice and recently came out with fire book of protest poetry. As a young college student, Gerald was part of the student strike at University of Wisconsin–Madison that shut the campus down to demand Black Studies. I’m excited to see what questions he has in store for me about how we build the Black Lives Matter at School movement and organize for racial justice in these times.

Join us for this conversation at this link–then join the BLM at School movement!

Gerald Lenoir is the Strategy Analyst at the Othering & Belonging Institute. He works with community, advocacy, labor and faith partners to organize the research, development and promotion of a strategic narrative that fosters structural inclusion and addresses marginalization and structural racialization. Gerald was the founding Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Black Coalition on AIDS and a co-founder of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County. He serves on the board of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Priority Africa Network.

Jesse Hagopain is a high school teacher in Seattle and a co-founder of Black Lives Matter at School, a national initiative. He is the co-editor of four books: Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, Teaching for Black Lives, Teacher Unions and Social Justice: Organizing for the Schools and Communities Our Students Deserve, and More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. 

Share this: 

Frontline Dispatches: The struggle for Racial Justice in the Schools during the time of COVID–A conversation with Gerald Lenoir and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

“Young, Gifted, & Black”: #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Virtual Talent Showcase, Friday, 2/5, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST. – I AM AN EDUCATOR #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

“Young, Gifted, & Black”: #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Virtual Talent Showcase, Friday, 2/5, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST. Don’t miss this culminating event of the week of action to support our Black youth! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

“Young, Gifted, & Black”: #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Virtual Talent Showcase, Friday, 2/5, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST.

Don’t miss this culminating event of the week of action to support our Black youth!

The Seattle area NAACP Youth Council (N-YC), Puget Sound Black Lives Matter at Schools, and Social Equity Educators (SEE) are proud to co-sponsor this year’s “Young, Gifted, & Black Student Talent Showcase,” one of the keynote event of the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School week February 1-5. This event will be held on-line from 5:30pm–7:30pm Pacific. You can visit the Facebook page and find the link or click this link to view the event: Online: us02web.zoom.us

2020 Young, Gifted, and Black Showcase

Centering the creative and intellectual brilliance of African-American students throughout Seattle Public Schools and nearby districts, these youth–dancers, poets, filmmakers, singers, speakers, and more–follow in the footsteps of Nina Simone. Many considered her 1969 song “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”, dedicated to the late Lorraine Hansberry, to be an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. These students today carry on the tradition of her and other civil rights activists by making the case for how to uproot institutional racism in education!The four national demands of the Black Lives Matter at School movement are:

1.) End “zero tolerance” discipline, and implement restorative justice
2.) Hire more Black teachers
3.) Mandate Black History and Ethnic Studies in K-12 curriculum
4.) Fund counselors not cops

For more national information on the week:
https://blacklivesmatteratschool.com and also see other events around the country at: https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/blm-at-school-events.html

Check out Nina Simone’s song “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”, the inspiration for the event’s title:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hdVFiANBT

We hope to see you there!

2020 Young, Gifted, and Black Showcase

“Young, Gifted, & Black”: #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Virtual Talent Showcase, Friday, 2/5, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST. Don’t miss this culminating event of the week of action to support our Black youth! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Online Book Forum: BLM co-founder Opal Tometi will join Brian Jones, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian and Marshé Doss in conversation about making Black Lives Matter–from the streets to the classroom. – I AM AN EDUCATOR

#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Online Book Forum: BLM co-founder Opal Tometi will join Brian Jones, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian and Marshé Doss in conversation about making Black Lives Matter–from the streets to the classroom. – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Online Book Forum: BLM co-founder Opal Tometi will join Brian Jones, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian and Marshé Doss in conversation about making Black Lives Matter–from the streets to the classroom.

Register for this forum today at Register through Eventbrite 

Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi wrote the foreword for the new book, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, and she will be joining the book’s co-editors, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian, along with contributing authors, Marshé Doss and Brian Jones. Join us for this conversation about making Black lives matter in our schools and beyond as part of this year’s Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

In her foreword to Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice Opal Tometi writes: “Both within classrooms and outside the school grounds, Black lives are under threat. The events that led to the creation of Black Lives Matter—the murder in 2012 of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer—weren’t isolated events. The culture of endangering Black lives is something students know well from inside their very own classrooms. . . Young people deserve safe, affirming environments where they know without a shadow of a doubt that their lives matter. The work that supporters of Black Lives Matter at School are doing is making this happen.”

Join us for conversation about making Black lives matter in our school and beyond.

***Register through Eventbrite to receive a link to the video conference on the day of the event. This event will also be recorded and have live captioning.***

———————————————————————

Speakers:

Opal Tometi is an award-winning human rights defender and one of three women co-founders of #BlackLivesMatter. Born to Nigerian Immigrant parents in the USA, her human rights activism crosses borders and extends almost 20 years. Tometi recently graced the #TIME100 Most Influential people of the year 2020 and March 2020 cover for #TIMES100 Most Influential Women of The Last Century. She is the founder of the new media and advocacy hub, Diaspora Rising and is a trusted advisor to various transnational organizations.

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. She is the co-editor of Black Lives Matter at School.

Jesse Hagopian is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. He is the co-editor of Black Lives Matter at School, an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine and is a co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives.

Marshé Doss was born and raised in South Los Angeles.She is a recent graduate from Dorsey High School in South Los Angeles. Marshé is an organizer and leader in the student-led movement Students Deserve. She leads the Making Black Lives Matter in Schools effort in LA, which tackles the school-to-prison pipeline and over-policing of schools in Black communities. She is a nationally recognized speaker, organizer, and activist, known for direct actions and addressing crowds of over fifty thousand people. She can be reached on Instagram at @its.marshe.

Brian Jones (moderator) is the Associate Director of Education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He writes about Black education history and politics.

———————————————————————

This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books. While all of our events are freely available, we ask that those who are able make a solidarity donation in support of our important publishing and programing work.

#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Online Book Forum: BLM co-founder Opal Tometi will join Brian Jones, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian and Marshé Doss in conversation about making Black Lives Matter–from the streets to the classroom. – I AM AN EDUCATOR

A New Anthem for #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: “False Knowledge,” by the middle school duo Triple S! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

A New Anthem for #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: “False Knowledge,” by the middle school duo Triple S! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

A New Anthem for #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: “False Knowledge,” by the middle school duo Triple S!

To support the artists, Triple S, please buy the track on Bandcamp at:
https://southseattleswagger.bandcamp.com/track/false-knowledge

Black Lives Matter at School has a new anthem for the movement!

The middle school duo from Seattle, Triple S (South Seattle Swagger)–Mc’s Freeze 32 and Gucci Grape–is officially releasing their new track titled, “False Knowledge,” fuel the struggle for Ethnic Studies and Black Studies. As Triple S wrote about the song, “This track is a runaway enslaved African from the master(narrative).”

To drive this point home, Freeze 32 says in one of his lyrics:

This verse is dedicated to the black youth, ayy

Let me show you what the facts will do

Ethnic Studies now!

Give our youth the money now!

Gucci Grape celebrates learning from people’s history in the first line of the song,

Do you believe everything in your textbook?

Do you believe fake stories about Columbus, Captain Cook,

Look, don’t believe everything that you see,

False Knowledge could catch us yes, you or me

If you dig this track, please support the artists by buying the track on Bandcamp and sharing it with everyone in struggle and everyone who is still stuck in the false knowledge trap.

• 

Share this: 

A New Anthem for #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: “False Knowledge,” by the middle school duo Triple S! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Big Education Ape: Join the 2021 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action from Feb. 1-5 with these online events all week! – I AM AN EDUCATOR #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/join-2021-blacklivesmatteratschool-week.html

Put Your Community on the #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action Movement Map! – I AM AN EDUCATOR #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

Put Your Community on the #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action Movement Map! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Put Your Community on the #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action Movement Map!

Click on this link to register your community as participating in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Happy Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action!

Seattle, Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, Iowa, Baltimore, Washington, D.C.… These are just a few of the scores of cities and communities across the country where educators, students and community organizations have participated in Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action events. Throughout the week, many thousands of educators will be wearing shirts to school that say, “Black Lives Matter at School” and will teach lessons about structural racism, intersectional Black identities, and Black history in cities all across the country.

Are you teaching a lesson related to the Black Lives Matter Global Network principals? Are your students engaging in the BLM at School creative challenge? Are you organizing a rally, speak out, student talent showcase? Whatever you are doing to be part of the Week of Action, we want to know about it and we hope that you put your community on the BLM at Schools movement map! Click on the link and register your community as participating.

Thank you!

Share this: 

Put Your Community on the #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action Movement Map! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Join the 2021 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action from Feb. 1-5 with these online events all week! – I AM AN EDUCATOR #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

Join the 2021 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action from Feb. 1-5 with these online events all week! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Join the 2021 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action from Feb. 1-5 with these online events all week!

February 1st marks the beginning of the 4th annual Black Lives Matter at School national Week of Action!

There are so many events happening all around the country. Below is a calendar of online events for each day of the week to counter anti-Blackness in education. In this era of mass incarceration, there is a school-to-prison-pipeline system that is more invested in locking up youth than unlocking their minds. That system uses harsh discipline policies that push Black students out of schools at disproportionate rates; denies students the right to learn about their own cultures and whitewashes the curriculum to exclude many of the struggles and contributions of Black people and other people of color; and is pushing out Black teachers from the schools in cities around the country. That is why Black Lives Matter at School movement:

1. End zero tolerance discipline, implement restorative justice
2. Hire more Black teachers
3. Mandate Black history/Ethnic Studies, K-12
4. Fund Counselors, Not Cops

Throughout the week, many thousands of educators will be wearing shirts to school that say, “Black Lives Matter at School” and will teach lessons about structural racism, intersectional Black identities, and Black history in cities all across the country.

Join us every day of the week in the struggle for Black joy and education!

2021 BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL

EVENTS & RESOURCES: 

Monday February 1:

2021 BLM Week of Action Creative Challenge Submission Youth are encouraged to answer this prompt: What makes you feel free to dream, safe to thrive in schools and communities? 

Tuesday February 2:

Elementary Read Aloud at 11:30am-12:30pm sponsored by the Northshore School District Racial & Educational Justice team. LaTisha Joseph, librarian at Northshore’s Woodmoor Elementary, and Ebony Harvey, principal at Northshore’s Woodmoor Elementary, will facilitate a read aloud and Q&A for elementary students with the two children’s books: “I’m Every Good Thing” by Derrick Barnes and “The Undefeated” by Kwame Alexander.

Wednesday February 3:

For the Culture: An Ethnic Studies Documentary at 6-7pm. Educator and Student Activist Cece Chan presents her documentary in conversation with NAACP-Youth Council student activists. Come learn about Black Lives Matter At School’s demand for Black History and Ethnic Studies.

Thursday February 4:

Black Students United with Michael Bennett at 11-11:50am. Michael Bennett, former defensive player for the Seattle Seahawks, activist, author, and founder of the Bennett Foundation, will speak about his journey and work, what it means to build community, intersectionality, and what it means for Black lives to matter at school.

Making Black Lives Matter: From the Streets to the Classroom at 12:30-1:30pm. Join Opal Tometi, Brian Jones, Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian and Marshé Doss in conversation about Black Lives Matter and education justice.

Friday February 5:  

Young, Gifted, & Black Student Talent Showcase Friday February 5 at 5:30-7:30pm pacific. Youth Sign-Up form for any youth interested in participating. Keynote event of the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. 

Additional Resources & Links:   

• Black Lives Matter at School national website. Facebook page. Twitter. Instagram. 
• Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice book, edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian.
• Watch the Black Lives Matter at School Transgender & Queer Affirming Town Hall on January 29 sponsored by National Educators United and Black Lives Matter at School.
• Donate here to raise funds for this year’s events. 
• NEA Ed Justice has created a map for people to show that their community has joined the BLM at School Week of Action. Please register your district as having teachers that have joined the movement!

Join the 2021 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action from Feb. 1-5 with these online events all week! – I AM AN EDUCATOR