Education as a Site of Healing: A Dialogue on Abolitionist Teaching with Educators in our Community

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As we know, 2020 has brought the biggest civil rights protests in history. The revolution has been a continual movement, and now with this heightened momentum, we must commit to the maintenance and perseverance that creating a more just future requires of us. Black Lives Matter is fundamentally an abolitionist movement, as it seeks to uplift the voices of the most marginalized and deconstruct the systems of oppression that have deemed certain lives more valuable than others. As we confront the realities of anti-Blackness we must look at the institutions and systems that were founded on the continued oppression of Black people, such as the prison industrial complex. We must dig deeper at the proposed solutions of reform, and uplift the importance of abolition when the structure cannot be changed from the outside in. In this dialogue, we will turn to the role of educators in the pursuit of justice, and the vital importance of educational spaces being rooted in the liberation of those that live at the intersections of oppression. The role of educators is essentially to be unselfish by putting their students first, and centering student experiences in their learning. Through dialogue, we will imagine what it would mean for young people to learn in a space grounded in love, and free from carceral judgments.

King wanted to agitate the status quo, and this presentation will allow us to explore what possibilities exist outside the assumed norms of our educational institutions. This presentation is grounded in the work of countless BIPOC theorists and educators and since we are not experts by any means, we want to utilize the panel format to highlight work that is already being done in our communities. “Abolitionist Teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving.” -Dr. Bettina Love, What Came Before & After King: Abolitionist Teaching & Life

This discussion will be geared toward those who are curious about ways to make our education systems more just, but are beginners to the language of abolition. There will be dynamic Zoom facilitation strategies to allow those attending to participate in a variety of ways including space for questions from the audience. Our presenters will highlight pathways to embody a more just and liberatory education practices both inside and outside of the classroom. Presenters will also be providing resources to guide participants through next steps in their abolitionist education journey.

Audience: Educators