Antiracist Activism in Education: Activists Coalitions and Research-Practice Partnerships for Racial Justice

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

San Francisco and the Bay Area have been at the center of social movements for nearly six decades. Recent activism has focused on race and policing, taking to the streets to protest the shooting of Oscar Grant, as well as income inequality with the Occupy Wall Street protests (St. John, 2017). Yet, despite its progressive activism, income inequality in the area is at astronomical levels, the housing crisis is growing, and its school system is resegregating, and so the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting in San Francisco is an opportunity to learn how education activists are responding to this local context. Hence, the symposium will feature the work of local anti-racist activists in education, the strategies they employ to affect change, and what research-practice partnerships could emerge from these activists’ coalitions. This session aligns with the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting theme as it seeks to create a bridge between organizational leaders, who are in this case anti-racist activists in education, and educational researchers.

Sub Unit

• Social Justice Action Committee

Participants

• Anjale DeVawn Welton, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Sarah Diem, University of Missouri

• Jeffrey S. Brooks, Curtin University