Still Fighting the Devil 24/7: Content, Community, and Critical Race Praxis in Education

• In Event: Centering Critical Race Theory in Education: Provocations, Possibilities, and Praxis

Abstract

The presentation takes from a popular euphemism used in many African-American communities to remind people of the intensity of the day-to-day work in the fight for quality public education. Instead of accusatory language negatively identifying a particular person or group of people, “the devil” speaks to the forces at play that work to prevent historically underrepresented, under-resourced, and disinvested groups/communities from attaining education that is connected to self-determination and liberation. Using the colloquial statement of "Fighting the Devil 24/7 to provide context, I seek to revisit Eric Yamamoto’s challenge to Critical Race Theory (CRT) by way of Critical Race Praxis (CRP). As he challenges legal scholars concerned with justice for historically underserved communities to do “less abstract theorizing” and more work with communities that are experiencing injustice, I am suggesting the need to incorporate Yamamoto’s assessment in education. Where we have Freire’s notion of praxis as “action and reflection in the world in order to change it,” in education, Yamamoto’s assertion should be considered on the same continuum (Freire, 1973). Through a series of examples and considerations for CRT scholars, the aim of the presentation is to provide a working definition of what CRP can look like in education scholarship and the necessity of its implementation at the current moment. By way of merging a constellation of theoretical constructs from educational, sociological, anthropological, legal and public health scholarship, I posit a framework for Critical Race Praxis in Education. The presentation provides examples of current critical race praxis work happening in the United States ending with an example of counternarrative that engages the contradictions and tragic mistakes often made in educational justice work by those who work in the academy in solidarity with communities. By returning to Yamamoto’s tenets, I suggest a shift in the thoughts and actions of education scholars regarding our participation in educational justice work. These challenges allow us to suspend our supposed “expertise” as researchers while prioritizing the process of working in solidarity with community members (young people, family members, organizers, teachers, etc.) in the struggle to demand justice in k-12 education.

Author

• David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago