Grassroots Organizing to Save Ethnic Studies: A Community-Engaged Ethnography

• In Event: The Role of Movement-Building and Cross-Sector Partnerships in Organizing for Educational and Racial Justice

Abstract

Ethnic studies (ES), an interdisciplinary field that centers the experiences and histories of People of Color, emerged from 1960s-era protests by Students of Color fighting to make education more humanizing, affirming, and liberating and to end systemic racism. In recent years, a reinvigorated movement has advocated for ES in public schools, and many school districts have enacted ES mandates. Building from a long-term reciprocal partnership with a public-school ES program, this paper presents a contextualized and fine-grained ethnographic account of a grassroots organizing effort to protect the program in the face of administrative threats. Our findings will guide educators and activists organizing for justice-oriented educational change, and contribute to theories of grassroots youth and community organizing in education.

Authors

• Kysa Nygreen, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Joel A. Arce, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Keisha L. Green, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Laura A. Valdiviezo, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Dana Altshuler, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  Presenting Author