Black Women Educators: A Liberatory Framework

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Abstract

This paper explores the overlooked and understudied role of Black women in the fight for racial justice within schools of education. Focusing on the African Free School, the nation's first school for enslaved people, and Sarah J. Smith Tompkins Garnet, New York City's first Black woman school leader, the paper delves into Black America's struggle for self-determination and racially just schooling. It particularly examines "fugitivity" in Black women educators, like Sarah J. Smith Tompkins Garnet, who played a vital role in shaping thought leaders, abolitionists, and free-thinkers during a crucial period in history. The research unveils a liberatory framework to guide present-day educators and school leaders, highlighting the transformative power of Black women educators' pedagogical and leadership practices.

Authors

• Honey Walrond, University of California - Berkeley

• Terri N. Watson, City College of New York - CUNY