Black to the Future: Fugitive Educational Possibilities in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: #BlackExcellence&Resistance: Kick, Push, and Thrive (Table 40)

Abstract

This research highlights the narratives of Black educators, students, and community members in the city of Chicago, IL, who engaged in Black fugitive educational practices while enduring anti-Black racism and the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated both historical and existing systemic inequities in the schooling and educational experiences of Black children across the United States. Additionally, during the summer of 2020, the death of George Floyd, Jr. sparked international racial uprisings. Consequently, Black educators, families, and communities had to navigate the dual pandemics––COVID-19 and institutional racism.
Through the use of portraiture methodology, this study captures the stories, subjectivities, perspectives, and memories of Black families, community members, and educators in Chicago from the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic to present-day.

Authors

• Rachel McMillian, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Asif Wilson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Nathaniel Bryan, University of Texas at Austin