Black Women Lead: Lessons From Black Women Leadership of Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School

• In Event: Black Power, Black Freedom Dreams, and Black Joy in Community Schools

Abstract

Community schooling is increasingly leveraged as a philosophy by education leaders as one way to serve and affirm minoritized youth and families while simultaneously combating oppressive structures and practices. Yet, nascent research has explored how contemporary community schools can and have addressed the unique needs of black youth, families and community members (Mickenney de Royston & Madkins, 2020; Sanders, 2021) - despite Black communities facing some of the most substantial and dehumanizing educational, social, political and economic conditions in the nation. Further, few studies acknowledge and unpacks the pivotal role educational leaders in Black communities have historically played in creating community schools or educational sites parallel to the ideals and practices of community schooling (Huggins, & LeBlanc-Ernest, 2009; Robinson, 2020; Watson & Baxley, 2021). This paper will bridge this gap in the literature by examining how Black women leaders of one major historic community school centered the well-being and liberation of Black youth, families and community members through their values and practices: The Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School (OCS). I address the following questions:
1. What were the values and practices of Black women leaders from the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School?
2. What can we learn from their values and practices about leading community schools contemporarily?

Author

• Gwendolyn Baxley, University at Buffalo - SUNY