Critical Race Theory Meets Practice: Incorporating Antiracist Education in Community Programming

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Moving Research Implications Toward Action for Liberation: How Scholars Use Research to Build Justice (Table 11)

Abstract

BLIND is a nonprofit organization that provides anti-racism training for children, families and educators. BLIND uses a three-pronged approach to dismantle systemic racism in education and beyond by offering summer camps for kids, workshops for parents & families, and professional development for educators. I am the cofounder and Lead Curator (executive director) of BLIND.
As a Black motherscholar (DePouw & Matias, 2016), it is important for me to stay connected to my community, being a bridge between academia and praxis. BLIND allows me to run an organization rooted in critical race theory (CRT) that has a direct impact on the educational system. We use three CRT tenants as a camp framework (Bell, 1991; Ladson Billings & Tate, 1995):
1) Race and racism are centralized, along with the intersections of other forms of oppression such as gender, class, and legal status.
2) Dominant perspectives are challenged through the telling of counter-narratives, voices from marginalized communities.
3) A social justice agenda must always be present.
Our vision at BLIND is to reimagine educational systems so that all children, particularly Black and Brown, can exist in spaces that affirm their identity and dignity, promote their educational advancement, and support their social and emotional well-being. One of our approaches to fulfilling the vision is through the creation of an anti-racism summer camp for children in rising first through fifth grade. The curriculum is implemented through a five-day camp. The goals of the Summer Camp are to 1.) Foster healthy racial identities in youth; 2.) Build a historical understanding of race and racism; and 3.) Equip families with tools and resources with which to extend anti-racist practices in the home and community. We use a literacy-based approach to help children learn about race, racism, skin color, and activism. Each day of camp is grounded in an age-appropriate book and activities that help students process the content of the books.
This presentation will demonstrate the possibilities and promise of academic activists using research skills to be disruptive and dismantle systemic racism in education. I will use data to describe the impact of and learnings gained through the implementation of an anti-racism summer camp, which acts as an out of school learning space.

Author

• Ronda Taylor Bullock, we are (working to extend anti-racist education, Inc)