Unforgetting Black Teacher Histories, Imagining Liberatory Futures: Race, Class, and Resistance in Neoliberal NYC

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Marginalized Identities and Liberatory Frameworks for Justice in Teaching, Learning, and Workforce Policies

Abstract

Black teachers have long been central to educational justice, yet remain underrepresented and increasingly pushed out—especially in gentrifying urban centers like New York City. Drawing on interviews with sixteen Black educators, this paper explores how they navigate race- and class-based marginalization under neoliberal education reform. Guided by critical race theory and Diane Coole’s (2015) framework of emancipation, the analysis highlights four themes: spatial displacement, constrained liberatory teaching, marginalization despite excellence, and future-making. While contending with systemic barriers, participants resisted through culturally rooted pedagogy, care, and visionary leadership. Their narratives challenge dominant reform logics and reimagine education as a site of healing, affirmation, and possibility. The paper argues that Black educators must be central to any emancipatory educational future.

Author

• Jasmine Hawkins-White, New York University