#BlackLivesMatter, Even in Educational Research

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Recent headlines suggest a national crisis marked by police brutality against Black men and women like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, John Crawford III (and many more), rising rates of overt racism, and what many are starting to call the resurgence of racial discrimination against all those who trace their ancestral origins back to sub-Saharan Africa. Police brutality, gangs, poverty, poor achievement, and helplessness shape the outlook of far too many Black youth—one-third of whom are born into poverty. In response to these trends, a national movement has begun affirming that #BlackLivesMatter. But how might educational research, both contemporary or historical, be marshaled to demonstrate that #BlackLivesMatter (and have mattered) despite stubbornly persistent gaps, disparities, and issues of invisibility. In this session, a group of regarded scholars will share keen insights from research, including their own, about the important role that Blacks make to education and society.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education

Cosponsor

• SIG-Research Focus on Black Education

Chairs

• Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, The Ohio State University

• T. Elon Dancy, University of Oklahoma

• Royel M. Johnson, The Ohio State University - Columbus

Participants

• Tyrone C. Howard, University of California - Los Angeles

• Walter R. Allen, University of California - Los Angeles

• Marybeth Gasman, University of Pennsylvania

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College