While schools often are framed as places of neutrality and fairness, many American schools have harmed Black children or been silent in the face of their struggles, under-education, and mistreatment. While there are undoubtedly adults in these spaces who support Black children, many others ignore Black families, minimize students' concerns, and…

Two movies about events in 1963 and 1972 are discussed. They are Rustin and Shirley. The movies concern the actions of Bayard Rustin in organizing the March on Washington for Peace and Jobs and the actions of Shirley Chisholm in organizing her campaign for the Presidency of the United States. The events took place more than half a century ago.…

Undergraduate research papers offer a difficult challenge for students to demonstrate primary and secondary research skills, knowledge of dance practices and their histories, and clarity of written communication. This article demystifies the research process specifically for use in dance studies and dance history classrooms by demonstrating common…

In this paper, educational pathways emerge from the nexus of ancient narratives and future possibilities. Such imaginings are as much attributed to the African American intellectual tradition as to contemporary Afrofuturisms, including those born in histories of Blackness. The overlay of what was and what is not yet is significant because it…

This paper uses a Critical Race Theory perspective to explain the everyday racisms -- racial microaggressions -- directed towards students of African and Caribbean descent during a non-statutory Black History unit, at an English secondary school. Applying a racial microaggressions framework to ethnographic data, this paper finds that experiences…

A version of this article, "Blacks in Research? How Shall We Be Portrayed?", was delivered by the author as the 2013 W. E. B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture to the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Blacks in Education Special Interest Group (Black SIG). This article examines the portrayal of Blacks…

In the wake of racial violence, teacher educators, literacy scholars, and classroom teachers are looking for ways to teach about in/equities and in/justice. In this article, I position #SayHerName as an entry point for educators and scholars to think about how English education and English language arts classrooms can become spaces to address…

Sub-cultural groups that depend on a historical account to validate their thoughts and practices may need to revise and repair those accounts as changing circumstances present new issues affecting them. The year 2013 gave us three movies that dealt with racism, mobility, and political action: Lee Daniels' "The Butler," "12…

This article discusses how deficit thinking is manifested through a presumption of incompetence for people of color from preschool to university levels. Examples are presented as a way to demonstrate that leadership programs can support future leaders in curtailing deficit thinking in our schools and communities.

This report examines how the nearly 1 million Black youth in California are faring from preschool through college and reveals the distressing disparities that newly released state and national data show persist at all levels of their educational journey. The report also highlights the groundbreaking efforts underway to reverse these trends in…

The author argues that the documentary, "Waiting for Superman," effectively employs bodies and texts in ways that reproduce hegemonic constructions of race, and more specifically, offers an image and imagination of black engagement in education that reinforces neoliberal-multicultural narratives about black disinterest in, and…

The possibility is examined that school choice programs could be a means to reducing the achievement gap. Data based on meta-analytic research and the examination of nationwide data sets suggest that school choice programs that include private schools could reduce the achievement gap by 25%. The propounding of this possibility is based on research…

In this article, Django Paris and H. Samy Alim use the emergence of Paris's concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) as the foundation for a respectful and productive critique of previous formulations of asset pedagogies. Paying particular attention to asset pedagogy's failures to remain dynamic and critical in a constantly evolving global…

In 1996, Cardinal John J. O'Connor, archbishop of New York, proposed to Rudy Crew, chancellor of the New York City public school system, that the city's most troubled public-school students be sent to Catholic schools, where he would see that they were given an education. New York City's mayor at that time, Rudolph Giuliani, a voucher supporter,…

The current state of low academic achievement among a large majority of African American students is complex. While the U.S. has long professed that a world-class education is the right of every child, there are still major inequities in the education system that leave African American children with fewer opportunities to receive a quality…