Background
National Black Lives Matter at School is an organization struggling for liberation and racial justice in education for Black youth, educators, and all youth of color. We are a Black-led and multi-ethnoracial collective of educators, parents, organizers, youth, and community folx who are committed to creating a more just world so that all people may be able to access their full humanity. We work to address racial justice in education by promoting restorative justice, advocating for mental health support, increasing Black teaching staff, ending police presence in schools, and mandating Black history and ethnic studies.
Our collective is guided by core principles that are grounded in a Black Feminist framework. Political views that have brought us together in doing this work, deep revolutionary transformational politics, opposition to neoliberalism, corporate reforms in education, defend and transform unions, Black Queer feminist anticapitalist politics, abolitionist politics and approach to restorative and transformative justice.
Our collective is guided by core principles that are grounded in a Black Feminist framework. Political views that have brought us together in doing this work, deep revolutionary transformational politics, opposition to neoliberalism, corporate reforms in education, defend and transform unions, Black Queer feminist anticapitalist politics, abolitionist politics and approach to restorative and transformative justice.
Mission
We lead with the heart and courageously work to address racial injustice in education, embodying Black joy, confronting anti-Blackness, and building authentic partnerships with all who support creating equitable school communities across the nation.
Vision
We envision a nation in which we live in authentic and conscious relationship with ourselves, each other, and the lands we occupy with the least of harm and violence, in which we are unapologetically Black and collectively love and care for one another as extended intergenerational families. To achieve safety, equity, and liberation for all Black lives, we attend to systems and networks of care to make the domination, erasure, and dehumanization of Black life obsolete.
Established in 2016. How it all began
The Black Lives Matter at School movement first started in Seattle during the fall of 2016, when thousands of educators in Seattle came to school on October 19th wearing shirts that said, “Black Lives Matter: We Stand Together.” Hundreds of families and students did too. Many of the shirts also included the message “#SayHerName,” a campaign to raise awareness about the often unrecognized state violence and assault of women in our country.
This action attracted national news, helping it spread to Philadelphia. That city’s Caucus of Working Educators’ Racial Justice Committee expanded the action to last an entire week that year with teaching points around the principles of Black Lives Matter. Educators in Rochester, New York also held a Black Lives Matter at School day in 2017.
During the 2017-2018 school year, from February 5 to 9, thousands of educators around the U.S. wore Black Lives Matter shirts to school and taught lessons about structural racism, intersectional black identities, black history, and anti-racist movements for a nationally organized week of action: Black Lives Matter at School. Educators in over 20 cities participated in this national uprising to affirm the lives of Black students, teachers, and families including, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and beyond.
This action attracted national news, helping it spread to Philadelphia. That city’s Caucus of Working Educators’ Racial Justice Committee expanded the action to last an entire week that year with teaching points around the principles of Black Lives Matter. Educators in Rochester, New York also held a Black Lives Matter at School day in 2017.
During the 2017-2018 school year, from February 5 to 9, thousands of educators around the U.S. wore Black Lives Matter shirts to school and taught lessons about structural racism, intersectional black identities, black history, and anti-racist movements for a nationally organized week of action: Black Lives Matter at School. Educators in over 20 cities participated in this national uprising to affirm the lives of Black students, teachers, and families including, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and beyond.
Who Are We
Black Lives Matter at School is a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education. We encourage all educators, students, parents, unions, and community organizations to join our annual week of action during the first week of February each year.
This Work is Happening Year Round Across the Country
Are you doing this work in your region? Do you have a week of action? Let us know about it! Click here to let us know what's happening in your community.