 Keenan Anderson's life was taken by the LAPD. We, along with his family, community, and students, are heartbroken.
At BLM@School, our dedication to Black teachers is both in and outside of the classroom. We have consistently upheld that all students deserve Black teachers. Further, we know intimately that Black men, women, and nonbinary folks have gifts, skills, and experiences that seed flowers into the creation of a more just world. Amongst our community, we recognize the intention to take time to feel, mourn, sit in solitude, and honor what needs to be done is different for each of us. We demand that school-based practices and overarching labor policy must respect the grieving space for Black students and educators at this time, integrated within a much more expansive call for community-wide traditions that make available a healing-centered education to everyone. We remain committed to working for racial justice in education as a critical step in achieving our full liberation, and explicitly restate our solidarity with youth organizers nationwide that champion the urgent call for #PoliceFreeSchools. We long for liberation in our lifetime, where our Blackness is respected by all institutions that mediate our precious lives. We’ll continue to uplift Keenan Anderson, echo the 5 demands led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, and inspire ALL educators nationwide to recognize they have a duty to join in the struggle. 2023 Week of Action is upcoming February 6-10. We expect to embrace you within the worthy work. What we want is not progress, we want complete freedom. -Kelly Miller Smith Link to BLM Los Angeles Instagram Link to BLM Grassroots Instagram Link to Petition With BLM Los Angeles and Color of Change.
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 Image Description: 2023 Week of Action events during February 6-10. 2023 Week of Action, February 6 - 10MONDAY, 2/6
Click HERE for more information including event descriptions and registration links. 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. We are here to encourage individuals if they choose to operate within the school systems and those who have chosen to educate elsewhere. We have been dedicated to collective impact working beside national organizations who demand more from our education systems.  Image Description: Partner logos. We’ve been an all-volunteer group for nearly five years, spanning eight regions and ten states. Last year our steering committee members took part in almost a hundred actions to advance Black lives at schools. This included writing book chapters, speaking out in articles, calling people in on panels, and so much more. Late this year, thanks to a generous grant, we hired two staff. An additional grant, honorariums, and our members supported our work. In 2022, over ninety people helped fund the National work. We can get to 100 supporters by the end of the year with one-time and monthly donations. We continue our focus on youth, collaboration, and building a National network which is evident in where our money goes.  Image Description: 2022 Contributors and Spending of Black Lives Matter at School. We stay dedicated to a Week of Action, our Year of Purpose, and acknowledging a lifetime of practice. In the first week of February each year, educators, organizers, and activists raise awareness of the national demands and thirteen principles. To keep the local work grounded and strong, we promote resource sharing while showcasing the overlap of the work as it supports one purpose. We are here to share ideas and best practices while building connections across the country. You have utilized lessons, planned events, and continued the movement. To kick off the Year of Purpose, we held our first ticketed event Renewing the Radical Project of Black Education. Let us continue to grow and build personal practices inside and outside classrooms. We will be mapping our network to better support local activists. Tell us more about you, the local priorities, and what you need.  Image Description: Table of nine organizing regions in the BLM at School network. Planning for our week of action in 2023 has already begun. We have an event each day connected to our principles, Black joy, and building community. On January 16th, MLK Day, our 2023 T-Shirt design and new curriculum resource guide will go live. We are using a new platform, Are.na, which allows us to work collaboratively and is more secure. We no longer have what we curated over the last four years. If you previously downloaded some of our materials or came across a great resource related to one of the thirteen principles, please share it on our open Are.na page.  Image Description: 2023 Week of Action events during February 6-10. Visit bit.ly/blmas_events for future details. People support the work by giving their time, talents, and resources. We have established five committees that will allow us to more effectively build Black-centered, decolonial, and liberatory curricula resources that span K-12th grade and include multiple subject areas, disseminate tools for policy changes that lift up our four demands, offer practical support for personal development, and educate the broader community. We plan to compensate our co-leads, honoring our belief in ongoing accessibility and paying people for their time and labor. If you want to get more involved as an ambassador, you can join a committee. Thank you for being bold advocates! We look forward to expanding our impact, bringing new folks in, and forming new coalitions. We appreciate opportunities to collaborate nationally, participate in regional events, and work locally to ensure Black lives matter at school. 
Prepare for the 2023 Week of Action! Attend the 2023 Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair.12/19/2022  Image Description: Flyer with information about the 2023 BLM at School Curriculum Fair. Includes books for young people about racial and social and justice and a portrait of Nina Simone. Saturday, January 21
11:30am - 2:30pm ET 8:30am - 11:30am PT Annual fair designed to uplift the 13 Guiding Principles and national demands of Black Lives Matter at School. Online. Hosted By - D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice Register - Mobile eTicket About Register today for the annual D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair, hosted by Teaching for Change's D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ). This online event is open to all educators, not just those in the D.C. area, with the purpose to prepare educators for the National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and Year of Purpose. Learn from and collaborate with educators in workshops designed to uplift the 13 Guiding Principles and national demands of Black Lives Matter at School. Additional information to be announced. Read about the 2022 fair here! Curriculum Workshop Proposals DCAESJ is seeking workshop proposals for the curriculum fair that speak to the National Black Lives Matter at School Year of Purpose, centering the 13 Guiding Principles and national demands in the classroom. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until Tuesday, January 3. More Info SUBMIT YOUR WORKSHOP PROPOSAL  Image Description: Ten principles of disability justice word cloud. Credit - Sins Invalid To fight against societal ableism, we must celebrate our differences and understand how the lessons from Black disabled organizers teach us how to build inclusive, accessible movements. Uplift the principles of globalism and collective value by incorporating the following resources into education spaces and personal practices.  Art by cozcon | Instagram @cozcon @fwdtogether "With this Trans Day of Resilience artwork, I want all trans youth to know: you're the answer." - Artist cozconMembers of the National Black Lives Matter at School steering committee remind educators and those fighting for education justice to uplift the principle of Transgender Affirming to recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance. From its inception, BLM and BLM at School have been committed to centering Black Trans folx in our quest for liberation in society and schools across the globe. On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor the memories of our Black trans family who have lost their lives for daring to exist in this world. Today and every day, we thank them for their ever expansive existence that has gifted us priceless truths and healing abundance. This year in 2022, over 140 anti-trans bills have been introduced directly attacking children and educators in schools, and simultaneously, the introduction of over 190 anti-CRT bills since 2021. This is the direct result of our collective resistance. The reaction of youth-led protest, of teaching the truth, and of educators demanding their autonomy. We recognize the on-going and growing need for more affirming curriculum and more queer and trans educators. So let us continue to struggle alongside each other and on this Day of Resilience, transmute the energy of those we have lost. Let us grieve and honor their lives so that we can transform our anger and rage into clarity and action, so that all Black lives know they matter in schools and beyond. As we continue to work for a world where all Black lives are shown they matter in schools is the norm, we remain dedicated to the principle Collective Value. We envision a future where trans people thrive as their full selves, lead their communities, and are free to love themselves and be loved. We are committed to helping build a world in which we live in authentic and conscious relationship with ourselves, each other, and the lands we occupy with the least amount of harm and violence. We lead with the heart in creating systems and networks of care to make the domination, erasure, and dehumanization of any being impossible. -National Black Lives Matter At School Steering Committee Resources
All artwork from cozcon and Forward Together - Download here.
 Image Description: The back and front of a light gray T-shirt. Back of T-shirt has text of BLMAS four demands. Front has text and 2022 BLMAS logo. Below, a laptop with the same logo on its screen. In the upper right corner, white text on black background that announces design contest. Below, a white box with black text about contest details. Call for logo designs! National Black Lives Matter at School is seeking youth-led logo designs for the 2023 year. The logo will be used around the country to support national organizing around our four core demands. Submit your design by Sunday, December 4.
During the school year, BLM at School has an annual Week of Action in different cities. Thousands of educators around the country wear their Black Lives Matter shirts to school and teach lessons on the guiding principles, structural racism, intersectionality, Black history, and anti-racist movements. The National Black Lives Matter at School Steering Committee will select three designs to go up for public vote in December. The winner will be announced in mid December when we launch a sale of T-shirts with the logo for our 2023 February Week of Action. Includes Cash Prize. Continue with this form to submit your design - bit.ly/2023BLMASdesigncontest Thursday, October 27, 2022 // FOR PUBLIC RELEASE These funds will be dedicated to upgrading our national-level coordination and outreach across our coalition, while we invite continued grassroots support to strengthen local BLM@School organizing nationwide! Help us meet our goal of $25,000 for the 2023 BLM@School Activity Support Fund to grow joyful, radical Black education organizing! Read full Press Release here.   Mark these dates in your calendar as we prepare for the our annual Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
At the November meeting, we will be discussing how to plan a curriculum party, fair, or gathering. We also want to hear from you all about the plans and ideas you have in mind for your local Week of Actions. The December meeting topics will be determined from the needs of folks at our Nov. meeting. Please Note: There are two different registration links for the November and December meetings. Looking forward to getting together!! Please get in touch with us if you want to connect: info@blacklivesmatteratschool.com  Join this fall for the second virtual public training series for students, educators, and parents who want strong, equitable public schools. Series sessions will be led by H.E.A.L. Together team members, their partners, and subject matter experts.
Upcoming Training Dates 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT
REGISTER & LEARN MORE HERE: healtogether.org/training |
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