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Written by: Christopher Rodgers

“I only debate my equals, all others I teach.” — John Henrik Clarke. Offered on behalf of the National Steering Committee for Black Lives Matter At School.

As PK-12 schools and universities across the nation are entering the school year, Black Lives Matter at School has taken the origins of our movement from a Day of Action, to a Week of Action, to a Year of Purpose — this, all behind the backdrop of youth-led global uprisings in the name of the Movement for Black Lives. We stand in our purpose. We believe wholeheartedly in our mission. As Assata Shakur teaches us, we know we have nothing to lose but our chains.

We are witnessing language, organizing practices, and organizational principles that abolitionists and anti-racist organizers have relied upon for several decades entering the mainstream discourse for today’s movements, catalyzing a bold new generation of activism. This heightened awareness of the work has attracted the likes of the President and other white-supremacist mouthpieces to rehash strategies that criminalize the teaching of histories and perspectives that enliven the struggle for a beloved community and a just world order. This is not simply a matter of public school curriculum policy, but rather widely emblematic of how movements against free speech have their origins in stabilizing white violence in the public sphere. We know these recent pronouncements are not without precedent (Thank you as always, Zinn Education Project!) and it has drawn us to deeply reflect on a long history of state-sanctioned repression of freedom movements, both domestic and foreign, that the United States has used to maintain what bell hooks terms as imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Conceptual frameworks like critical race theory (CRT), curated syllabi/resource guides like the BLM@School Curriculum Resource Guide, and critical historical analysis like the 1619 Project are indispensable to providing foundations for principled struggle, abolitionist visions, and radical imagination.

We are watching right before our very eyes the ways in which white supremacy is gasping for its very life, exposing what many have always known as its hydra-like tentacles constraining life across education, healthcare, economic policy and the environment. The rising tide of fascism is striving to reinforce the death-dealing practices that generations of activists have persistently resisted. It’s critical we recognize the radical possibility emerging from Black-led grassroots struggle that, and this must be understood, both of our national-level political parties are attempting to foreclose. We hold on to the power of the vote to challenge fascist consolidation, while also recognizing that our toolbox for liberation requires we must reach beyond electoral politics toward a much more expansive horizon of struggle. As Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price has named for us, we must move through this year of purpose into a lifetime of practice. We challenge you all to articulate what means for your professional and, more importantly, personal transformation. This is what the YEAR OF PURPOSE is here to provide support for you and your communities to do.

To close this letter on recommitting to our mission and in the spirit of providing a platform for teaching, we turn to our ancestor Toni Morrison to support our analysis. We are excited about February where after the Week of Action (Feb 1–5), we shall celebrate the first annual Morrison/Lorde Day (February 18th) in our communities. We encourage educators and all those who work for a world where Black Lives Matter to share this with youth and families as well. It is concise, yet teeming with clarity; undeniably a lesson worth teaching for our times.


​WATCH:
User Clip: Toni Morrison - Racism and Fascism
​Clip Of Howard University 128th Anniversary This clip, title, and description were not created by C-SPAN. User-Created…
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Here’s the link to the excerpted speech in the Journal of Negro Education.

​Morrison, T. (1995). Racism and fascism. Journal of Negro Education, 64(3).
Morrison, T. (1995). Racism and fascism. Journal of Negro Education, 64(3).

YEAR OF PURPOSE INTRODUCTION
In addition to the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (that is organized during the first week of February every year), educators, students, parents, and antiracist organizers, and education advocates, are encouraged to participate in the newly launched "Year of Purpose": Ongoing activations and reflection throughout the school year to uplift Black students and undo institutional racism (see the list of days of action and reflection questions below).


We are calling on all educators, students, parents, antiracist organizers, and education advocates to participate in the Black Lives Matter at School "Year of Purpose," sign this petition, and fill out this form to let us know about your commitment.  


THE COMMITMENT 
In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and others named and unnamed, a great Uprising for Black Lives has swept the nation and the world, inciting new urgency and radical possibilities for advancing abolitionist practice and uprooting institutional racism--in our schools and in our boarder society.

The uprising has helped create a national discussion about what public safety could be. For too long public safety has been defined as spending more money on the legal punishment system and funding for more police in schools and communities.

We believe it is vital to redefine public safety in terms of the holistic social and emotional wellbeing of students and educators. During this time of the coronavirus pandemic, public safety has to also mean not opening schools until the science supports it can be done safely, COVID-19 testing at schools and in communities is widely available, personal protective equipment is funded and supplied for educators and students, schools are provided functioning ventilation systems, and so much more. 

The Uprising for Black lives has prompted the Black Lives Matter at School movement to expand its proposed activities to a “Year of Purpose,” in addition to the annual Week of Action held during the first week of February. The centerpiece of the Year of Purpose is asking educators to reflect on their own work in relationship to antiracist pedagogy and abolitionist practice, persistently challenging themselves to center Black lives in their classrooms. In addition, educators will be asked to participate in intentional days of action throughout the school year uplifting different intersectional themes vital to making Black lives matter in schools, communities, and beyond (see the days of action below).

The learning environments we aspire to create reflect a deep understanding of the experiences of Black children, families, and communities, as well as our own ongoing work of critical self-reflection and personal transformation. Are we creating humanizing communities that respond to the concerns of our students? Are we committed to leveling up our expectations for Black students? As educators, we turn inward in order to reach outward, linking our efforts to broad, integrated movements for social justice. As our ancestor, the Black lesbian warrior poet Audre Lorde, stated, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.” This means we must commit to living our principles everyday, in and out of our classrooms, within our homes, and with our communities. It is a commitment to the village.

​The excerpted questions we choose to focus upon are meant to support educators--and parents who are educating their kids at home during the pandemic--throughout the year. These questions, as well as pieces from our paragraphs above, first appeared in the book Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers (2019–2020). We invite educators and educators-in-training to meditate on the questions that follow, and—given that no such list can be comprehensive—to pose questions of their own. Only through deliberate reflection can we realign our teaching practices to meet our current challenges and invent new practices where there are none. Additional information about the Year of Purpose and opportunities to participate are available at BlackLivesMatterAtSchool.com. 

SELF REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What is our school’s relationship to Black community organizing? Do we have relationships with local movement organizers? Do they see our school as a place that believes in their mission? Do they see our school as a place to connect with local families?
2. How are school-wide policies and practices – especially disciplinary practices – applied across categories of race? Do problematic patterns emerge when we look at how policies are applied to Black students and when we also consider the intersections of gender, sexual orientation, and (dis)ability with Blackness?
3. How are the voices, accomplishments, and successes of Black folx uplifted in my lessons, units, and curriculum? Rather than focus on singular events or individuals, does my approach highlight the everyday actions and community organizing that will lead to change?
4. In what ways do our practices erase the histories of our students and prevent them from bringing their whole selves into the learning environment?
5. How do I understand the role that local/state laws and policies have on the educational experiences of my students? What is my role in working to change policies, regulations, and practices that harm Black students and families?

​ACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
 
In addition to the self-reflection, we encourage educators to participate in the following days of action throughout the year. Each action is grounded in the Movement for Black Lives Principles that we adopted as well:

1) FIRST DAY: Black to School (Whatever date that is for you)
-Wear the shirt
-Review the BLM at School reflection questions and write up your anti-racist action plan for the year
-Graffiti wall: "What are we going to do differently this year to further the movement for Black lives in our school."
-Post a video to social media
-Join Twitter chat

2) October 14th: Justice for George Day
Principle: Restorative Justice
October 14th is George Floyd’s Birthday.  Justice for George is a day to remember him and call for the defunding of the police and the redirecting of those funds towards social programs and education.

3) November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance

Principle: Trans Affirming  
Friday, November 20, 
Transgender Day of Remembrance 2020  William Dorsey Swann.

4) December 3: International People’s with Disabilities Day
Principle: Globalism and Collective Value
December 3 is International People’s with Disabilities Day. Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer are two disabled freedom fighters we revere, even as the disabilities they carried with them into struggle aren’t consistently lifted up as assets in their fight. 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.

5) Queer Organizing Behind the Scenes
Principle: Queer Affirming 
January-  During January, we find it critical to lift up Bayard Rustin, one of the principal organizers behind the March on Washington which is crowned as one of MLK’s lasting achievements. To be queer-affirming means lifting up our queer ancestors who were at the foundation of our movements throughout time. This deepens the purpose of MLK day to understand that no one person makes a movement, highlighting how MLK’s legacy encompasses the contributions of many. 

6) Unapologetically Black Day
Principle: Unapologetically Black
Audre Lorde/Toni Morrison Birthday February 18th 
7. Student Activist DayPrinciples: Loving engagement and Empathy 
March 6: Barbara Johns Black student activist day--Day to celebrate Black student activists. 

8. Revolutionary Black Arts 
Principle: Intergenerational 
April- During National Library Week, we seek to center the classic contributions of Black Writers and artists across the generations: Zora Neale Huston, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Augusta Savage, Jasmine Mans. How are the themes and radical vision that they brought to their art reflected in your classrooms and communities? How can young people extend on these legacies?

9. Black Radical Educator Day
Principle: Black Villages
May 3rd: On Septima Clark’s birthday we celebrate Black Radical educator day. 
10. #SayHerName Day Principle: Black Women
June 5, Breonna Taylor's Birthday--Day to call for justice for Breonna and uplift the #SayHerName movement 

11. Education for Liberation Day
Principles: Black Families and Diversity
Juneteenth: Education for Liberation day--A day to celebrate the struggle that brought down slavery and reflects on what must be done to win Black liberation 

12. A Day for Self Reflection
Review all 13 PrinciplesLast day of School, Reflection Day: reflect on your year of antiracist teaching, possibly in groups.

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