Black Lives Matter at School and Social Studies Education

Paying Down the Education Debt Owed to Black People

Abstract

What does it mean to teach for Black lives when state governments are passing laws that prevent teachers from discussing race and gender? How can public education pay down the educational debt owed to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) children and their families when elected officials are prioritizing protecting whiteness at their expense? What role can social studies educators play in reducing the debt and promoting educational justice for racialized students? Educators have a responsibility to use their privilege and power to challenge those who use education as a weapon against the marginalized and oppressed. The Black Lives Matter at School (BLMAS) movement is offered as a space for public education in general, and social studies educators in particular, to enact what it means to teach for Black lives.