When Teaching for Black Lives was first published, one of the book’s editors, Dyan Watson, set the stakes:
“I have two Black sons. For me, this collection is about their survival, and the survival of children like them throughout the United States. Teaching for Black Lives is a handbook for all educators, students, and families who truly care about Blackness and the intersections of learning, teaching, and race.”
In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery — and as communities across the United States erupt in rebellion against police violence, systemic racism, dehumanization, and injustice, we know that it is now more important than ever that our classrooms and homes be spaces for resistance against white supremacy.
Teaching for Black Lives is one way that teachers, parents, and educators of all kinds can fight back. It can help young people see themselves as anti-racist agents of change in our communities, but as Valerie Strauss wrote in the Washington Post, “the truth is that the book can educate anybody who picks it up and reads it.”
Our support, love, and energy is with all of those who are in the streets and working with students — resisting white supremacy and struggling for justice.