Goodbye to Ari Bloomekatz
This fall, Rethinking Schools’ managing editor Ari Bloomekatz accepted the position of executive editor at the venerable social justice magazine In These Times. We will miss Ari’s humor, imagination, warmth, and commitment to make the world a better place through activist journalism.
Ari was with us for five eventful years, which included special issues on “#SchoolsToo” (on gender justice), “Art Fuels the Teachers’ Rebellion,” “Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic,” “The Uprising and Our Schools,” and “Racial Justice Bans: Teachers Fight Back.” In addition to his editorial work on the magazine, Ari was production editor for one of the most influential books in Rethinking Schools’ history, Teaching for Black Lives. Edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, and Wayne Au, Teaching for Black Lives continues to be used as the core text in more than 100 study groups around the United States and Canada.
During his tenure at Rethinking Schools, Ari interviewed Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova, Ukrainian teacher union activist; Curtis Acosta, a founder of the acclaimed Mexican American Studies Program in Tucson, Arizona; and conducted a Black Lives Matter at School roundtable, with Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price, Kyna Collins, Jesse Hagopian, and Christopher R. Rogers.
Rethinking Schools editors and staff wish Ari well in his new role at In These Times.