Newsletter from Learning for Justice

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January 24, 2023


** Create Social and Emotional Safety Through Solidarity
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“In relationship with organizers for justice, educators can co-create radically different experiences for students to feel and be whole in their classrooms.” — Riley Drake, Ph.D.
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** Solidarity as Social and Emotional Safety
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In this new ([link removed]) LFJ article ([link removed]) , school counseling professor Riley Drake, Ph.D., outlines a model of social and emotional learning. Drake explains that “‘feeling safe’ is contextual,” especially for Black and Brown children whose needs are often overlooked in our nation’s classrooms. Relying on community partnerships, promoting mutual aid to foster solidarity and advancing restorative justice are strategies educators and other adults can employ to increase children’s feelings of safety and well-being.

In this excerpt from the article, Drake describes how a teacher enlists the help of local organizers:

Solidarity as safety was an approach Staci used in collaboration with Imani, Jada and Nova to honor the experiences of students familiar with and vulnerable to structural harm. By listening to children’s lived experiences, Staci recognized a fear of policing and punishment. Rather than dismissing students’ fears or silencing and “regulating” emotions through a decontextualized calming technique, Staci sought community wisdom in efforts to transform the source of the harm.


** Resource Spotlight
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* Ending Curriculum Violence ([link removed])
* Black Minds Matter ([link removed])
* Toolkit: The Foundations of Restorative Justice ([link removed])

Professional Development
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** Join LFJ In-person for PD Workshops on February 1 and 2 in Atlanta
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This two-day workshop ([link removed]) helps educators create impactful and empathy-building learning experiences for students learning about slavery and United States history. Attendees will have opportunities to address gaps in their curriculum and instruction and create an action plan for advocacy in their community.

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Solidarity in Action: JADE Summit
Last fall, students, teachers, parents and community leaders came together to reaffirm the importance of anti-racist education at the JADE Educator Organizing Summit ([link removed]) . The summit was designed to inform educators about Georgia’s HB1084, which restricts both teacher trainings and classroom instruction regarding systemic racism in the United States.


** Check Out What We’re Reading
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“‘Most people are thinking about the admissions process at selective institutions ... but I would say that this decision is going to be far-ranging and it’s going to be expansive.’” —The New York Times ([link removed])

“‘Nobody deserves to die at the hands of the state period. There’s so many ways to prevent death. We’re supposed to be a society that believes in life, that believes human beings being able to live long, healthy lives.’” — ABC News ([link removed])

“‘This political extremism and its attack of Black History and Black people, is going to create an entire generation of Black children who won’t be able to see themselves reflected at all within their own education or in their own state.’” —CNN ([link removed])
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Have a comment, question or idea for Learning for Justice? Drop us a line at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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| ** PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ([link removed])

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