Teachers 4 Social Justice condemns all forms of systemic violence caused by policing that continues to disproportionately impact Black lives and perpetuate the trauma of white supremacy.
In support of the movement to abolish police and prisons, Teachers 4 Social Justice calls on educators to learn from and work in solidarity with community organizations that are building toward the abolition of policing and the prison industrial complex. Abolitionist teaching recognizes that our work for justice must expand beyond classroom walls and school hallways. We must struggle for liberation in solidarity with our school communities.
We urge all educators to commit to not only learning more about abolition but to also find ways to support and take action in abolitionist movements.
Please consider the following organizations and networks as a starting point:
- https://www.8toabolition.com/
- https://nocopacademy.com/
- http://criticalresistance.org/
- https://incite-national.org/
- http://blackorganizingproject.org/
- http://dignityandpowernow.org/
- https://survivedandpunished.org/
- https://bcrw.barnard.edu/fellows/cece-mcdonald/
- https://www.sinsinvalid.org/news-1/2020/6/8/sins-invalid-statement-on-police-violence
What about the role of teachers in the movement toward abolition?
Please read We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina Love and visit https://abolitionistteachingnetwork.org/ (to be launched on July 6, 2020).
Additional resources:
Teachers 4 Social Justice YouTube channel
Abolishing Policing Also Means Abolishing Family Regulation by Dorothy Roberts
Racial surveillance has a long history by Dorothy Roberts and Jeffrey Vagle
Black Families Matter: How the Child Welfare System Punishes Poor Families of Color by Dorothy Roberts
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