How to Abolish Racism in Schools
From June 14-18, I attended the online Dismantling White Supremacy Culture in Schools conference produced with great skill, grace, and finesse by Truss Leadership.
I participated with a few hats on - as the director of the Where Art Lives program, as an independent teaching artist, and as someone who cares about the future of our democracy and humanity. As usual, I was drawing the whole time to keep my attention focused and to process everything I was learning.
Just keep scrolling to see all the art.
Joe Truss the MC
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
A colorful, scribbly sketch of Joe Truss, the organizer and master of ceremonies of the conference. Handwriting reads “Dismantling white Supremacy Culture in Schools” “start to see the code and the glitches in the code” “education: integration and conformity or freedom and transformation - Paolo Freire” “excavate the systems of privilege and tap into our motivation” “center and take leadership from [Black and Indigenous and People of Color]” “what happens when whiteness is destabilized?” “‘equity’ not enough ‘Inclusion’ in our bullshit?”
Lean Into That Discomfort
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Sketch of Jen Benkovitz and Staci leading an affinity breakout zoom, advising us to “Lean into that discomfort” and proceed “with curiosity” as we talked with other white attendees to help each other understand the aspects of white supremacy culture. In a green box, handwritten text reads, “Affinity breakout groups for small group discussion and digestion.”
Urgency Forces
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
So many of the values we have accepted can also play a role in maintaining the status quo of white supremacy. This is a sketch of the word “Urgency” which can be something I stumble on. While urgency feels right for so many of the problems in the world, sometimes it “forces us to not build relationships.” Instead we can take the time to make room for and, “follow BIPOC leadership without foisting labor on them.”
Visit DismantlingRacism.org to better understand the thinking around this approach.
GRACE Love the Process
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Colorful loose sketches of Michael Essien moderating a discussion with Calvin Nellum and Huhnh Nguyen, two teachers who were part of a fellowship working on their practice. Handwritten text around the sketch of Nellum reads, “Interdependent learning” “show courage to discuss racism” “having that tough conversation” “Math and Science” “used code for expressive animations to music by students” “How you feeling today? as assessment” “slowwwing down” “GRACE.” Text around Nguyen reads, “Love the process” “there are so many ways to demonstrate learning” “Middle-High School young activist pipeline.” Behind Essien is a heart that reads, “Student voice - choice.”
Bettina Love with Joy
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
A colorful drawing of Bettina Love giving a keynote speech with handwritten text that reads, “We Gon Be Alright, But That Ain't Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom” “What is racism doing to children?” “JOY” “We are in it right now” “White supremacy happens through policy” “LOVE” “you can’t fix education without dealin with all oppressive structures, has to be to go after capitalism” “constantly having to fight to be seen as human - fight with so much swag and style” “Abolitionist - to eliminate oppression from the roots - to destroy and build at the same time.”
Let Go of the Textbook
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Sketch of Joe Truss holding his hands up with text, “Let go of the textbook, go deep." “Assimilationists: BIPOC can be saved through adoption of white dominant traits.” Small sketch of Michael Essien with words, “How are you looking at Policies inside your Classroom? Action - mindset policy,” “Power dynamic that upholds Supremacy” There are sketches of other faces talking and an orange and yellow circle. There is a box with a list of some white supremacist culture traits, “Perfectionism, Sense of Urgency, Defensiveness, Quantity over Quality” to which the audience offered alternatives in our chat bar.
“Center the most marginalized,” “Joy of collective liberation” next to a drawing of Don Frazier, “anti-racist lens not imposing values” “What’s my plan to get to know my students’ stories?” “Ethnic studies ➡ many voices” “Culturally Responsive” “Restorative practices - must connect to the teaching, must be proactive” "Project Based learning”. “Abolitionist Teaching” “Equitable grading.”
Arts Educator Breakout Room
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Sketches of four faces of arts educators. During team meeting time we connected to talk in a breakout room. Around a sketch of Elana Lagerquist are the words, “shifted more to improvisation, to play together. Creative thinking that can translate to everything” “has to involve listening”. There is a sketch of Ben McWhorter talking about the difficulty of combatting white supremacy culture when he is expected to have his symphony compete for points based on perfectionism. A sketch of Sarah Jackson with text, “3rd space of abolition - where students own the space and creativity.” A drawing of Sam Noyce talking about how he supported Polynesian students in pursuing their own music at his school with the words, “relationship + trust.”
Critical
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Small sketch of Joe Truss with a description of the main points of Critical Race Theory from Derek Bell. “Counter-storytelling -beauty, intellect, excellence.” “Permanence of racism feels pretty damned permanent to me. Attack it” “Whiteness as property.” “Interest convergence white/ Poc” “Critique of liberalism.” And written larger, “ LEARN, Don't be afraid, Critical”
Next to sketches of my breakout group partners Julie and Charissa are the words, “Pandemic has taught us We are capable of action.” “Why + Why not? Why testing When we know it's harmful?”
Teach the Multiple Perspectives
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
A drawing of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi speaking in front of a bookshelf with the words, “teach the multiple perspectives” “about white abolitionists” “Israelis who are anti-occupation, Palestinians who don’t support Hamas, parallels between racism here and there” “You have the ability to change lives, to shape anti-racist minds for a lifetime.” One book has the title “400 souls”. More text reads, “how can we systematize at early 3-4 yrs ages, that dark is not bad? That having less does not mean you are any less?” On the facing page there are more quick notes, “there’s a fear that if BIPOC people debate about assimilationism it we be used against us” “inductive discipline (restorative)” “we all have the power to resist” “to be anti-racist is to be able to admit mistakes” “combat racism with questions - like ‘How do you define anti-racist?” There is also a quick sketch of my breakout partner sharing that students at her alternative high school must take the same 3 hour math test 3 times a year from 1st - 12th grade.
Teacher Self-Assessment
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
A disjointed drawing of a small Joe Truss with gears and machinery. Text reads, “Teacher self-Assessment” with teacher rankings from “segrationist ➡ Assimilationist ➡ Anti-racist teacher led ➡ Anti-racist student led” “I struggle with how do we put all this together, all these experts?” “Stop pushing the f***ing button! - a reference to the TV show Lost.” Next to an incomplete sketch of my breakout partner Stephanie, is an idea from her for me, “Students decide their message - group students based on what they want to say.” Other words from Stephanie about her struggle as an algebra teacher, “What kind of problems do I want them to be able to solve? A unit around practical economics.”
What’s Going Well?
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
This page just has some quick notes about some examples of anti-racist policy changes including “Raza studies in Tucson, Whole school meditation (as Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco), Removing Lowell High School (racist admission requirements), No grading in San Diego, June Jordan School for Equity Week without Walls, No ‘willful defiance’ supspensions in LA” and a small drawing of Gabbi Buckley, an inspiring school leader I got to reflect with in a break out room.
Centering Counter-Narratives for Healing and Resistance
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
This drawing is my notes from my first workshop about best practices in finding and analyzing texts to combat linguistic supremacy. Drawings of Carla España and Luz Yadira Herrera are the words, “Getting to know the actual individuals and their families.” “Who is this for? What words evoke feelings? What words evoke images? What words evoke clear ideas? Patterns” "Constant self-reflection” “Unlearning linguistic supremacy” “Offer examples of books that incorporate multiple languages for students to take inspiration from.” “Community building through 1 poem a week - to learn about each other through responses.” “teaching (see) ➡ resistance ➡ healting (think) ➡ artistic response (wonder )” “identity? language?” “what text sets can be used to study movements?” “Minh Lê - valuing non-verbal communication.” I noted some of their book and author recommendations: “Efren Divided,” “Ghost Squad,” “We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices” anthology, David Bowles.
Street Data to Center Student Agency
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
Standardized testing requirements are often what prevents schools from committing to anti-racist practices, so the Street Data workshop was justifiably very popular. In these sketchnotes, there is a drawing of presenters Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan who wrote a book about an anti-racisct assessment model. The text reads, “Street Data, qualitative data - train the eye to see it.” “Center student agency” “We have a churn of distress around data” “Holism - indigenous and afrocentric and other ways of knowing” “DREAM” “Shed pedagogy of compliance in favor of student voice” “Choose the margins as a site of belonging. Share power. Cogenerate, codesign with students. Slow DOWN. What is purpose? What is RIGHT with you? Find JOY.” “Story - Artifact - Observations - Humanize data connection” “My agency - To feel that I am okay - To be seen!”
“- Identity, valued as you are, - Belonging, feel seen and loved, - Mastery, building knowledge demonstrating understanding, - Efficacy, to make a difference.”
Black Historical Excellence
Gholdy Muhammad delivered the final keynote with enthusiasm. In these sketchnotes a drawing of Dr. Muhammad is surrounded by handwritten text, “Curriculum is my Art” “Genius is in the Child, they can read you up and down” “Genius and Joy” “what about Joy loss?” “Possibility with collectivism” “Learning ̶s̶t̶a̶n̶d̶a̶r̶d̶s̶ pursuits, culturally + historically responsive, grounded in Black Historical Excellence” “Love Hope Confidence Faith Racial Dignity Harmony” “unearthing genius and joy.” A drawing of a tree in the upper right corner has a list of 5 learning pursuits, “Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality (name oppression), Joy” “Layer texts.” “Connect each lesson to the 5 pursuits and spark social change.” “Creating curriculum without student input is like making a dress without measurements” “artistic expression as demonstration of understanding.”
Allying With Students
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
“Reframing Our Practice: Allying with Students for Social Action” was presented by Dr. Sawsan Jaber. The drawing of Dr. Jaber in these sketchnotes includes the handwritten text, “Reframe the Traditional Classroom With Students. What can we do WITH students?” “So students feel: ‘I LOVE WHO I AM” “Center ̶c̶u̶l̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ equity, critical conversations build democracy” “co-conspiring” “IDENTITY” “NAME” Read ‘My Name’ chapter from Cisneros then invite students to tell their name story” “observe, reflect, question, LEARN about selves and each other, LINK, LEAD” “First - get to know students, build relationships, show love.”
“Critical conversations about real world events are no longer optional,” “all students are Scholar (scholars of their own experiences) Activists (our job is to show them how to be activists)” “Whose voices are not being represented?” Activism includes art + music + beauty.” “What will resonate with students?” “How can we show them role models who look like them?” “Students have personal journals they write in every day as a one-on-one safe space to talk with their teacher.” “Build safe space. Start with ‘fries vs. baked potatoes’ to show difference is okay".” What is your positionality as a teacher? How does it impact students?”
There is also a small sketch of Leticia Citizen who managed the tech for the zoom meeting.
It’s About the Students
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
In these continued sketchnotes for Sawsan Jaber’s workshop, there is a sketch of a tree with the words, “Identity maps that students can add to through the year - with intersections in world and curriculum that leads to art creation.” And a loose sketch of Sawsan Jaber with the words “When students careate and share.” “Surface, Shallow, Deep.” “It’s about the students” “I create and share when my students create and share.” “Students bring in art they connect to to discuss.” They make art as activism and “choose their audience - why this audience?”
Nothing But the Truth
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
For the final event, the hosts of the All of the Above show moderated a panel discussion with all of the workshop hosts. Sketches of Jeffrey Garrett and Manuel Rustin are next to the words from their T-shirts, “Teach the truth, the whole truth, and Nothing but the Truth.” “I don’t want to wait.” There are sketches of Carolyn Roberts with “strategize, organize, protest” Luz Yadira Herrera with “know who we are teaching and where, and what is effecting our students” “start with community building.” Carla España with “Call in community to support teaching from counter-narrative texts” “who is at the table to honor full child + wellness as we return?” “Who has the power to choose the voices we hear and the media we see?” Sawsan Jaber “Silos are the design of the oppressor.” Nicole Henderson “Students must have say.” Artneslson Concordia with, “Embrace the activism of being a teacher” “Being vulnerable with our students about our own identities,” and a sketch of Aimee Riechel saying, “In Ethnic Studies, we begin with students lived experiences.” “Build relationships and teacher power. Build mentorships.”
Stop Feeling Afraid
marker and pencil on paper, 7” x 4.5”, 2021
The final panel continued with the four other workshop presenters. There is a sketch of Ken Shelton with the words, “Ask, do you have an anti-racism policy?” “Push back against capitalist thought, make space for self care. Shift culture of school so teachers and students are free to do what they know will help.” A drawing of Matthew R. Kay has the text “Get back to authentic mentoring of teachers WITH FEEDBACK, so teachers feel supported.” A sketch of Alcine Mumby with the text, “We have to pay attention for who kids are disengaged. Starting with our own bodies” “Look at how dehumanizing schools can be. Hear the hopes and dreams of families.” There is a drawing of Michael Essien with the words, “the system is the collective thoughs of the adults in the building” “Community schooling - how do we meet the needs of FAMILIES?” “Stop feeling afraid. We are our students’ advocates.”
Special shout out to the Book Arts Roadshow. All of the drawings in this post were created in a sketchbook I made during one of their workshops while we were all providing professional development to teachers organized by Young Audiences of Northern California.