Black Lives Matter in the Classroom

The Black Lives Matter movement (#BLM) emerged in 2013 as a response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman over the killing of 17-year old Black youth Trayvon Martin in Florida. The Black Lives Matter movement is the latest example of a long history of struggles for civil rights and racial justice in the United States. 

One important aspect of the #BLM movement for educators are calls to decolonize the university and its curriculum, and whose roots can be traced in part back to the 1960s when SFSU's BSU and the Third World Liberation Front led student protests demanding the creation of ethnic studies programs in California schools. These issues continue to resonate today, as seen in the recently passed AB 1460 legislation(opens in new window) that mandates undergraduate ethics studies courses for all CSU schools.

This teaching guide provides links to materials for incorporating Black Lives Matter and racial justice themes into classroom teaching, as well as providing additional resources for educators looking to go deeper into these topics in their own teaching.

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• RESEARCH

  Examine selected research on teaching about racial justice and Black Lives Matter: 

  BLM at School. https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/(opens in new window)

  M4BL. Vision for Black Lives. https://m4bl.org/policy-platforms/(opens in new window)

  PADLET. BLM@School//Disability Justice Resources Sample. https://padlet.com/christopher_r_r/blm-at-school-disability-justice-resources-sampler-b0yr3nsfquhudpt9(opens in new window) 

  Hagopian, J. (2020, December 1). The Progressive Magazine. Making Black Lives Matter at School. https://progressive.or(opens in new window)g(opens in new window)/magazine/making-black-lives-matter-hagopian/(opens in new window) 

  Rosales, J. (2019, February 4).  National Education Association. Black Lives Matter at School Spotlights Racial Justice in Education. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/black-lives-matter-school-spotlights-racial-justice-education(opens in new window)

  Rizga, K. (2016, September/October). Mother Jones. Black Teacher Matter. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/black-teachers-public-schools-education-system-philadelphia/(opens in new window)

  Kamenetz, A. (2017, April 10). NPR. Having Just One Black Teacher Can Keep Black Kids In School. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/04/10/522909090/having-just-one-black-teacher-can-keep-black-kids-in-school(opens in new window)

  Libraries Broward College. Teaching Black Lives Matter. https://libguides.broward.edu/blacklivesmatter/teaching.(opens in new window)

  Kim, I. (2020, September 15). Time. California Plans to Make Ethnic Studies a Requirement for Public-School Students. Here’s the History Behind the Idea. https://time.com/5888853/ethnic-studies-california/(opens in new window) 

  (2021, March 7). The Covid Tracking Project. The COVID Racial Data Tracker. https://covidtracking.com/race(opens in new window)

  The New York Times. The 1619 Project. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html(opens in new window)
  

• APPLICATION

  Ready to address Black Lives Matter in your teaching? Here are some ideas and strategies to get you started:

  • Consider using the current CSU, Chico Book in Common by Ibram X. Kendi(opens in new window), How to Be an Antiracist in your classes. CSU, Chico has a series of study guides, teaching guides, and other resources for faculty to use.
  • Attend the Teaching Racial & Social Justice Series hosted by the Office of Faculty Development. View schedule and details.
  • Critically reflect our classes and consider how Black voices and experiences are reflected in what we teach, our course readings, and assignments.
  • Specifically for white educators, being aware of racial microaggressions in our classes and actively supporting and uplifting Black students and faculty.
  • Instead of a few Black History Month readings or activities, try to bring Black histories and voices into class all year. The rich diversity of Black cultures and histories don't fit into a single month, and this is one way to address that.
  • Incorporate #BLM class discussions or activities as part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (Feb. 1-5, 2021(opens in new window)) and Black Futures Month(opens in new window). 

  Draw creative inspiration from materials in the Black Lives Matter at School book (Haymarket Book, 2020) to help build active antiracist classrooms.