In almost every public school in the United States, attitudes and behaviors in the classroom presume an unacknowledged, yet pervasive, Christian norm. How does this affect students who are not Christian?
While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work is often sugarcoated, it’s important to teach that King championed economic justice and taught Black self-love while also pushing back against neutrality, imperialism and systemic racism.
Jalaya Liles Dunn, a thought leader in social and racial justice pedagogy, anti-bias training, advocacy and movement building for over 20 years, is the director of Learning for Justice. Prior to joining Learning for Justice, Jalaya championed child advocacy at the Children’s Defense Fund through her roles as national director of the CDF Freedom Schools® program and director of youth leadership and development. Her leadership led to training 5,000 young leaders of color for action in their home communities, managing national partnerships that provided high quality summer and afterschool