“Teaching and learning about race, racialized power dynamics, the freedom struggles of our ancestors, and multiracial organizing and citizen engagement are essential if democracy is to succeed in our multiracial society. The nation—the world—has never had a flourishing democracy within the context of profound difference. Yet a multiracial democracy is the only kind of democracy that will succeed in the United States.” —Angela Glover Blackwell
May 17, 2024, marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions and a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement. We must, however, resist the simplified narrative of the end of segregation and teach a more comprehensive story that includes analyzing Brown’s complex impact, the opposition to desegregation, and the ongoing movement for inclusive education.
On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day — which marks the 80th anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau — we honor the memory of the 6 million Jews and the millions of Roma, Sinti, Slavs, disabled persons, LGBTQ+ individuals, political dissidents and others who were murdered in the Holocaust. The world lost the perspectives and contributions of millions of individuals because of hate.