Child
Centered,

Social
Justice

How petty racism made college unaffordable for everyone

The US has consistently gotten white people to vote against themselves is racism. Here is the story of how petty racism got student loans the size of a home loan. After the Civil Rights’ Movement, Black and LatinX people started making real progress in higher education. From 1970 to 1980 college graduation rates for both …

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Lakota Sioux called it the Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe (The Six Grandfathers)- Mount Rushmore

In the Paha Sapa on the stolen occupied land of Očhéthi Šakówi, renamed South Dakota by white colonizers there was a sacred hill among the other hills. In this hill was a magnificent sculpture carved by a being who was not man. Mount Rushmore Native American  The Lakota Sioux called it the Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe (The …

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Juneteeth is over. Now what? Abolish racism.

Juneteeth is over, now what. Abolish Racism. Abolish Capitalism. The police exist to protect white wealthy men’s property and to put it in broader terms, white wealthy men’s interests. Their method is capitalism, so they can make as much money as they can and exploit you. The first publicly funded police departments in the US …

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Happy Juneteenth! Support the Black English of the grandchildren of the US South in your classrooms

Happy Juneteenth! Support the Black English of the grandchildren of the US South in your classrooms. Juneteenth and Black English “The nonlinear relation between AAE (African American English) use and language and emergent literacy skills, coupled with systematic differences in AAE use across contexts, indicates that some preschoolers may be dialect switching between AAE and …

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Don’t Censor Black Girlhood, The Bluest Eye is a middle grade book

It is 2020 and once again Toni Morrison’s book, The Bluest Eye has been banned, this time in California by the Colton USD. When I was a 10-years-old I read Judy Blume’s Dear God It’s Me Margaret.  While it is a book that is frequently challenged by school districts, it is a book that most …

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Teachers are not afraid of Black children

In my 15 years of classroom experience, I’ve never met a 4-year-old that frightened me enough to suspend or call the police. In early childhood education, we need to reject narratives that justify anti-Black actions in the classroom and on the playground. We need to reject the false narrative of the white (and sometimes Black) …

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The difference between preschool and childcare

The differences between preschool and childcare are much deeper than the amount of time spent there and location. The differences are rooted in race, socioeconomic class, and gender. “During the 19th and early 20th centuries, two tiers of early childhood programs evolved in the United States. One tier, rooted in the social welfare system, was …

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State of Preschool 2019 Report, What about race?

The 17th Annual State of Preschool, 2019 commentary transcript: I was excited yesterday when the State of Preschool, 2019 Report was released. I figured this report would provide the evidence most needed to fight back effectively against cuts in Early Childhood Education and, I applaud the report for its vivid picture of the preschool landscape …

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Child centered, social justice