First Day of School: Black to School 

• Wear BLM at School shirt

• Review the BLM at School reflection questions and write up your anti-racist action plan for the year

October 14th is George Floyd’s Birthday.  Justice for George is a day to remember him and call for the defunding of the police and the redirecting of those funds towards social programs and education.

We are engaging the principle of being TRANS AFFIRMING and joining in celebration of the Transgender Day of Remembrance scheduled for November 20. For more resources, check out this month's BLM at School Newsletter, visit Forward Together.

December 3rd is International People’s with Disabilities Day. Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer are two disabled freedom fighters we revere, even as the disabilities they carried with them into struggle aren’t consistently lifted up as assets in their fight. To fight against societal ableism, we must celebrate our differences and understand how the lessons from Black disabled organizers teach us how to build inclusive, accessible movements.

During January, we find it critical to lift up Bayard Rustin, one of the principal organizers behind the March on Washington which is crowned as one of MLK’s lasting achievements. To be queer-affirming means lifting up our queer ancestors who were at the foundation of our movements throughout time. This deepens the purpose of MLK day to understand that no one person makes a movement, highlighting how MLK’s legacy encompasses the contributions of many. 

February 18th marks the shared birthdays of two Black women writers, Toni Morrison (1931-2019) and Audre Lorde (1934-1992). Lorde, a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”  dedicated her life and creative endeavors “to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, capitalism, heterosexism, and homophobia,” while Morrison is celebrated as a Nobel Prize winning author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality." In addition to her celebrated novels, Morrison also co-authored several children’s books with her youngest son, Slade Morrison. Here is an interview clip from 1993 where Toni Morrison speaks with PBS host Charlie Rose around “What is Racism”, and a Google Doodle honoring the life of Audre Lorde, illustrated by artist Monica Ahanonu.

The power of youth activism has the potential to lead to sweeping policy change as our young people stand up and demand more from inequitable systems. This month, BLM at School highlights the life and work of Barbara Johns, who in 1951 as a highschool junior staged a school walk-out to demand better school conditions in her vastly overcrowded and segregated school in Farmville, Virginia. Her activism as a student led to support from the NAACP, who used the case in Farmville to challenge the Constitutional standing of “separate but equal” with regards to education in the landmark case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. 

Revolutionary Black Arts

Principle: Intergenerational

"You can't sit around and wait for someone to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it." - Faith Ringgold

During National Library Week, we seek to center the classic contributions of Black Writers and artists across the generations.

Zora Neale Hurston
Faith Ringgold
Alma Thomas
Augusta Savage
Jasmine Mans

How are the themes and radical vision that they brought to their art reflected in your classrooms and communities? How can young people extend on these legacies?

K-12 Curriculum Resources

Day of Self Reflection