NSRF’s Statement of Support of BLM
In line with our longstanding commitment to democratic, equitable education and social justice, we condemn the brutal murder of George Floyd. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters across the US and around the world against systemic anti-Black racism. We honor the intrinsic value of all victims of police brutality and white supremacist violence, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, their families, and thousands more racialized victims of violence.
Our mission: Empowering educators to create meaningful learning experiences for all, by collaborating effectively in reflective democratic communities that foster educational equity and social justice.
Now, maybe more than ever, educators need trusted places to collaborate, to listen deeply, and to reflect on our experiences and what we are learning in the world around us. Critical Friends Group communities, the core of NSRF work, creates spaces in which we build trust, recognize the value of diverse voices, and to listen for understanding (particularly to the marginalized) … all of which flatten inherent hierarchies when people gather together.
NSRF recommits to the work of Critical Friends Group communities and so we are developing new materials (for our members and the general public) and trainings to enable CFG work to continue in digital environments.
We recognize our duty to build greater diversity, inclusion, and equity within our staff and facilitators, while sharing resources within our community about race, racism, and white privilege. This means learning about the history of race, systemic racism, white privilege, white supremacy culture, and white saviorism. We encourage everyone to recognize how we collude with racism knowingly and unknowingly, and to make amends for such. This means becoming more aware of our biases, habits, assumptions, and ignorance that come out as microaggressions. And it means acting on what we learn.
If you need help in facilitating important conversations in your community, please use the linked form here to contact us or you can email us at nsrf@nsrfharmony.org. In addition to our trainings, we offer many free protocols and are eager to consult with you on how best to use them.
We have a list of resources we have found to be helpful that you might find to be helpful, too. We have shared the titles for you below, some as active links to other online articles and websites. If you have any suggestions for this list, please contact us. We would love to see this list grow in strength and length!
Books:
Racism, Public Schooling, and the Entrenchment of White Supremacy
by Sabina Vaught
Are Prisons Obsolete?
by Angela Davis
Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education
by Robin DiAngelo and Özlem Sensoy
The New Jim Crow
by Michelle Alexander
Your Silence Will Not Protect You
by Audre Lorde (collected)
Teaching to Transgress
by bell hooks
Colonize This! (edited collection)
edited by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman
Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators
by Mariame Kaba and Shira Hassan
Articles and Sites:
Creative Interventions Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence
by CreativeInterventions.org
“4 Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren”
by Jeffrey Pierre, published by NPR
“Creating the Space to Talk about Race in your School”
by National Education Association EdJustice
“Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People.”
by
“The Law Isn’t Neutral”
by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
Mapping Police Violence
a research collaborative by Samuel Sinyangwe and DeRay McKesson
African American Policy Forum, “Say Her Name”
by The Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies
“75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice”
by Corrine Schutack, Medium
“Intersectionality for Beginners”
by Peter Kaufman, everydaysociologyblog.com
“Answering White People’s Most Commonly Asked Questions about the Black Lives Matter Movement”
by Courtney Martin
“Talking About Race”
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Videos and Podcasts:
“21 Anti-Racism Videos to Share with Kids”
by Jeanne Croteau, WeAreTeachers.com
“A Decade of Watching Black People Die,” a 22-minute listen
by Code Switch, NPR
13th, a documentary
directed by Ava DuVernay
Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers
a conference panel, LGBTQ Task Force
“Sunday School: Unlock Us, Abolition in Our Lifetime” with Cherell Brown, Angela Davis, Derecka Purnell, K Agebebiyi, and more
by DreamDefenders, a recorded meeting on Facebook
Learn and Donate:
Educate Yourself: blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#educate
Organizations to Learn from and Support: blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#org
An Extensive List of Further Resources: bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES
Signed,
the staff of the NSRF
Michele Mattoon, Director,
Luci Englert McKean, Assistant Director,
Rachel Hartley-Smith, Operations Manager,
Andrew Oughton, Administrative Assistant
