By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
Black Lives Matter along with Seattle educators and community activist held a news conference Monday to announce their “National Black Lives Matter At School Week” initiative.
According to organizers, the Black Lives Matter At School Week, which will take place Feb. 5 – 9, is designed to continue to build awareness regarding Black and minority life and the issues they face. Each day will touch on different aspects that relate to and highlight the accomplishments of Black life as well as the full historical relevance of Africa and her diaspora.
As part of the initiative, teachers, parents and students alike are urged to adorn their Black Lives Matter T-shirts and show their civic spirit as well as take part in all the activities of learning what it is to be Black, to be of the African diaspora and for others to acquire empathy in regards to the experience that African American and other minorities endure in this racially charged moment in history.
The areas of emphasis during the week are as follows: restoration justice, empathy and loving engagement are the elements that will be targeted on Mon., Feb. 5. On Tues., Feb. 6, emphasis will be placed on diversity and globalism in dealing with subjects like how DACA affects Black immigrants. Weds., Feb. 7 the initiative plans to cover issues such as trans-affirming, queer affirming and collective values. Thurs. Feb. 8 will highlight Intergenerational issues, Black families and Black villages, and Fri., Feb. 9 the topic of Black Women and Unapologetically Black will be highlights.
In addition, Black Lives Matter has produced three national demands for the movement: 1) End Zero Tolerance and Implement Restorative Justice, 2) Hire more Black teacher in our schools and 3) to mandate Black History/Ethnic Studies in K-12 education.
A growing number of prominent activists, scholars and educators have endorsed this action, including #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Opal Tometi.
According to Jesse Hagopian, educator at Garfield High School and one of the local organizers of National Black Lives Matter At School Week initiative, a disproportionate number of Black and Brown children who have been the victims of injustice and discrimination due to zero tolerance have fallen into the school to prison pipeline. Therefore, it is important for the academic community and the Black Lives Matter Movement to help end zero tolerance and implement restorative justice.
“The zero tolerance is such a huge part of the school to prison pipeline and pushing out Black students is this zero tolerance discipline policy,” said Hagopian.
“In regards to teacher, there have been some 26,000 Black teachers pushed out of schools around the country since 2002,” Hagopian continued. “We are losing tens of thousands of Black educators and there isn’t programs available to bring more Black educators to our youth.”
Black and minority children have been found to achieve at a much higher rate when they experience teachers that look like them, so the effort to secure more Black, Brown and other minority teachers in our schools has become a major topic. According to many experts, it is essential for Black children to know the full truth of Black and African history and be aware of their heritage, as this aids in their ability to possess self confidence in academia.
“Our stories matter, stories are about survival,” says Donte Felder, a teacher at Orca K-8 in Seattle. “If we are not teaching or sharing our stories we are not surviving.”
“A bunch of children are going to prison and the schools are a part of that,” continued Felder. “And a part of this is not telling and sharing and acknowledging the stories of our great Kings and Queens and not acknowledging this history.”
“Everybody has value to add and right now throughout the country the school curriculum is to Eurocentric and White people were not the only ones to contributed to America,” said Rita Green of the Seattle/King County NAACP.
