Brown v. Board opened the door to school desegregation in this country. Showing up for integration – that is, actually walking through the door and integrating our families – is the work that White people most consistently avoid. Integrated Schools is all about getting those of us with racial and economic privilege to do that necessary work. Here’s how we turn your $19.54 into meaningful change!
This post is the first of a 3-part series marking the 72nd anniversary of the May 17 1954 unanimous Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. We’re asking readers to commit to the future of school integration with a one-time or monthly gift of $19.54, which Integrated Schools will split with the Thurgood Marshall Foundation.
A recent piece on NPR about school choice in Iowa asked a question I think about all the time: when school choice is booming, who actually wins? (Spoiler alert: NOBODY)…
What happens when we actually name the dynamics already shaping a room? Things like Race, Class, Access, Power. Who feels comfortable speaking? Who doesn’t? At our recent Integrated Schools gathering we experimented with a simple practice: naming dynamics before starting the work. Not to shame anyone. Not to force vulnerability. Just to acknowledge reality. Because pretending dynamics don’t exist doesn’t make them disappear. It just makes them harder to navigate.
In this dark time when powerful people are doing their worst to divide us, we light each other’s way forward with an even more powerful truth: that the only way we win is together.
This essay imagines a future where White people unlearn White Supremacy Culture and participate responsibly in collective liberation – especially within schools and public systems. What would a future look like that affirms the humanity of White people and believes in our capacity to heal as part of educational equity and justice work?