chyreads29's review
4.0
If you serve, teach, raise, make policy for, are related to, live next to, go to school with, or know Black and Brown children in any capacity, you need to read this book. Required reading for all.
leigh_reidelberger's review against another edition
4.0
It took me quite some time to get through Bettina Love's book. I found myself needing to frequently put it down to think and reflect on what she'd just said. This book is important and really dives into the issues with our current educational system.
My copy is now full of dog eared pages, post it notes, highlighted passages, and my own notes, which shows the caliber of Love's voice and all the material presented. I will definitely be reading this again.
My copy is now full of dog eared pages, post it notes, highlighted passages, and my own notes, which shows the caliber of Love's voice and all the material presented. I will definitely be reading this again.
nessaloveszelda's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for community organizers, educators, teachers, church leaders, and all folks who are committed to doing antiracist work. Love’s book is especially important for non-Black educators who work in predominantly Black and Brown communities.
I appreciate, wholeheartedly, Love’s point of view on systems that only continue to perpetuate racism by “spirit murdering” children. Think of institutions such as Teach for America and charter schools. If you find yourself comfortable in those spaces, ask yourself why and pick up this book to delve into a deeper understanding of why these systems continue to harm our BIPOC communities.
I’ll continue to come back to this book as I continue my own antiracist journey.
I appreciate, wholeheartedly, Love’s point of view on systems that only continue to perpetuate racism by “spirit murdering” children. Think of institutions such as Teach for America and charter schools. If you find yourself comfortable in those spaces, ask yourself why and pick up this book to delve into a deeper understanding of why these systems continue to harm our BIPOC communities.
I’ll continue to come back to this book as I continue my own antiracist journey.
srfrq's review against another edition
3.0
while this book was quite informative, it built mostly on what i already knew through bell hooks' and angela davis' teachings. one thing that was new was a term described by the author as the 'educational survival complex' which i thought she would delve more into but she didn't. i appreciated the explanation of education and its connection to racism and colonialism, as that was an insight i had thought about but never able to articulate myself. the author provided a historically accurate explanation for this.
here are some quotes that stuck out to me:
“students are left learning to merely survive, learning how schools mimic the world they live in, thus making schools a training site for a life of exhaustion” (on the educational survival complex)
“schools are mirrors of our society; educational justice cannot and will not happen in a vacuum or with pedagogies that undergird the educational survival complex. we need pedagogies that support social movements."
“my dignity was never to be compromised, which meant never compromising my voice and my connection to how i mattered in this world. when you compromise your voice, you compromise your dignity. no dignity, no power.”
“too often we think the work of fighting oppression is just intellectual. the real work is personal, emotional, spiritual, and communal.”
“i mean to teach them to demand what anna julia cooper called 'undisputed dignity.' to call for 'recognition of one’s inherent humanity' with the courage, persistence, vigilance, and the visionary imagination of an abolitionist.”
“The economic downturn that led to an employment crisis was happening in my city at the same time america rebooted slavery through a war on drugs, which is code for a “war on dark people,” or what michelle alexander calls “the new jim crow.” before the war on drugs slogan took hold, president richard nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” however, it is the administration of president ronald reagan that is responsible for the mass imprisonment of dark people. in 1980, there were less than half a million people in prison in the US. twenty years later that number had reached close to 2.2 million.15 president reagan’s policies emphasized imprisoning drug offenders while cutting funding for addiction treatment, privatizing prisons, and disenfranchising millions of dark americans from their right to vote.”
"the educational survival complex adopts the school-to-prison pipeline because we all live in a carceral state, increasing deportation for queer undocumented youth."
“freedom dreaming gives teachers a collective space to methodically tear down the educational survival complex and collectively rebuild a school system that truly loves all children and sees schools as children’s homeplaces, where students are encouraged to give this world hell."
“understanding neoliberalism is an important lens to understanding how society keeps us at odds with each other and fighting over the scraps left after the rich have gutted systems that are supposed to help those with the least.”
here are some quotes that stuck out to me:
“students are left learning to merely survive, learning how schools mimic the world they live in, thus making schools a training site for a life of exhaustion” (on the educational survival complex)
“schools are mirrors of our society; educational justice cannot and will not happen in a vacuum or with pedagogies that undergird the educational survival complex. we need pedagogies that support social movements."
“my dignity was never to be compromised, which meant never compromising my voice and my connection to how i mattered in this world. when you compromise your voice, you compromise your dignity. no dignity, no power.”
“too often we think the work of fighting oppression is just intellectual. the real work is personal, emotional, spiritual, and communal.”
“i mean to teach them to demand what anna julia cooper called 'undisputed dignity.' to call for 'recognition of one’s inherent humanity' with the courage, persistence, vigilance, and the visionary imagination of an abolitionist.”
“The economic downturn that led to an employment crisis was happening in my city at the same time america rebooted slavery through a war on drugs, which is code for a “war on dark people,” or what michelle alexander calls “the new jim crow.” before the war on drugs slogan took hold, president richard nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” however, it is the administration of president ronald reagan that is responsible for the mass imprisonment of dark people. in 1980, there were less than half a million people in prison in the US. twenty years later that number had reached close to 2.2 million.15 president reagan’s policies emphasized imprisoning drug offenders while cutting funding for addiction treatment, privatizing prisons, and disenfranchising millions of dark americans from their right to vote.”
"the educational survival complex adopts the school-to-prison pipeline because we all live in a carceral state, increasing deportation for queer undocumented youth."
“freedom dreaming gives teachers a collective space to methodically tear down the educational survival complex and collectively rebuild a school system that truly loves all children and sees schools as children’s homeplaces, where students are encouraged to give this world hell."
“understanding neoliberalism is an important lens to understanding how society keeps us at odds with each other and fighting over the scraps left after the rich have gutted systems that are supposed to help those with the least.”
peyton_vernon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
kdemazza's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for anyone working in education, with children or simply wishing to understand the racist roots of our education system, testing and charter schools- and be inspired to do something about it.
andrewrmart's review
4.0
A vision of the future of education that I think any reasonable education stakeholder can get behind (and if you can't, please let me show you the door). See a colleague's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3365876468?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 as well as that of a Goodreads user: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2714754503?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1