Our Beliefs
1. Anti-racist: We believe an anti-racist is someone who believes in the equality of all human beings regardless of their phenotype and who demonstrates that belief via their speech, actions and associations.
2. Social Justice: We believe in the practice of improving the educational and civil liberties of all human beings, regardless of age, ‘race’, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality and all other labels of society.
3. Culturally Responsive Teaching: We believe in the proactive and intentional inclusion of all students in the learning environment, opportunities and experiences.
4. Journey: We believe that we are on a journey of growth and understanding. We enter and move at different points with the same goal of being anti-racist humans and culturally responsive teachers.
5.Social Education: We believe that U.S. historical and societal education is rooted in white supremacy ideology. Our family and cultures teach us many valuable lessons but society shapes our unconscious beliefs.
6.US Education System: We believe that the U.S. Education systems and structures are designed to and actively continue to suppress the growth and success of students of color.
7. Beliefs & Action: We believe that we cannot take action unless we take the time to examine our own experiences, beliefs and the consequences of racism in our lives.
Our Practices
1. Community: We cannot do this work in isolation. We need each other.
2. Accountability: We hold each other responsible for our speech and actions. We graciously and kindly provide opportunities for reflection and growth.
3. Honesty: We owe it to each other to not be ‘politically correct, because it exacerbates racism rather than diminishing it.
4. Courage: We need to be brave in order to participate in conversations, to reflect on our beliefs and past practices, and to act.
5. Learning: No one is an expert. We all have something to learn.
6. Resilience: We acknowledge the difficulties of this work and are committed to moving forward.
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7. Continuous Improvement: Our journey of knowledge is never complete. There is always more to learn and understand about the human experience. We strive to be better than we were yesterday and when we make mistakes we use them to learn more about ourselves and each other.
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As educators we are always sharing and building on the ideas of others and in that vein, we acknowledge the work of
Ibram X.Kendi, Bettina Love, Jane Elliott, Nakeiha Primus, Gloria Landson-Billings, Geneva Gay, Sonya Nieto, Zoretta Hammond, Miguel A.Guajardo, Franscisco Guajardo, Christopher Janson, Matthew Millitello, Restorative D., David H. Rose and Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST).