“AS PART OF THIS PROGRAM, WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE TO MEET PHILLIP
DWIGHT MORGAN, AND HEAR MORE ABOUT HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND HIS ADVOCACY WORK. MORGAN ENCOURAGED US TO CRITICALLY REFLECT ON THE ROLE OF SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS (SROS) AND POLICE IN SCHOOLS AND TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT FOR BLACK STAFF, STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.”
sions helped me to understand where the call to defund the police comes from and how it connects to the fight for Black lives.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF EDUCATORS?
In Part Three, we discussed other forms of anti-Black racism, racial profiling and bias that need to be addressed in schools and other spaces for youth. We also shared ideas about how we can use our position to best create and promote changes in our school and local community. In our break-out groups, we talked about
the importance of representation, and the need to hire more Black educators. We also talked about centering stories of Black resil- ience, pride, innovation, love and joy. Educa- tors from rural and northern communities talked about how they might teach students about anti-oppression without “othering” or reinforcing “us/them” inequities in their pre- dominantly White communities. Everyone agreed that addressing anti-Black racism in our schools benefits everyone.
WHAT DOES SOLIDARITY LOOK LIKE?
Part four focuses on the need for awareness and action. In the video, Alejandra Bravo asks if changing our individual behaviour will help make Black lives better. Sandy Hudson and Phillip Dwight Morgan criticize the im- pact of individual acts of solidarity if they do not include the call to action for systemic change. For example, many folks are comfort- able hanging a poster that says “Black Lives Matter” or posting a black square on their so- cial media, but they are not comfortable ad- vocating for the abolishment of police. The discussion in our break-out group
was interesting because we all have colleagues at the beginning of their learning journey who need to do the individual work to recog- nize how they are impacted by and complicit
ETFO has developed many resources to
support educators to engage in this work, including White Privilege Lesson Plans and ETFO Black 365 Canadian Curriculum.
in reinforcing oppression and privilege. We talked about how we might support all mem- bers in our school community to engage in courageous conversations about racial justice and anti-oppression work. After participating in this program, I understand that fighting for Black lives must also include advocating for systemic change and funding direct action to fight against anti-Black racism.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
ETFO has a lot of privilege and political power to advocate for systemic change. I look forward to hearing about the next steps ETFO will take to continue to fight for Black lives. I am grateful to ETFO and all the educa-
tors who created this professional learning op- portunity, and I am inspired by the members who showed up every week to actively engage in this critical work. I encourage everyone to watch the videos, and to participate in the we- binar series when it is offered again. n
Velvet Lacasse is a member of Elementary Teachers of Toronto.
See the resources at
etfo.ca
Velvet Lacasse ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 29
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