Our hearts are filled with grief and rage, as once again, racist acts of violence have claimed the lives of Black people—most recently George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
Just Equations stands in solidarity with the demands for justice and racial equity for Black communities. A part of our mission is to make issues around educational equity visible. We cannot embody this mission without addressing the ways in which our society perpetuates violence and injustice against Black people.
Society’s systemic racism is also reflected in the schools that educate our young people. Supporting students who have been perpetually failed by the education system means more than acknowledging that racism exists. With respect to mathematics, it entails working together to “re-humanize” mathematics education (to quote Rochelle Gutierrez of the University of Illinois) and re-purpose mathematics as a tool for liberation.
Just Equations is dedicated to speaking up and speaking out for justice.
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Resources to help understand the historical and social impacts of racism in our country and our classrooms:
Films
13th (Ava Duvernay)
Selma (Ava Duvernay)
When They See Us (Ava Duvernay)
I am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck)
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.)
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton)
Books
“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
“Between the World And Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“So You Want to Talk About Race?” by Ijeoma Oluo
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
Podcasts
Serial – Season 3 (This American Life)
1619 (NY Times)
Code Switch (NPR)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
Other Resources
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