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Black Lives Matter in Schools Movement

All across the country, educators are kicking off Black History Month with the Black Lives Matter Week of Action. This movement started in Seattle in 2016 and has spread to school districts from coast to coast. Last month the PPS School Board unanimously passed a resolution to support this week of action in all classrooms across the district.

The Black Lives Matter movement was started by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometti in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin, a child. Students will be learning about ways they can work together to make positive change in their schools and communities, by learning about and working toward justice. Each day we will read books, engage in discussions, and write. We will explore not only struggles for racial justice but we will be honoring and celebrating Black lives as we should throughout the year. Today we focused on learning about race and skin colors, empathy and collective value.

It is so important for our students to understand the realities and histories of people from different cultures, races, religions, genders, and abilities in order to recognize and empathize with members of their community. This weekend I watched this video that I had seen a few times before, but felt the impact as strongly as the first time I saw it. It reminds me that there is much work to be done until all my students feel safe in the world.

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