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Who we are

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Following the lead of the National Black Lives Matter at School movement, stakeholders in NYC Schools came together beginning in 2018 to organize the annual week of action in February and for anti-racist pedagogy in our schools year round. We believe in emergent strategy and non-hierarchical grassroots organizing. All students, educators, and education activists are welcome at our general meetings. We also have a steering committee that guides our work. You can reach our steering committee by emailing blmeduny@gmail.com.

Our Vision and Practice

We, the steering committee of the Black Lives Matter at NYC Schools group (BLMEduNY), work to organize and function in alignment with the BLM guiding principles. As a multiracial group, we are committed to centering and supporting our BIPOC organizers while prioritizing a just and equitable balance, self-care and collective care. The guiding principles serve as a blueprint for enacting this vision in our organizing as well as in our community and school spaces.

Black Lives Matter

at NYC SChools

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Working norms & Values

★ Lift up Black voices in our work together

★ Have shared responsibility and personal accountability

★ Assume positive intent, and take responsibility for impact

★ Speak to the issue, not the person

★ Circle Up: We will form restorative circles in response to any conflict

★ Make decisions through consensus

★ Be mindful of airspace, keep from repeating what has already been said

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We support Black women by centering their vision, power and well-being while being intentional about what work they/we are tasked with. White co-conspirators and anti-racist allies within the group take on specific tasks to prevent burdening of Black women and femmes. Like the National Steering Committee, we operate from a Black Queer Feminist lens.

 

We are restorative in our operations, ensuring that we navigate the stresses, complexities, and intensities of organizing in holistic, mindful ways that invigorate rather than deplete our organizers. We engage norms and values that support restorative practice.

 

We are collective in how we function and (re)imagine spaces that we work in.  In contrast with the individualist nature of White Supremacy culture, we work from a collectivist and leaderful framework.  

 

We are intersectional in our organizing and understanding of the racial justice issues we confront within education. We recognize and work to break down the amplified barriers and burdens faced by Black people who are further marginalized due to ableism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and classism. 

We collaborate intergenerationally with a network of experienced, new, parent and youth organizers as we seek to uplift, celebrate and center Black Families and Black youth organizers. We learn from each other’s experience and listen to understand, not to respond.

 

We are empathic and engage lovingly with our fellow organizers, applying our vision and goals for liberation and justice in our interactions and relationships. When conflicts arise, we seek resolution in restorative circles, assume best intentions, and take accountability for our impact despite intent.

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