Kicking off the Shirley Chisholm Project’s Conversation series, “The Battlefront is the Classroom” will explore the issues of public education, culture wars, the Black struggle for independent schooling, and critical race theory through the lens of Shirley Chisholm’s career as an educator and congresswoman.
The event will be held Monday, March 27th from 11am to 12pm in Woody Tanger Auditorium, located in the Brooklyn College Library. Seating in the auditorium will be on a first-come basis. Those who cannot attend in person can be a part of the even via Zoom.
Some of the topics we will explore include:
- Why is public education such a battleground in America?
- What can we learn from Shirley Chisholm’s career as an educator and Congresswoman about the state of public education in Brooklyn?
- In what ways is the current conflict over public education part of the historic struggle of Black people in American to gain control of the educational systems that define their communities and the futures of their children?
- What is liberation education? What does it look like?
- What is the role of the Black educator in American society?
- What are the current efforts to win racial equity in education?
The panelists in this discussion are experts in the subjects of education, Black cultural and political history, and Africana Studies. Here is our distinguished trio of panelists:
- Shauna Brown (Educator and Founder of Teach for the Culture)
- Dr. LaTasha Levy (Assistant Professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington)
- Dr. Russell Rickford (Associate Professor of History at Cornell University).
Dr. Zinga A. Fraser (Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project and Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Women & Gender Studies) will lead the discussion as moderator.
You have register to be a part of our Zoom audience here:
This event is co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Department at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI).
Contact us at chisholmproject@brooklyn.cuny.edu if you have questions about the event.