Our country has, at times, and in fits and starts, worked toward desegregation, but never meaningfully worked toward real integration. Desegregation is about the moving of bodies, the demographic percentages in a school building. Integration is about, in the words of David Kirkland, “fundamentally working to organize our society in a different way, where our differences are seen as spaces that we not only celebrate but LET BE, where this forms the vibrancy of our being as a society.” It is about decentering Whiteness, it is about creating new forms of shared power, and it is about recognizing the full humanity of every kid.

Historically, the ways White &/or privileged people talk about “good” vs. “bad” schools, the choices we make, both individually and collectively, about where to educate our children, and the ways we show up when we do enroll in global-majority schools have served to maintain our advantages and in turn, continue to oppress others.

This didn’t happen by accident.

Todays episode is an edit of our first ever webinar- The Integrated Schools Movement: Where We Begin. In it, we explore how our schools got to where they are now, and what role we play in either maintaining or disrupting this system. Members of our all-volunteer crew share personal stories of enrolling our kids in global-majority schools, and the joys and missteps we experience while showing up as parents and community members.

LINKS:

• A video of the webinar
• Slides shared during the webinar
• The original resource list shared after the webinar:
• Native Land Finder
• Episode: White Supremacy and Black Educational Excellence: Hidden Stories of the Integration Movement – Integrated Schools podcast featuring a conversation with Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker and Dr. Elizabeth McRae facilitated by Dani McClain
• Vanessa Siddle Walker: The Lost Education of Horace Tate
• Elizabeth McRae: Mothers of Massive Resistance
• Episode: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy
• The current levels of segregation in our schools.
• The wealth gap – from Brookings, and The Washington Post
• Richard Rothstein – The Color of Law
• Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow
• EdBuild on the $23 billion funding gap between districts serving predominantly students of color vs White students.
• David Kirkland
• Episode: Kirkland on Integration
• Rucker Johnson
• The Children of the Dream
• Episode – Rucker Johnson and the Grandchildren of Desegregation
• Dr Kfir Mordechay
• Episode: Gentrification
• Dr. Amanda Lewis
• Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools with John Diamond
• Episode: Desegregation without Integration
• Engage with Integrated Schools
• Find your local chapter
• Sign up for our Parent-to-Parent program
• Listen to the podcast
• Join our Patreon
• Join our Facebook group
• Check out our full resource list
• Sign up for Book Club

Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

We are a proud member of The Connectd Podcast Network.

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced, edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits..

Music by Kevin Casey.

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