At a community meeting in 2008, Carl Pinkston watched parent after parent stand up to say that whenever they brought their concerns to the school board, they were not being heard. So he and others got together to start a Black Parallel School Board — a place where parents could express themselves and organize together to improve education for Black students.

The organization has made small, but significant changes in schools, like getting posters of Black role models on the walls. It’s also involved in bigger changes, pushing to remove police officers from schools and to stop discipline practices that disproportionately target Black students. Recently, the organization sued the state over this. This week we look at how this organization began, and why Black parents felt it was needed.

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