EP 19: Cultivating Black Arts Curriculum, Critical Literacy, and Identity with K-12 Students with Dr. Kazembe

How can K-12 educators teach critical and creative literacy in ways that promote social consciousness with Black & Latinx students and communities? In this podcast, we have an exciting conversation with Dr. Kazembe, a community-based educator, African-centered philosopher, healing poet, and University professor who shares how K-12 educators can create curriculum that centers Black culture, identity, history, and humanity. We discuss Kazembe’s educational work and curriculum development work in his effort to create healing, liberation, and educational equity within urban communities. Highlights from this podcast include: · Creative writing and performative literacy with youth and men who are incarcerated · The teaching and curriculum design of geo-literacy, critical visual studies, African history, and performative poetry within a context of space, time, and critical thought with K-12 students · The politics, access, presence, and absence of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, specifically in Chicago · The lack of racial diversity in K-12 teaching as a civil rights issue · The importance of having a deep appreciation and love for Black people as fundamental for culturally affirming and sustaining education · A good starting point to transform education to establish equitable, democratically engaged educational practices is for teachers to develop their professional teacher identity, to interrogate their own biases and assumptions, and to authentically engage the heritage knowledge of their students. **RESOURCES** Free Your Mind Resources List: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SjDebOWMW17H_3AWMM1Gfw--gyEAzWr0/view?usp=sharing Nuvo Write-Up https://nuvo.newsnirvana.com/education/five-not-so-easy-pieces-book-recommendations-by-lasana-kazembe-on-systemic-racism/article_5b74b83c-ac66-11ea-bbfd-cb765fb0d8ec.html Contact Dr. Kazembe at: kazembe.net, [email protected] or via Twitter @Kazembe ************************************ The Equity Experience Podcast is brought to you by Dr. Karla Manning, Founder & President of The Equity Leadership Group, LLC.   We help K-12 school leaders and educators create culturally responsive classrooms and schools with our diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting services. I invite you to schedule a discovery call if your organization is interested in our curriculum development, leadership training, or equity auditing services: https://calendly.com/karlamanning/discoverycall20mins