Award-winning author and professor Dr. Bettina L. Love will discuss the struggles and possibilities of committing to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom, as opposed to reform, moving beyond what she calls the educational survival complex.
That’s a heavy but necessary conversation from the Communities in Coversation lecture series hosted by Rhodes College and co-sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves and Rhodes’ Division of Student Life, and Educational Studies, Africana Studies.
Love is the perfect person to highlight during Women’s History Month. The educator and orator teaches at the University of Georgia and has been instrumental in establishing abolitionist teaching. A founder of the Abolitionist Teaching Network, Love is passionate about developing and supporting teachers and parents to fight injustice within their schools and communities.
In a recent TED Talk, Love said, “Students who identify with hip-hop culture embody the characteristics of grit, social and emotional intelligence, and improvisation — all of which are proven to be predictors of academic success.” She argues that, “Ignoring students’ culture in the classroom is all but an oversight; it’s discrimination and injustice that plays out in our culture in very dangerous ways.”
Love discusses these topics and more, followed by a Q&A.
“We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom,” online from Rhodes College, rhodes.edu, Wednesday, Mar. 24, 6 p.m., free with registration.
