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Leading for social justice can be an overwhelming proposition. It is easy for educators to find the mountain of inequity insurmountable and the alternative, settling for things as they are, a much easier route. When Mark Gooden writes about Black "savior" principals like Joe Clark he comments that the cost of Clarks' kind of leadership (namely all-in, all business, and all alone) is that leaders like Clark "lose themselves in the process" (82). Happily, social justice work if not just a job it is a life passion for those who chose to take up the torch and insist on working to make schools inclusive places for historically marginalized groups. Camille Cooper's description of transformative educational leadership as being "collaborative, culturally responsive, inclusive of all students, infused with a democratic ethos, and/or socially just" (174) paints a formidable picture of the challenges a transformative leader faces to make lasting changes in the name of social justice. Still I am grounded by the certainty that I am but one of many voices I can recruit to speak for those who do not or cannot speak for themselves. I may not be able to change the beliefs and practices of all but I have to believe that I can change the hearts of some and that collectively we will enact change. Cooper said it best when she wrote that transformative leaders " do not regard themselves as needing to hold too much power and authority because they know they cannot lead alone" (175).  I may only be able to  do what I can with what I have where I am, but I believe that the communal efforts of kindred spirits can keep the ideals of schooling from being only ideals. If I can be the "lone nut" (Derek Sivers) that moves somebody else into becoming a leader then I can start a movement anywhere.

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With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.)

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Carolyn Shields writes that transformative educational leadership "begins by challenging inappropriate uses of power and privilege that create of perpetuate inequity and injustice" (564). This is how I would describe my current role. I am one of only a handful of teachers of color at the private, Catholic institution where I work as the middle school science teacher. I did not immediately assume the role of advocate for students of color, in fact it was not a role I ever thought I would have. I grew up in an eastern suburb of Los Angeles where the majority of the faces in the room was Brown like mine. I did not have to face being thought of as part of the "other" until I left home and went to college at a predominantly white university. So when I looked at the sea of white faces dotted with few and far between Black and Brown ones, I was immediately pulled back to that place of uncertainty, fear, and self-doubt. So my job has been to ask the question nobody is asking. In an institution that holds one of its most precious truths that you can "be who you are and be that well" (St. Francis DeSales), how can we continue to stand by as our students of color are forced to choose to assimilate or choose to be socially ostracized? How can our calling as people of God, working in the home of the Holy Sisters who have dedicated their lives to serving the unserved, not work to make this expensive private school education accessible? So my role has shifted over the years. I still teach science to middle school girls but now I also work tirelessly so every white student knows they are part of a larger landscape where they have power to change things for the better and so that every student of color knows they do not have to settle for what is left.

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Educators at all levels and in all offices of the educational hierarchy have an obligation to be part of a system of empowerment. When teachers empower students to take responsibility for their own learning achievement become meaningful and fulfilling. When school leaders empower teachers to look beyond student achievement and instead look outward and tackle the systems, policies, and protocols that impede the success of marginalized groups, then change is truly possible. When school leaders reach outside the campus and engage the greater community in dialogue, planning, and problem solving about what they need and how they want to be involved in getting it, a support network begins to grow. Mark Gooden and his colleagues write about anti-racist leaders being more than advocates for children of color but that they also empower others to "acknowledge, interrupt, and dismantle racism" (2) which speaks to a successful leader being part of a greater collective of change-makers rather than a lone fighter against the hordes.  It may not be a fast change nor a sweeping one, but the world will be changed for my children because enough caring, committed people made the choice to speak up, plan, and act.

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Cooper, C. W. (2010). Educational leaders as cultural workers: Engaging families and school communities through transformative leadership. In S.D. Horsford (Ed.), New Perspective in Educational Leadership: Exploring Social, Political, and Community Contexts and Meaning (pp. 173-195). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Gooden, M. (2012). What does racism have to do with leadership? Countering the idea of colorblind leadership: A reflection on race and the growing pressures of the urban principalship. Educational Foundation, 26(1), 67-84.

Gooden, M., Davis, B., Spikes, D., Hall, D., Lee, L. (2018). Leaders changing how they act by changing how they think: Applying principles of an anti-racist principal preparation program. Teaching College Record, 120.

Shields, C.M. (2010). Trnaformative leadership: Working for equity in diverse contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46, 558-589.