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A person part of a larger initiative to provide an EQUITABLE, SAFE, and GENUINE space for all students and the community at large.

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A person part of a larger initiative to provide an EQUITABLE, SAFE, and GENUINE space for all students and the community at large.

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While it may be assumed that this person needs to hold a leadership position at an educational institution, a teacher is also capable of being a leader for social justice.

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...provide an equitable space, which fosters opportunities for success, while being a champion for social justice.

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...provide an equitable space, which fosters opportunities for success, while being a champion for social justice.

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A challenge to the current power structure is necessary for a push to provide an equitable education for all students. Gooden (2012) explains the Critical Race Theory principle of interest convergence, "which holds that civil rights advances in history for Blacks happened only when those interests converged with the interests of elite Whites and changing economic conditions." Change will not occur and success cannot be cultivated until those in power distribute their power. It is not enough to simply provide financial support for those less fortunate, but rather, conversations surrounding how our society talks about those not in power must shift. Equal resources does not equal an equitable society.

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...provide a safe space which allows all students and community members to live authentically.

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...provide a safe space which allows all students and community members to live authentically.

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Koschoreck and Slattery (2006) argue, "We must arouse educators- if they are silent on the matter- to examine their complicity and silence on gay bashing, teasing, and violence against minorities and those perceived as different in schools and society." Social justice leaders are those who do not stand for inequality at any turn- from a public discriminatory comment to an off-hand remark in a classroom to a daily microaggression, complacency = complicity.

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...provide a genuine space that doesn't simply pay lip service to the complexities of issues, but rather, hits them head-on. 

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...provide a genuine space that doesn't simply pay lip service to the complexities of issues, but rather, hits them head-on. 

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Far too often, our discussions of inequity end with proposed solutions to throw money at the problem. Gooden (2012) shares a take on a real-life example of an urban New Jersey school: "I think even though these individuals may be well meaning alumni and have put money back into the school and have attended some football games, it is apparent that they essentially have moved out of the neighborhood. They have an interest in the school returning to its glory days, but they seem to minimize the major economic, social, and political changes that have taken place in the school and neighborhood."

Inequity issues can arise from issues of funding, but they are also present in curriculum and everyday interactions between people (old and young) inside a school.

Social justice leaders must lead with compassion for the people for whom they work.

A parent should be asked to participate in their child's education, regardless of their appearance, level of education, or societal status. Cooper (2010) notes, "too often, deficit-based notions of difference cause educators to uphold stereotypes that are associated with particular racial, class, linguistic, and family backgrounds and then view poor students and families of color as inferior." It is not enough to say that a parent a stake in the education of their own child if a school has a PTA. There must be a genuine drive on the part of a social justice leader to create a better society for all.

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Cooper, C.W. (2010). Educational leaders as cultural workers: engaging families and school communities through transformative leadership. New perspectives in educational leadership: exploring social, political, and community contexts and meaning. 173-195.

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

Koschoreck, J. M., & Slattery, P. (2006). Meeting all students' needs: Transforming the unjust normativity of heterosexism. In Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education (pp. 156-174). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

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Everyone does their part.

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We're all tied together:

"They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone." -Martin Luther King Jr.

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Conversations can and should be tough in order to move us forward.