Teachers for Social Justice Curriculum Fair Reflection: Part I

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the 15th Annual Teachers for Social Justice Curriculum Fair. This is one of my favorite events, and I really admire the work that the organization is doing in the city of Chicago. The conference was held at Uplift Community High School in the Uptown neighborhood, and the school is committed to college prep, community involvement, and social justice work. The theme of the event was "Defund Policing: Fund Schools and Communities."

Photo credit: Creative Resistance

The conference started with a keynote by former Chicago activist Mariame Kaba, founder of Project NIA, an organization that works to end youth incarceration. Kaba discussed ways in which Chicago residents can practice abolition daily, assuring us that Chicago is a place that has a strong foundation for transformative change. She focused on three questions that help us to reshape and redefine our vision for justice:

1. How do we reduce contacts with police?
2. How to we erode police power?
3. How do we repair the harm caused by policing?

She believes that "abolition necessitates that we change everything." "Policing," she said, "is not a broken system--it works exactly as it's supposed to." She urged us to not settle for the "justice" provided by individual indictments or police body cameras. She reminded us that in order to abolish policing, we must abolish capitalism as well.

If anyone was feeling overwhelmed by the work ahead, Kaba offered a myriad of ways to take action, and organizations to support. I've listed a few highlights below:

• Join the People's Response Team
• Partner with Stop Chicago/Push for the reopening of mental health facilities
• Get informed about police reforms
• Resolve conflicts between organizations and individuals--we need each other now more than ever
• Support BYP100, Stop Chicago, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Assata's Daughters, Black & Pink, Community Justice for Youth Institute, Circles & Ciphers, Chicago Books to Women in Prison, etc.
• Double down on political education
• Donate to Chicago Community Bond Fund
• Make art! "Art is essential as it helps us to imagine otherwise."

I recommend listening to the full recording of the keynote, which can be found here. I also recommend keeping up with her blog, Prison Culture, which can be found here.

After Kaba's keynote, we participated in a grounding exercise which consisted of some breathing exercises, and a collective recitation of “In Lak’ech,” a Mayan unity poem:

Tú eres mi otro yo.

You are my other me.

Si te hago daño a ti,

If I do harm to you,

Me hago daño a mi mismo.

I do harm to myself.

Si te amo y respeto,

If I love and respect you,

Me amo y respeto yo.

I love and respect myself.

More information about "In Lak'ech" can be found here.

Since there's a lot of ground to cover, I'm going to split this up into a three-part series, so you have a little bit of time to process each portion separately. Part II will cover the workshop I attended called "Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education," and Part III will focus on "Understanding and Transforming Whiteness," a workshop facilitated by representatives from the Chicago Freedom School.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for practicing everyday abolition, or organizations to get involved with, feel free to share in the comments.

In solidarity,

Stefanie